时间:2018-12-04 作者:英语课 分类:高中英语人教版第二册课本听力


英语课

  THE BISON 1 ON THE PLAINS OF AMERICA


       The first settlers on the plains of America were Native Americans. They arrived more than. 30,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge from Asia to America. The Native Americans lived by gathering 2 roots, nuts and wild fruit and hunting wild animals.

They hunted bison, a type of wild animals which used to exist in huge numbers on the plains of America. The bison grows to a shoulder-height of 1.5 metres and can weigh 1100 kilogrammes. It was an important part of Native American’s life. Bison were killed for their meat, while their fur provided 3 warm clothing during cold winters. The Native Americans made tents and water containers from the skins and tools from the bones. The teeth were used to make necklaces.

From about 1830 onwards 4 in the USA, European settlers began to move westwards 5. Large groups of Native Americans were forced to move fierce 6 wars between Native Americans and European settlers. The American government made agreements with Native American chiefs but always broke them afterwards. In this way, Native Americans were forced onto poor land that the settlers did not want.

The settlers built railways across the plains and began to hunt even more bison. While early settlers had killed bison for food, now the killing 7 became more widespread 8. They killed the bison skins were sent by rail to cities to be sold. Between 1850and 1910 the bison population is thought to have fallen from 60 million to just a few hundred.

The killing of the bison changed the whole wildlife of the plains. With fewer bison, grass shoots were not eaten, so grass did not grow as strongly. Bison waste no longer fell on the ground to improve the soil, which as a result became less good for growing plants. The ground supported fewer plants, and the insects which lived on these plants died out. There was less food for birds and also for the prairie 9 dog, a kind of animal which lives holes in the ground. This in turn had an effect on the food supply for wolves. Thus one simple fact, a change in number of bison, had an effect on the whole wildlife chain of the plains.



1 bison
n.野牛
  • American bison are very large.美洲野牛非常巨大。
  • Herds of bison live in the park.公园内住有成群的野牛。
2 gathering
n.集会,聚会,聚集
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
3 provided
conj.假如,若是;adj.预备好的,由...供给的
  • Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好,我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
  • I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨,我就来。
4 onwards
adv.前进;在前;在先;迈进
  • From now onwards my teacher will be stricter.从此我的老师会更加严格。
  • The crowd began to move onwards.人群开始向前移动。
5 westwards
adv.西方;西部地
  • We travelled westwards for several days.我们向西行了数日。
  • They were sailing westwards.他们向西航行。
6 fierce
adj.凶猛的,残忍的;狂热的,强烈的
  • The soldiers got ready for a fierce battle.战士们准备进行一场恶战。
  • What he said met with fierce opposition.他的话语遭到激烈反对。
7 killing
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
8 widespread
adj.广布的,普及的,流传宽广的
  • Plastic is in widespread use.塑料已被广泛地使用。
  • English is a widespread language.英语是一种很普及的语言。
9 prairie
n.大草原,牧场
  • A single spark can start a prairie fire.星星之火,可以燎原。
  • The vast prairie stretches west to the horizon.茫茫大草原向西伸展,直至天边。
学英语单词
a rousing welcome
appendiceal
appositus
asterina lobulata
bahia de cochinos
Bixaceae
bovine cysticercosis
cadence-lypso
causa causans
Claire City
clarion-ledger
co-prosperity sphere
cold stocker
couvey
cypritic steel
decompression of diving
delivery of program
dimension of a projective variety
dirty face
double layer lens
dry lute
electron-beam semiconductor amplifier
emu oil
end tipper
erythrinas
export credit on deferred payment
fill-in-the-blanks
groenlandicus
gurfish
hand-over-hand
hatch whip
Hemsleya gigantha
homoscedastic model
horizontal boring and milling machine
humourless
induction action
jolies
justacrine
lateral diagonal
light (weight) metal
lithol red r
location based service
lock-jaw
magnetic ram
medium cast iron
meteorologic oceanography
micryphantids
Milankovitch cycle
mitochondrial DNA
monolith quay wall
Naphthysine
neuschwansteins
neustadter
Oliromycin
outharbour
pancreatico-enterostomy
pandulph
parasexual hybridization
performance-enhancer
pizza woman
plinthic horizon
poly(ethylene oxide)
Połajewo
professores ordinarii
pulmonary fluid dynamics
put horns on
rationalization
rdamer
reactive hot-pressing
reticulum cell sarcoma of brain
rip through
roller towel
rope thread
rutherford back-scattering spectroscopy (rbs)
San Mamede, Sa.de
satanists
single drift flight
slacky
Somotillo
sonar beacon
spring loaded drill colter
stiff equation
stratification bedding
superimposed title
tangential velocity component
TAPSA
thermotolerance
third country national
Torekov
transregulator
turned vertical shaft
TV programme
Tyulyachi
ultrasonic pressure gauge
upwreathed
vestibulo-urethral
vibration-stopper
waste-collections
water-soluble petroleum sulfonic acid
Whiting cell
yamum