英国学生科学读本 Lesson 61 雪花莲(2)
用一把小刀将这个种皮切开，就能看到里面尚未成熟的绿色小种。
Within the flower of the snow-drop you can see some green stripes on the white leaves; and as you are looking closely at it, you may perhaps notice that the flower has a sweet smell. Both the smell and the green marks attractflying insects to the flower, and guide them down into its honey-cup. These insects, as you know, carry the pollendust from flower to flower, and so help the snow-drops to form their seeds.
你可以看到，雪花莲花朵里面的白色花瓣上有一些绿色条纹;凑近观察，你还会闻到甜美的花香。这种香味与绿色条纹都能够吸引飞虫并引导它们来到自己的蜜腺之中。大家知道，这些昆虫可以携带花粉并且在花朵之间进行传播。如此一来，雪花莲便能够结出果实。
Why do the flowers of the snow-drop hang down their heads? If they did not do so, the heavy rains of early spring would soon wash all the honey out of their cups, and all the pollen dust from their dust-spikes. In February the insects go to sleep in the afternoon, and then, too, the snow-drop shuts up its blossoms; they do not open till the next morning, when the insects are again on the wing.
雪花莲为什么总是低着头呢?如果它们不是保持这种姿态，那么早春的大雨一定会将蜜腺中的花蜜与雄蕊中的花粉全部冲洗一空。到了二月，昆虫们在午后时分都会沉沉睡去，而雪花莲也会闭合自己的花朵。到了第二天清晨，昆虫们又开始挥舞翅膀，采集花粉;而雪花莲则再次绽放。
Do you know any other plant which is very much like the snow-drop? After the snow-drop has gone, the pretty yellow daffodil appears in the woods during March and April. If you pull a daffodil flower to pieces, you will find that in the number of its parts, and in the way in which they are arranged, it is very like the snow-drop. The daffodil—or "Lent-lily" as it is also called—grows very well in a garden, or in a flower-pot. You must plant the bulbs in the autumn, and they will flower in the next spring.
你还知道其他与雪花莲相似的植物吗?到了三四月份，雪花莲凋谢之后，漂亮的黄色水仙花就出现在了树林之中。如果你分解开一朵水仙花，就会发现，它的花朵结构与花瓣数量都与雪花莲非常相似。无论是在花园还是在花盆中，水仙花(又名“百合花”)都能够顺利生长。记住，水仙花的鳞茎必须在秋天种下，这样它们就能够在来年春天开出美丽的花朵。
英语美文
