by Adeline and Alexa

翻译：折耳猫

在南美洲的亚马孙河流域，生长着一种奇特的睡莲，它有“水中大力士”之称，其叶子能托起一个小孩，而且花的颜色一天一变，因此又被称为“善变的女神”。

The Victoria Amazonica, or the1)giant2)water lily, is the largest plant in the family of water lilies. It grows in the3)shallow waters in the4)Amazon river.

The flower of the Victoria Amazonica

The flower of the Victoria Amazonica5)blooms only at night. The flower is about the size of a soccer ball! Th e flower only blooms for a few days. It first blooms white and becomes pink the second night. It needs to be6)pollinated. The flower can7)release a sweet smell that8)attracts9)beetles. There can be up to 40 beetles staying inside the flower when it closes in the morning.When the flower opens at night the beetles come out taking10)pollen with them to pollinate other flowers. The flower then turns purple and on the third day it dies.

The leaf of the Victoria Amazonica

The leaf of the Victoria Amazonica can grow up to 46cm in size. The leaves are very strong and they can even hold a child!

How does it protect itself?

The giant water lily grows11)thorns on the bottom of the leaf to protect itself from fish and other animals.

1) giant ['dʒaɪənt] adj. 巨大的

2) water lily 睡莲

3) shallow ['ʃæləʊ] adj. 浅的

4) Amazon ['æməzən] n. 亚马孙河（南美洲大河）

5) bloom [bluːm] v. 开花

6) pollinate ['pɒlɪneɪt] v. 对……授粉

7) release [rɪ'liːs] v. 释放

8) attract [ə'trækt] v. 吸引

9) beetle ['biːtl] n. 甲壳虫

10) pollen ['pɒlɪn] n. 花粉

11) thorn [θɔːn] n. 刺

参考译文

亚马孙王莲或巨型睡莲是睡莲科最大的植物，长于亚马孙河浅水域。

亚马孙王莲的花

亚马孙王莲的花仅在夜间开放，花型硕大如足球！花期仅有几天。最初花是白色的，第二晚则变为粉红。它需要借助外力授粉。它的花会释放一种香甜的味道以吸引甲壳虫。早上花苞合拢的时候，能困住多达40只甲壳虫。当花儿在夜晚开放时，甲壳虫便带着花粉离开然后给其他花授粉。随后，花朵变为紫色，第三天就凋谢了。

亚马孙王莲的叶

亚马孙王莲的叶可长至46厘米，非常结实，可以承载一个小孩！

亚马孙王莲的盾

王莲叶子的底部长有刺，可使它免受鱼和其他动物的伤害。

名师考点小结

protect sb./sth. from sth. 保护，防护

（1）地震中我们应该如何保护自己呢？

How can we ____ _____ _____ the ____.

（2）我们应该如何预防流感？

How can we _________ _____ the____.

（3）尽量保护皮肤免受太阳晒。

____ ____ _____your skin ____ the sun.