Lesson 46 Tigers
第46课老虎
Tigers are found in India and most of the countries of South-east Asia. They live in forests and grassy plains, where there are plenty of other animals for them to hunt for food.
老虎生活在印度和大多数的东南亚国家。它们生活在森林里和草原上，那里有丰富的猎物供它们捕食。
If you see a tiger in the zoo, you may think its coat is brightly collared and easily seen, but in the jungles and grassland where it lives, a tiger is hard to see. The sunlight, shining through leaves and branches, makes patches of bright light and shadow. A tiger's golden collared coat mixes so well into these patches of sunlight and shadow that it is not easily seen. When it walks through the long forest grass, it is also hard to see, for its hair is the same colour as the blades of yellowish grass and patches of deep shadow.
在动物园里见到老虎，你可能认为它们的皮毛颜色亮丽，很容易被发现，但是在它们所生活的丛林里和草地上，老虎是很难被发现的。阳光穿过树叶和树枝，使光亮和阴影斑驳交错。老虎的金黄色皮毛与这些光亮和阴影很好地融合在一起，使它们很难被发现。老虎走在深深的森林草丛里，也很难被发现，因为老虎的毛发与浅黄色草叶和深色阴影交错的颜色是一样的。
This camouflage, as we call it, is very important, because tigers are hunters and catch other animals for their food. If the animals could see a tiger coming, they would quickly escape. It has strong, sharp teeth which it uses for seizing and eating the animals it catches. A tiger's chief food is deer, wild pigs, monkeys and other small animals, but it will also kill cows. A tiger is also very strong and if it kills a deer or a cow, it will often drag the dead animal several hundred yards to the shelter of some bushes, where it can eat its meal in peace. Tigers usually hunt and eat at night, and during the daytime they lie resting, hidden in the long grass.
这种我们所说的伪装是非常重要的，因为老虎是猎手，靠捕猎其他动物为食。如果猎物看到老虎来了，它们就会快速地逃离。老虎长着坚硬锋利的牙齿，用来抓住和咬食捕捉到的猎物。老虎主要的食物是鹿、野猪、猴子和其他小动物，但是也会捕食牛。老虎非常强壮，杀死鹿或牛后，老虎通常会将猎物的尸体拖到几百码外的树丛隐蔽处，然后安静地进食。老虎通常在晚上捕猎和进食，白天它们躲在深深的草丛里休息。