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
according to the merits of each case
acute tubular necrosis
angle fittings
anticontamination
avibirnavirus infectious bursal disease virus of fowl
Banjarmasin,Banjermasin
belly-flopped
biofunctionability
brisk commerce
Ceskoslovenska
chilenses
chylophylla
clustalx
confessest
cosmopolitan
csutcbs
dea ex machina
decree of insolvency
device function
dreamt up
Dumido
edelforsite
end setting
erratic current
exemption from rates
extortionately
fhi
Finajet
fine-leafed
fixed trip circuit breaker
Freewill Baptist
goldfilled
gosala
Goshenville
hanaps
hawai'ian
held down
hermit crab sponges
hose tie rack
hourly observation
implied warranty of seaworthiness
insert blank
joint-packing
kakap
kirchen
kot
La Manzanilla
lancet-shaped
lapinized virus
later
leather colour
louver mo(u)lding
mcgurn
mighteth
mixing bin
myriapodous
Norddalsfjorden
ofili
on credit traffic
open to doubt
oropharyngeal
outwash drift
oxozonide
phantom signal aspect
precincts
primitive mentality
prytane
pseudo-kaliophilite
psychomotor epilepsy
puberal
pyroclastic conglomerate
rabelaiss
radilie
raisin moths
Rayleigh-Willis relation
record modification
rotating magnet
Sask.
skaophagy
sonic fix
starting torque coefficient
static analysis of mechanism
stilt proleg
stinkfests
storage failure
stripped-bare
surface material
system interface
systematic inorganic chemistry of nonmetallic elements
tabulation method
temperature-measuring
thermal paper
throw her sword into the scale
TOFPET
turps
Tuttle tube-factor bridge
u-mass
visual flight
waist tilt
waltz time
xepalmine
yorath