冬天來了

Winter is the last season of the year. The weather gets colder， days gets shorter， leaves turn colors and fall off the trees. We put on warm clothes in winter. But what about animals and plants？ We don’t see too many animals in winter. Where are they？ How do they spend those cold days？ Let’s find out.

Most birds， such as swallows（燕子） and swans（天鵝）， can’t stand（忍受） cold weather. When winter comes， they fly to warmer places. This is called migration（遷徙）. It’s a long way to go. And the trip can be dangerous（危險的）. So many of them travel in large groups together. Insects（昆蟲）， like butterflies and moths（飛蛾）， also travel long distances（距離） in the winter.

Animals like bears， squirrels， snakes and hedgehogs（刺猬） don’t like cold weather， either. But they don’t migrate（遷徙）. They hibernate（冬眠）. They eat a lot in autumn. Then， they find a den（獸穴） for their winter sleep. After they find a good place， they sleep in it for months. They don’t eat or drink at all during their sleep. It’s impossible（不可能的） to wake them up until next spring.

Some animals stay active（活躍的） in the winter， for example， weasels（黃鼠狼）， rabbits， sparrows（麻雀） and deer（鹿）. They can adapt to（適應） the changing（變化的） weather. To keep warm， they grow new， thicker（更厚的） fur（毛皮） or feathers（羽毛） in autumn. And they know food is hard to find in the winter， so they gather（收集） food in autumn to eat later.

Plants like sunflowers（向日葵） live for only one year and die（死去）. Each flower leaves behind（留下） many seeds（種子）. These seeds can grow into new plants when spring comes.

Plants like the cactus（仙人掌） stop growing in winter. They go to sleep like some animals.

Pines（松樹） and cypress trees（柏樹） are not afraid of winter. They can stand（經受） both the cold and the wind.

True or False？

1. Butterflies and most birds fly to warmer places in winter. （ ）

2. Weasels will sleep during the whole winter. （ ）

3. Sunflowers live for only one year. （ ）

（答案請見P48）