Lesson 26 Picking Buttercups
第26课 摘毛茛
You all like to gather the yellow flowers called buttercups. The flowers are pretty, but there are other partsof the plant which you should look at. Let us dig up the whole plant with a big knife, and try to see all its parts, and learn what are their uses.
小朋友, 你们都喜欢摘一种叫做“毛茛”的小黄花。这些花儿很漂亮, 不过, 这种植物的其他部分, 你们也应该看一看。咱们用一把大刀子挖出一棵来, 观察一下所有的部分, 再了解一下这些部分都有什么用。
First, there are the roots, which are brown or white in colour. The roots fix the buttercup plant in the ground, and they also suck out of the soil a great deal of water every day. In this water there are many things taken from the soil which the plant needs for its food.
首先是“根”。根的颜色一般是棕色或者白色。根把毛茛固定在地上, 每天还从土壤里吸收很多水分。这些水分里, 有很多来自土壤的养分, 是植物需要的“食物”。
Then there is the green, branching stem. It holds up the leaves and the flowers, and spreads them out so that they can all get plenty of the fresh air and of the sunlight.
然后, 还有绿色的, 分出枝叶的“茎”。茎支撑着“叶”和“花”, 把它们分散开, 这样, 叶和花就都能得到足够的新鲜空气和阳光。
The green leaves are covered with tiny holes, too small for our eyes to see. Through these holes the leaves draw in air, and they use part of this air as food. So the food of the buttercup is air and water, and a small part of the earth which is mixed with the water.
绿叶上面, 满是细小的气孔。这些气孔小到我们的眼睛都看不见。叶子就通过这些气孔来吸入空气, 空气里的一部分, 也是植物的“食物”。毛茛的“食物”就是空气和水, 还有溶解在水里的一部分土壤。