Ａ Ｂｉｇ Ｔｉｇｅｒ Ｈｕｎｔｉｎｇ ｆｏｒ Ｆｏｏｄ

It was still at night. A big tiger came out of his hole(2) to look for food.

“There is a shadow(3). Aha! I have got

something to eat，” he ran quietly toward the shadow and shouted. “ I am going to eat you up!”

“Go ahead! Big tiger!” replied the shadow.

“Oh! What a fool I have met!” the tiger rushed at it and gave it a huge bite(4).

“Ouch! Ouch! How my mouth pains(5)! Who are you on earth(6)?”the tiger cried.

“Haha! I am an urchin.”

“My god! I have found a wrong person，” the tiger left with his mouth crooked(7).

The tiger walked forward step by step. Once again， a sound came out of the woods. It was again a shadow. The tiger moved to it quietly and shouted， “ Are you an urchin?”

“No， I am not.”

“Oh! I am going to eat you up!”

“Go ahead! Big tiger!” said the shadow.

“Aha! I have met another fool，” the tiger opened his mouth wide and threw himself on it.

“Ouch! Ouch! How painful my mouth is! Who are you on earth?”

“Haha! You know only about an urchin but nothing about a mole.”

“My god! I have again found a wrong person，” the tiger said and left with an askew(8) mouth.

The tiger walked on slowly. Once again， he heard something in the woods. It was still a shadow. The tiger came up to it and asked in a loud voice，

“Are you an urchin?”

“No， I am not.”

“Are you a mole then?”

“No， I am not.”

“Oh! I am going to eat you up!”

“Go ahead! Big tiger!” said the shadow.

“Aha! I have found a third fool，” the tiger attacked(9) the shadow with his sharp teeth.

“Ouch! Ouch! My mouth! Who are you on earth?”

“Haha! You know only about urchins and moles， but you forget the hedgepig that also has thorns(10).”

“My god! I myself turned out to be a big fool!” At that time， it was going to dawn(11) and the tiger had to go back to his hole with an empty stomach and slanting(12) mouth.

（1）hunting for 捕食

（2）hole 洞穴

（3）shadow 影子

（4）give it a huge bite

大大地咬了一口(gave 是give 的過去式)

（5）pain 這里是動詞，疼痛

（形容詞是painful， 意為“疼痛的”，見下文）

（6）on earth 究竟

（7）crooked 是crook的過去分詞，這里表示“被弄彎了的”

（8）askew歪斜的

（9）attack 攻擊

（10）thorn 刺

（11）dawn 破曉，天亮

（12）slanting是動詞slant現在分詞，歪的

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這是一篇妙趣橫生的小故事，大老虎餓了，想去找吃的，可是為什么最后什么也沒吃到，還傷了自己的嘴巴？因為它遇到了三個不同尋常的動物urchin， mole和hedgepig（文中帶下劃線的單詞）。同學們，查一查字典，你知道它們是三種什么動物嗎？再找一找，看看能不能找到其它有趣的動物詞匯？

難度系數：☆☆☆☆