原文
THE FOX AND THE DUCKS
On a summer day,a man sitting on the bank of a river,in the shade of some bushes,watched a flock of ducks on the stream.
Soon a branch with leaves came drifting among them,and they all took wing.After circling in the air for a little time,they settled down again on their feeding ground.
Soon another branch came drifting down among them,and again they took flight from the river;but when they found the branch had drifted by and done them no harm,they flew down to the water as before.
After four or five branches had drifted by in this way,the ducks gave little heed to them.At length, they hardly tried to fly out of their way,even when the branches nearly touched them.
The man who had been watching all this,now began to wonder who had set these branches adrift.
He looked up the stream,and spied a fox slyly watching the ducks.'What will he do next?' thought the man.
When the fox saw that the ducks were no longer afraid of the branches,he took a much larger branch than any he had yet used,and stretched himself upon it so as to be almost hidden.Then he set it afloat as he had the others.
Right among the flock drifted the sly old fox,and, making quick snaps to right and left,he seized two fine young ducks,and floated off with them.
The rest of the flock flew away in fright,and did not come back for a long time.
The fox must have had a fine dinner to pay him for his cunning, patient work.
译文
狐狸和鸭子
夏日的一天，有个人坐在河边灌木丛的阴凉下，看着小溪中的一群鸭子。
一会儿，一根带着几片叶子树枝漂到了它们中间。鸭子们都张开翅膀飞起来，在空中盘旋一小会儿后，又落到了它们的觅食地。
很快，另一根树枝也漂到了它们中间。鸭子再次从河里飞起来逃离。当它们发现树枝漂走了，并且没有对它们造成伤害后，它们又像从前那样落到了水里。
当四五根树枝都流经这里后，鸭子们只是稍稍留意了一下它们。最后，甚至在树枝快要碰到它们时，也不再试图飞起来了。
这个人看到了全过程，他开始纳闷是谁把这些树枝放在水里让它们漂过去。
他抬头看了看河流，发现一只狐狸正阴险地注视着鸭子们。“它下一步会做什么呢？”这个人想。
当这只狐狸看到鸭子们不再害怕树枝后，它搬来一个比以前用过的更大的树枝，然后直挺挺地趴在上面藏起来。然后它让这个树枝漂到水里，就像它以前做过的一样。
狡猾的老狐狸准确无误地漂到了鸭群中，突然向左右快速猛咬。它捉住了两只漂亮的小鸭子，然后离开了水面。
其余的鸭子惊吓地飞离水面，很久也没再回来。
那只狐狸肯定享用了一顿美妙的晚餐，来犒劳自己狡猾而耐心的劳动。
单词
1.bank [bæŋk] n.银行；岸；浅滩；储库
2.shade [ʃeɪd] n.阴凉处; 背阴; (树) 荫; 灯罩; 浓淡深浅; 色度
3.bush [bʊʃ] n.灌木; 灌木状的东西
4.flock [flɒk] n.(羊或鸟) 群; (尤指同类人的) 一大群
5.stream [striːm] n.小河; 溪; 流; (液) 流; (气) 流; (人) 流; (车) 流
6.branch [brɑːntʃ] n.树枝; 分支; 分部; 分行
7.leaves [liːvz]叶; 叶片; 叶子(leaf的复数)
※8.drift [ˈdrɪftɪŋ] v.漂流; 漂移; 飘; 缓缓移动; 缓慢行走
9.wing [wɪŋ] n.(鸟、昆虫或蝙蝠) 翅膀，翼
10.circle [ˈsɜːkl] v.(尤指在空中) 盘旋，环行，转圈
11.settle down 定居，安顿下来; （历经磨难或变化后） 平定下来，平静下来; 集中精力做
12.feeding [fiːd] v.给(人或动物)食物; 喂养; 饲养
※13.take flight [flaɪt] 逃走; 逃离; 逃避
14.harm [hɑːm] n.伤害; 损害
15.flow down 流下; 流下来; 流程一贯
16.at length 终究; 终归; 最终; 长久地; 详尽地
※17.adrift [əˈdrɪft] adj.漂浮; 漂流; 漫无目的
18.spied [spaɪd] v.从事间谍活动; 搜集情报; 突然看见; 发现
19.slyly adv.狡猾地；秘密地；俏皮地
20.stretch [stretʃ] v.拉长; 拽宽; 撑大
21.hidden [ˈhɪdn] adj.难以看见(或发现)的; 隐藏的; (地方) 隐秘的
22.afloat [əˈfləʊt] adj.(在水上) 漂浮; 有偿债能力; 能维持下去
23.sly [slaɪ] adj.诡诈的; 狡诈的; 诡秘的
※24.snap [snæp] v.(使喀嚓) 断裂，绷断; (使啪地) 打开，关上，移到某位置
※25.seize [siːz] v.抓住; 捉住; 夺; (常指通过暴力突然) 夺取，攻占，控制; 逮捕; 捉拿; 俘获
26.in fright 惊恐地
※27.cunning [ˈkʌnɪŋ] adj.狡猾的; 奸诈的; 诡诈的; 灵巧的; 精巧的; 巧妙的
备注：※号的单词只需了解，初中阶段无需掌握
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