The Tree’s Tale

Kevin, Nadine, and Dad looked at the huge tree lying in their backyard. “ I can’t believe the storm blew our tree down, ” said Nadine. Tears filled her eyes. “ I loved climbing that tree, ” Kevin said sadly. Dad sighed. “ This old oak tree was here when my dad built this house. ”

凯文、纳丁和爸爸看着后院的大树。 ”我真不敢相信暴风雨把我们的树刮倒了。她热泪盈眶。 ”我喜欢爬那棵树，”凯文伤心地说。 爸爸叹了口气。“这棵老橡树是我爸爸建这所房子的时候在这里的。”

A truck pulled into the driveway. Workers with chainsaws got out. The workers cut off the small branches. Then they cut into the thick trunk. Sawdust filled the air. With a giant crack, the trunk broke in half. “ It has rings of wood inside! ” said Nadine. “ Most trees add one ring every year, ”

一辆卡车驶入车道。拿着电锯的工人出来了。 工人们剪掉了小树枝。然后他们切进了厚厚的树干。 空气中弥漫着锯屑。随着一道巨大的裂缝，树干裂成两半。 ”里面有木环！”纳丁说。 ”大多数树木每年增加一个年轮，”

said Dad. “ We can count the rings to find the tree’s age. ” Kevin and Nadine took turns counting. “ Our tree was 213 years old! ” Nadine said. “ That’s right, and it has a tale to tell, ” said a lady behind them. “ You must be Dr. Learner, ” said Dad. She smiled at the kids.

爸爸说。“我们可以数年轮来确定树的年龄。” 凯文和娜丁轮流数数。“我们的树有213年了！”纳丁说。 ”我们的树有213年了！”纳丁说。 ”没错，这是一个故事，”他们身后的一位女士说。 ”你一定是勒纳博士，”爸爸说。她对孩子们微笑。

“ Dr. Learner is taking a slab for the Tree Ring Lab. It’s at the University of Arizona, ” said Dad. Dr. Learner explained that the Tree Ring Lab had two million tree samples. “ Trees build a picture of the earth’s history, ” she said. She pointed to a thin ring in the trunk. “ This year had little rain, so your tree did not grow very much. ”

”勒纳博士正在为亚利桑那大学的年轮实验室准备一块石板。”爸爸说。 勒纳博士解释说，年轮实验室有200万棵树木样本。 ”树木构成了一幅地球历史的图画，”她说。 她指了指后备箱里的一个薄戒指。“今年雨水很少，所以你的树长得不多。”

“ Cool! ” said Nadine, pointing to a thick ring. “ This year was rainy. ” “ Trees are like a weather calendar! ” said Kevin. “ More than that, ” said Dr. Learner. She pointed to a twisted ring. “ This scar shows that something unusual happened—likely a fire.

”酷！”纳丁指着一个厚厚的戒指说。“今年是雨天。” ”树木就像天气日历！”凯文说。 ”不止于此，”勒纳博士说。她指着一个扭曲的戒指。 ”这道伤疤表明发生了一些不寻常的事情，比如火灾。

Trees can tell us about big events. A tree would grow less if a hurricane blew off its leaves. Or if a volcano erupted. ” Kevin laughed. “ People would remember a volcano eruption! ” Dr. Learner showed them a picture of a tree slab. It was twice as tall as a man. “ This tree grew from 212 to 1913. ”

树木可以告诉我们重大事件。如果飓风刮掉树叶，树就会长得更少。或者火山爆发。” 凯文笑了。“人们会记得火山爆发！” 勒纳博士给他们看了一张树板的照片。 这棵树从212年长到1913年