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Lesson 34 Barley
第34课 大麦
I know some children who are very fond of growing seeds of all kinds in pots. Sometimes they fill a flower-pot rather more than half-full with moist sand. On the top of this damp sand they sprinkle some grains of barley, and then they cover them well with more sand.
我认识一些小朋友，他们非常喜欢在花盆里种花，什么种子都种。有时候他们在花盆里装上大半盆湿沙子，在沙子上面撒上点儿大麦粒，再用沙子盖住。
The sand is kept moist, and in a week or two the children are glad to see pretty little green shoots of grass growing up.
保持沙子的湿润，过一两个星期，小朋友们就能高兴地看见，绿色的草芽长出来啦！
But can grass come from barley seeds? Yes; barley is a kind of grass. And wheat, oats, rye, rice, and maize are also grasses, which once grew wild in the fields. These grasses have now been taken care of, or cultivated, for thousands of years;and so they have become much larger than the grasses which we still find growing wild in the lanes and meadows.
但是，大麦粒也能长出草来么？能。大麦也是一种草。小麦、燕麦、黑麦、稻米、玉米也都是草，以前是在野地里野生的。人类的祖先把这些野草栽种，也就是“培养”了上千年，于是它们长得比野草个头大多了。现在，我们在乡间小路和草地上，还能找到这些野草呢。
We shall not likely get barley plants grown in pots to produce flowers or seeds; for to do that they need the earth, and the rain, and the bright sunshine, which they get in the open fields.
花盆里的大麦植株，是不大可能开花结果的，因为，大麦要开花结果，需要足够的泥土、雨水，还有明亮的阳光；这些只有在屋外的田野里才能得到。
The barley plant has long slender green leaves, and a hollow, jointed stem. At the top of each stem, a number of tiny green flowers grow one above another in the form of a spike. Each little flower forms a seed; and then the flowers drop off, and the seeds swell, while the green stem turns to yellow straw.
大麦植株，长着又细又长的绿叶，和一个中空、分节的茎。茎的顶端，有很多绿色的小花，上下排列，样子就像一个锥子。每朵花都会长出一个种子，然后花就凋谢了。种子会长大，绿色的茎也会变成黄色的麦秆。
