LESSON 21

第21课

creatures

生物

drones

无人驾驶飞机

inside

里面

hive

蜂房

idle

空闲

defense

防御

driven

驱动

killed

杀

cells

细胞

size

寸

workers

工人

queen

女王

stings

蛰伤

shape

形状

wax

蜡

THE BEE

蜜蜂

Bees live in a house that is called a hive.

蜜蜂住在蜂房里，那儿是它的家。

They are of three kinds, — workers, drones, and queens.

蜜蜂有三种：工蜂、雄蜂和蜂王。

Only one queen can live in each hive.

每个蜂房里只能住一只蜂王。

If she is lost or dead, the other bees will stop their work.

如果它失踪或死掉了，其他的蜜蜂就会停止工作。

They are very wise and busy little creatures.

蜜蜂是非常聪明和忙碌的小动物。

They all join together to build cells of wax for their honey.

他们一起合作建造蜡质的房子来储存蜂蜜。

Each bee takes its proper place, and does its own work.

每只蜜蜂都有它们专属的地方从事自己的工作。

Some go out and gather honey from the flowers; others stay at home and work inside the hive.

一些蜜蜂出去采蜜，其他蜜蜂则待在家中，在蜂房里工作。

The cells which they build, are all of one shape and size, and no room is left between them.

他们建造的每个单元都是同一形状和大小，单元之间没有其他房间。

The cells are not round, but have six sides.

这些单元不是圆形，而是六边形的。

Did you ever look into a glass hive to see the bees while at work?

你在玻璃蜂房里见过蜜蜂工作时的样子吗？

It is pleasant to see how busy they always are.

看到它们始终忙碌，这令人十分高兴。

But the drones do not work. Before winter comes, all the drones are driven from the hive or killed,

但雄蜂不工作。冬天到来之前，所有的雄蜂都会被赶走或杀死，

that they may not eat the honey which they did not gather.

他们不能吃自己没有采过的蜂蜜。

It is not quite safe for children to handle bees.

孩子们碰蜜蜂是不太安全的。

They have sharp stings that they know well how to use in their defense.

他们身上有锋利的刺，并且知道如何用刺来保护自己。