HIPPOS CAN’T SWIM?

HIPPOS CAN’T SWIM?

河馬不會游泳？

本篇適合：閱讀、挑戰

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河馬不會游泳？相信很多同學對此會感到很驚訝吧？我們平時在動物園里看到的河馬不都待在水里的嗎？

另外，河馬的樣子看起來呆萌呆萌的，似乎不會傷人。事實果真如此嗎？來，讀讀下面這篇文章，讓我們重新認識一下河馬吧。

by 璇璣

The hippo is also called the “river horse”. It is the third largestmammalonland(after the whiterhinosand the elephant).

Hipposspenda lot of their time in the water, like rivers and lakes. Sometimes they walk a long way to find water.In facthippos walk in the water. They can’t swim.They can stay in the water for a very long time with their eyes and earsabovetolook out for enemies.

Word Power

hippo ['h?p??] n. 河馬（復數：hippos）

mammal['m?m?l] n. 哺乳動物

land[l?nd] n. 陸地

rhino['ra?n??] n. 犀牛（復數：rhinos）

spend[spend] v. 花（時間）

in fact[?n f?kt] 事實上

above[?'b?v] adv. 在上面

look out for[l?k a?t f??] 留神提防

enemy['en?m?] n. 敵人（復數：enemies）

Fun Nature奇趣大自然

Hippos do not have anysweat glands.That’s why they spend most of their time under water.

You canprobably hold your breathfor only a few seconds,but hippos can stay underwater forup to30 minutes.

Hippos can run very fast, but they cannot run a long way.

Hippos don’t eat meat. They often eat grass.

A hippo can live up to 50 years.

Word Power

sweat [swet] n. 汗

gland[gl?nd] n. 腺（復數：glands）

probably['pr?b?b(?)l?] adv. 可能

hold one’s breath屏住氣

up to[?p t?] 直到······

natural enemy['n?t??r?l 'en?m?] 天敵（復數：natural enemies）

crocodile['kr?k?da?l] n. 鱷魚（復數：crocodiles）

among[?'m??] prep. ······之一

神燈小精靈來回答大家幾個問題：

Q: Why can’t hippos swim?

A: Because they are too heavy. Only a young hippo can swim under water.

Q: What are thenatural enemiesof hippos?

A: Lions,crocodiles.

Q: Are hippos dangerous?

A: Yes. Hippos areamongthe most dangerous animals in the world.

Let's Try

判斷對錯。正確的填T，錯誤的填F。

( ) The hippo is the third largest animal in the world.

( ) Hippos eat fi sh.

( ) Hippos run slowly.

( ) Hippos spend a lot of their time in the water.

中文大意及答案請見第47頁。