23 Grasslands

Grasslands by lan Trevaskis Table of Contents Chapter 1 What Are Grasslands? page 2 Chapter 2 Where Are Grasslands? page 6 Chapter 3 African Savanna Animals page 8 Chapter 4 American Prairie Animals page 10 Chapter 5 Night on the Grasslands page 12 Glossary/ Index page 15 Comprehension Check page 16

草原作者:lan Trevaskis目录第1章草原是什么? 第二章草原在哪里? 第6页第三章非洲大草原动物第8页第四章美洲大草原动物第10页第五章草原之夜第12页词汇表/索引第15页理解检查第16页

Chapter 1 What Are Grasslands? Grasslands are big open spaces where tall grass grows. When the wind blows, grasslands look like rolling seas of grass. The grasslands of Africa are famous for being full of animals. Lions sometimes live and hunt here. Their cubs play hide-and-seek in the tall green and brown grass. A lion cub rests in the African grasslands. There are two major types of grasslands: tropical grasslands and temperate grasslands. Tropical grasslands are hot all year. Most of them have heavy rain in the summer. Africa has tropical grasslands. Temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters. Often there are strong winds because few trees grow there. North America has a large temperate grassland area. Malaysia's tropical grasslands (below) have different grass than Africa's tropical grasslands.

第一章草原是什么? 草原是长着高大草的大开放空间。 风一吹，草原就像起伏的草海。 非洲的草原以动物众多而闻名。 狮子有时在这里生活和狩猎。 它们的幼崽在高大的绿色和棕色的草地上玩捉迷藏。 一只小狮子在非洲草原上休息。 草原有两种主要类型:热带草原和温带草原。 热带草原一年四季都很热。 他们中的大多数在夏天有大雨。 非洲有热带草原。 温带草原夏季炎热，冬季寒冷。 经常有强风，因为很少有树生长在那里。 北美有大片的温带草原。 马来西亚的热带草原(下图)与非洲的热带草原有着不同的草。

Soil is important in grasslands. Grassland soil is rich and dark. This helps plants and grasses grow. The grasses' roots are also important. They hold the soil together. The roots stop the soil from being blown away by wind or washed away by rain. These grasses are tough. They keep growing no matter how much animals eat. This means that many grazing animals can live on the grasslands. Grass Growth Most of the grass in grasslands lies deep under the ground. The roots can be longer than the grass is tall. Some grasses may die in the winter, but they are kept alive by their long underground roots. roots grass stalk Fires sometimes move quickly across the grasslands. They burn away dead grasses and some trees. But they don't burn anything below the soil. That means that many grasses can grow back quickly after fires. Some grasses have seeds that won't grow until they have been burned in a fire. Then the seeds pop open and grass grows. After a fire, grassland birds have a lot to eat. The birds eat grasshoppers and other insects that have hopped, wiggled, and crawled away from the fire. Fires burn away dead grasses and help new grasses to grow.

土壤在草地上很重要。 草原土壤肥沃而黝黑。 这有助于植物和草的生长。 草的根也很重要。 它们把土壤固定在一起。 树根可以防止土壤被风吹走或被雨水冲走。 这些草很坚韧。不管动物吃多少，它们都在生长。 这意味着许多食草动物可以生活在草原上。 草地上的草大多深埋在地下。 根可以比草长。 有些草可能会在冬天死去，但它们的地下长根使它们得以存活。 火灾有时在草原上迅速蔓延。 他们烧掉枯草和一些树。 但他们不会燃烧土壤下面的任何东西。 这意味着许多草可以在火灾后迅速生长。 有些草的种子只有在大火中燃烧后才会生长。 然后种子裂开，长出了草。 大火过后，草原上的鸟类有很多吃的。 这些鸟吃的是跳着、扭动着、爬着离开火堆的蚱蜢和其他昆虫。 火会烧掉枯草，帮助新草生长。

Chapter 2 Where Are Grasslands? Grasslands are found all around the world, except in Antarctica. Tropical grasslands are mainly found near the equator. The Everglades in Florida is a tropical grassland. Tropical grasslands are sometimes called savannas. Savannas have very few trees. This map shows where temperate and tropical grasslands lie. green Tropical grasslands (savannas) orange Temperate grasslands equator NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA EUROPE AFRICA ASIA AUSTRALIA ANTARCTICA The Dust Bowl Every 30 years or so, the North American prairies have a long dry spell that lasts for years. The most famous of these took place in the 1930s. The prairies were called the "Dust Bowl" then because the soil turned to dust and blew in the wind. Temperate grasslands found in North America are called prairies. The prairies cover a huge area in the middle of North America. Prairie lands promised early settlers a good living because they could grow and sell crops. That's why so much prairie land was turned into farms. Other temperate grasslands are found in Russia, Hungary, New Zealand, the European Alps, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

第二章草原在哪里? 草原在世界各地都有，除了南极洲。 热带草原主要分布在赤道附近。 佛罗里达的大沼泽地是一片热带草原。 热带草原有时被称为稀树草原。 稀树大草原上的树很少。 这张地图显示了温带和热带草原的位置。 绿色热带草原橙色温带草原赤道北美南美洲欧洲非洲亚洲澳大利亚南极洲沙尘暴每隔30年左右，北美大草原就会出现持续数年的干旱期。 其中最著名的一次发生在20世纪30年代。 当时草原被称为“沙尘碗”，因为土壤变成了灰尘，被风吹着。 北美的温带草原被称为大草原。 北美大草原覆盖了北美中部的大片地区。 草原上的土地许诺给早期的定居者一个良好的生活，因为他们可以种植和出售农作物。 这就是为什么这么多的草原变成了农场。 其他温带草原分布在俄罗斯、匈牙利、新西兰、欧洲阿尔卑斯山、斯里兰卡和澳大利亚。

Chapter 3 African Savanna Animals Some of the most beloved creatures on Earth live on the African savanna. The African grasslands are home to many animals. Some of these animals are big. Some are small. And some of them, such as elephants, are huge. An elephant can eat around 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of plants per day. A bale of hay weighs about 50 pounds (23 kilograms). That's a lot of food every day! An elephant eats grass by pulling it into its mouth with its trunk. Cheetahs are the world's fastest land animals. Animals they chase usually get caught. Large herds of zebras, wildebeests, and antelopes also live on the savannas of Africa. These animals are always on the lookout. They are watching for predators that hunt them, such as the noble lion and the speedy cheetah. Female lions like to creep up on these animals and then pounce. A cheetah runs down its prey with a great burst of speed.

非洲大草原动物地球上一些最受人喜爱的动物生活在非洲大草原上。 非洲草原是许多动物的家园。 有些动物很大。 有些是小的。有些动物，比如大象，体型巨大。 一头大象每天可以吃大约300磅(140公斤)的植物。 一捆干草重约50磅(23公斤)。 那是每天很多食物!大象用鼻子把草叼进嘴里吃。 猎豹是世界上跑得最快的陆地动物。 他们追逐的动物通常会被抓住。 大群的斑马、角马和羚羊也生活在非洲的大草原上。 这些动物总是在守望。 它们在提防着捕食它们的掠食者，比如高贵的狮子和敏捷的猎豹。 雌狮喜欢爬上这些动物，然后猛扑过去。 猎豹以惊人的速度冲向猎物。