Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.

〖 精读笔记 〗

◆magnificent /mæɡˈnɪfɪsnt/ adj. 壮丽的;令人印象深刻的

◆called True Stories from Nature 可以看做非限制性定语修饰a book（解释补充说明）

◆primeval /praɪˈmivəl/ adj. 原始的

◆forest /ˈfɒr.ɪst/ n.森林；林区

◆a boa constrictor 一条蟒蛇

◆boa /'bəʊə/ n. 蟒

◆constrictor /kən'strɪktə/ n. 大蟒

◆in the act of doing (sth.) 正在做某事时

◆swallow /'swɒləʊ/ v. 吞下

◆copy /ˈkɒp.i/ n.复制品，仿制品；副本

In the book it said,“Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”

I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:

〖 精读笔记 〗

◆swallow sth. whole 把……囫囵吞下

◆prey /preɪ/ n[U].猎物 v.捕食

◆whole /həʊl/ adj. 完整的

◆chew /tʃuː/ vt.咀嚼

◆be able to do sth 能够做某事；有能力做某事

◆digestion /daɪˈdʒestʃən/ n.消化；消化能力

◆ponder /ˈpɒn.dər/ v.沉思，默想，考虑

　　ponder on/over/upon斟酌；仔细考虑；沉思（某事）

　　e.g.

　　I pondered hard over the reply to his letter.

　　我绞尽脑汁考虑该如何给他回信。

◆adventure /ədˈventʃər/ n.冒险，历险；奇遇

◆jungle /ˈdʒʌŋɡəl/ n.热带丛林

◆succeed in doing 成功地做某事

◆drawing /'drɔː(r)ɪŋ/ n. 图画

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.

But they answered,“Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened bya hat?”

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:

〖 精读笔记 〗

◆show sth. to sb. 把某物给某人看

◆masterpiece /'mɑːstəpiːs/ n. 杰作

◆ask sb. sth. 询问某人某事

◆whether the drawing frightened them 宾语从句

◆frighten /'fraɪt(ə)n/ v.使惊恐;吓唬

◆be frightened by... 被……吓坏(吓一跳)

◆digest /daɪ'dʒest/ v.消化

◆digesting an elephant 现在分词短语作后置定语

◆inside /ɪnˈsaɪd/ n.里面，内部

◆so that 引导目的状语从句，意为“以便;为了”

◆have sth. done 使（让，要，叫）某事被做（过去分词表示的动作由其他人完成）

　　e.g.

　　I had your rooms cleaned and aired.

　　我请人打扫了你的房间并通了风。

◆explain /ɪkˈspleɪn/ v.解释，说明