听力文本

I have a peculiar stick and I often ask people to guess what it is made of. They usually say “horn” or “hard rubber.” for it will bend. It is really made out of rhinoceros hide. The rhino has very poor eyesight. His little eyes can hardly see at all. He needs glasses. Instead of glasses he has a friend that does his seeing for him. This friend is a little bird called arhino bird that rides on his back, does his seeing for him, and warns him of any danger.
The elephant is another animal with bad eyesight. The elephants in Africa are bigger than those in India.
In India they hunt elephants to catch them alive.
In Africa they hunt elephants to kill them.
In India they catch elephants to tame them and put them to work.
In Africa they catch elephants for their tusks, which are teeth sometimes ten feet long. Just suppose you had two front teeth as long as that. These tusks are ivory and they make fine piano keys.
The ivory business is not, however, as good as it used to be—or as bad as it used to be for the elephants—for men have learned to make a kind of ivory out of cotton and other materials. This takes the place of ivory and comes in many forms called plastics. Plastics are much cheaper than ivory and in many cases much better. Ivory turns yellow and cracks as it gets old, but plastics do not.
But the most curious animals in Africa are the human animals—the Black People. They have very funny ideas about beauty, so we think. We have funny ideas, so they think. A white person is all faded out, pale, unhealthy, sickly looking. A black man is a rich, black, coal color. Our ladies wear rings in their ears. Their ladies wear rings in their noses, where they show better.

参考译文

我有一根奇特的棍子，我常常让人猜它是什么做的，一般都回答是用“动物角”或“硬橡胶”做的，因为它可以弯曲。其实它是用犀牛皮做的。犀牛的视力很差，它的小眼睛几乎什么都看不见，它需要一副眼镜。虽然犀牛没有眼镜，但有一位朋友替代它的眼镜。这位朋友是一只小鸟，叫“犀牛鸟”，它栖在犀牛背上，为犀牛瞭望，如果有什么危险，它就提醒犀牛。
大象是另一种视力较差的动物。非洲象比印度象大。
在印度，人们猎象是要活捉大象。
在非洲，人们猎象是要射杀大象。
在印度，人们捕住大象，是要驯化它们，让它们干活。
在非洲，人们捕住大象是为了获取象牙。有的象牙长达10英尺，假如你有两颗门牙，像象牙一样长，你打算怎么办？这些象牙可做成各种象牙制品，是做钢琴琴键的优质材料。
然而，象牙生意没有以前那么好了，——或是对大象来说，情况没有以前那么坏了——因为人们已经学会用棉花和其他材料来生产出一种人造象牙。这种材料代替了真正的象牙，并有很多类型，都叫做“塑料”。塑料比象牙便宜多了，在很多情况下，比象牙更有用。象牙日子久了会变黄，还会开裂，然而塑料不会。
但是，非洲最好奇的动物是人这种动物——黑人。在我们看来，他们对美的看法非常古怪。在黑人眼里，白人的肤色都褪掉了、显得苍白、不健康，看上去像生了病；而黑人的肤色黑得很浓艳，像煤一样。白人女子戴耳环，而黑人女子戴鼻环，她们觉得鼻环更好看。