夏说英文晨读打卡-旅美大熊猫“梅香”高龄再产子E0826

▍原文

Giant panda Mei Xiang 

gave birth to a healthy cub 

on Friday 

at the National Zoo in Washington, 

and immediately

began nursing 

and cuddling the tiny new arrival, 

animal care staff said.

It was too early to tell 

whether the infant is male or female 

but the baby

marks the fourth successful pregnancy

for Mei Xiang, 

a 22-year-old panda who, 

because of her advanced age, 

had a slim chance of having a healthy cub, 

zoo officials said.

▍语言点 

give birth to: 分娩；产仔

· She gave birth to twins.

她生了一对双胞胎。

· Our dog gave birth last night.

我们的狗昨晚生了小狗崽。

cub /kʌb/ n. 动物幼崽（尤指哺乳动物）

· 小狗崽puppy，小猫咪kitten，小猪仔piglet

nurse /nɜːrs/ vt. 照顾，照料；养护，培育 n. 护士

· He gave up his job so that he could nurse his mother at home.

他辞去了工作，这样可以在家专心照顾母亲。

· The project will have to be nursed through its first few months.

这个项目在头几个月里必须投入大量精力。

cuddle /'kʌd(ə)l/ vt. 拥抱；（互相）拥抱

· The mother cuddled the baby and sang the lullaby.妈妈抱着小宝宝，唱着摇篮曲。

· cuddle up: 紧挨着坐，依偎

· We cuddled up together and tried to get warm.我们挤在一起，想借此取暖。

mark /mɑːrk/ vt. 标志着，代表着（represent）

at an advanced age: 年纪大的（=in old age）

· senior citizen（=an old person）: （礼貌称呼）老年人

have a slim chance of doing sth. 做某事只有非常小的可能性(强调做成的可能性极小)

· They only have a slim chance of winning.

=It's unlikely that they will win.

他们获胜的机会微乎其微。

· slim chance: 虽然可能性极小但也是有可能的

· There's still a slim chance that we can win.

我们赢的机会仍然很小（但还是有可能会赢的）。