Bison野牛

楼主改写英语并翻译为汉语，英语汉语对照，发帖子于此，供网友参考。

When American settlers beganto explore the American West, they marveled at the large, shaggybrown animals they saw running in great herds (1). These animalswere bison, or American buffaloes. 当美国的开拓者开始美国西部探险时，他们面对长着褐色粗毛的大块头动物，感到惊讶不已，他们看到这些动物一大群一大群地在奔跑。这些动物是野牛，或者叫美洲水牛。

The American bison,or buffaloes, once roamed the western prairies. Today, only a fewthousand remain, mostly on protected, fenced game reserves(2). 美洲野牛，或者水牛，曾经在西部草原上自由地游来走去。现在，只剩下几千头了，大部分在有栅栏的野生动物保护区内。

The bison is a hoofedanimal with a humped back and long, coarse hair. The male bison, orbull, ranks as the biggest mammal in North America. He may be tenfeet long, and as much as six feet tall at theshoulder. 野牛是有蹄动物，背部有隆肉，毛粗而长。雄性野牛，或叫公牛，是北美洲最大的哺乳动物。它可能有10英尺长，肩部高度可达6英尺。

The female, or cow,is smaller, and her coat is lighter brown. Both sexes have small,short horns that curve inward. 雌性野牛，或叫母牛，个儿要小一些，皮的褐色要浅一些。雄性和雌性野牛都有向内弯曲的短小的角

The start of themating season is announced in late summer by loud bellowing, asbulls fight to choose their mates. 夏末，公野牛为选择配偶，相互角斗，大声咆哮，宣布配偶季节来临。

A single calf is bornto each mother (3) the next spring. In a few days the young can runwith the herd in the constant search for grass.次年春天，野牛妈妈生下唯一的牛犊。几天之内，小野牛便能够一直跟着牛群奔跑，寻找青草。

American Indians oncehunted bison for their meat, hides, horns, hoofs, and sinews. Whitesettlers and hunters then discovered the valuableanimal. 美洲印第安人曾经捕猎野牛，以获取牛肉、牛皮、牛角和牛筋。接着，白人开拓者和猎人发现了这种值钱的动物。

Fewer than 600 bisonwere left by 1899 （4）, because thousandsof bison were slaughtered. 由于成千上万地屠杀野牛，到1899年，剩下的野牛不到600头。