[Magic school bus] The Truth About Bats

생물학적인 정보를 제공해 주는 책이 이렇게 재미있을 수 있다는 게 놀랍다! 책에 적혀진 Reading Level은 3이고 체감 정도도 비슷하다.

Introduction

Ralphie는 Ms. Frizzle 선생님 반 학급 학생들 중 한 명이다. Ralphie가 자신의 선생님에 대해 소개하며 그녀와 함께 했던 현장학습 중 하나에 대해서 소개해준다고 말한다.

She takes us on lots of field trips in the Magic School Bus.

That trip turned out to be some adventure! 그 소풍은 상당한 모험이었어!

 

Chapter1.

That’s got to be the tenth time you’ve taken my picture this week.

 

We didn’t know where we were going, but with Ms. Frizzle for a teacher, we knew it would be far-out.

* far-out: 자유분방한, 관례에 얽매이지 않는, 참신한.

Take your seats.

Yosemite National Park! Home of majestic mountains, wonderful waterfalls, stupendous sequoia trees – and the rare and delightful spotted bat!

* stupendous 놀랄 만한, 놀랄 만큼 큰

 

First of all, bats are not birds. They are mammals, they are the only mammals that can fly. And they don’t suck people’s blood. Vampire bats do eat blood, but from cattle and horses, not people. They don’t really suck the blood. They make a slit and lap up a few drops. Vampire bats are just one kind of bat.

* slit 가늘고 긴 상처.

* lap up: ~을 다 마시다. 핥아 먹다

 

We won’t be running into vampire bats in California anyhow.

*run into 우연히 만나다.

 

You’re batting a thousand there, Tim.

 

Fur	Feathers
Mammals are animals that have fur. They give birth to live young and nurse their offspring with milk.	Birds are animals that have feathers. They lay eggs in nests and keep them warm until the young birds hatch.

 

“Get a load of those pink ears,” ~을 봐.

 

In a moment, we were airborne. 순식간에, 우리가 공중에 떠 있었다.

 

The next thing we knew the bus was tearing along like a jet plane.

 

Chapter2.

Bats aren’t blind. They can see fine, but for most kinds of bats, vision isn’t as important as their other senses.

Bats don’t accidentally fly into things. They have built-in sonar that helps them get around – even in the dark. Bats make clicking sounds as they fly through the air. The clicks are ultrasonic, meaning they are too high-pitched for humans to hear. The clicks bounce off every object to the bat. That’s how they are able to go hunting for food at night.

+ An echo is a reflection of sound. Location is the act of locating, or finding, where something is. So, echolocation is the act of finding something by the echoes it makes.

 

There’s no way a little bat would be out flying around in broad daylight. 그럴 일이 없어.

 

Do we get to stay up late?

We’re going to camp out so we will be right at the scene.

 

At last there was something about this trip she was looking forward to.

 

Why nighttime is a good time for a bat to be out and about:

1)     Its thin wings would get hot in the sun and cause the bat to lose too much water.

2)     There are lots of insects around to eat and hardly any other nighttime insect eaters. In the daytime, bats would have to compete with birds for food.

3)     There are few dangers for the bat at night. Owls and snakes are its biggest problems.

 

Chapter3.

Halfway up a mountain ridge we came upon a large, dark hole. 단

산 등성이 절반정도에서 우리는 크고 어두운 구멍을 하나 발견했다.

 

“I’ll wait out here. There’s no way I’m going in there.”

There’s nothing to be afraid of.

 

Others find good roosting places in trees, barns, or attics of houses.

*roost: 어떤 곳에서 쉬거나 잠자다.

We were surrounded by darkness.

 

That’s bat guano.

*guano: 박쥐나 새들의 배설물(excrement). Bat guano is another name for bat poop! Bat guano can be used to make fertilizer for plants. Bat guano is rich in nitrogen, a chemical that helps plants grow.

 

This looks like the bat sleeping quarters.

* quarters 숙박하는 방, 막사, 구역, 15분, 1/4

 

She looked up and the headlight on her hard hat lit the ceiling.

*lit: 불을 밝혔다. Light의 과거.

 

We didn’t know why the Friz was so upset, but everyone turned around and followed her out of the nursery colony.

*upset = worry

 

I kept yelling but my voice was giving out.

*give out: if a machine or part of your body gives out, it stops working.

 

I thought I saw a glimmer in the dark.

* glimmer: 희미한 빛

 

Chapter 4? 

Was I glad to see the gang!

 

Ralphie could have upset the mothers or caused these newborn pups to fall, and that would have been real trouble for this colony. As it is, gray bats are one of the most endangered mammals in this country.

* As it is = already

 

In fact, most gray-bat homes have a gate across the entrance and a sign warning people to keep out.

 

 

Bat are important to us because they eat tons of insects that are harmful to animals, crops, and people. Some even pollinate flowers as they feed, helping new plants to grow.

* pollinate: 하나의 식물에서 또는 식물의 일부에서 pollen(꽃가루)를 취해서 새로운 식물의 씨앗이 탄생하게 하다.

 

That would be something else!

 

It’s perfectly natural for bats to fly with their mouth open. They’re not being fierce at all. They’re just using echolocation to ‘see’ you. Most bats send out their sonar signals through their mouths.

 

But I’ve seen photos of bats in books, and lots of them are snarling.

* snarl 으르렁거리다.

 

Do you know another way that bats are like cats?

They rhyme?

Bats clean themselves – just like cats – by licking their fur. They are very clean animals.

 

We’re running late. Back to the copter. We should be in California by now.

우리 늦어지고 있어. 헬기로 가자.

 

The kids crouched with their arms spread and opened their mouths.

* crouch 숙이다. 웅크리다.

* cockpit: 비행기 조종석, 운전석

 

We climbed into the bus-copter and took off in a cloud of whirling dust.

 

 

Chapter5.

The bus-jet made a steep turn and headed downward. 급격하게 방향을 틀었다.

* make a turn 방향을 전환하다.

Below we could see snow-capped mountains above green valleys. Rivers that looked like shiny ribbons snaked their way through the valley.

꼭대기가 눈으로 덮인 산

*cap: 모자, 뚜껑, 산꼭대기, 최고점,

*snake: move along a route that includes a lot of twists or bends 굽이치며 이어지다. 굽이치며 나아가다.

+ snake its way

 

We piled out and stood staring at the sight. All around us were humongous mountains. One looked as if a chunk had been sliced off the top.

*look as if ~처럼 보이다.

 

We could see three waterfalls tumbling down the sides of tall stone cliffs.

*tumble: 굴러 떨어지다. 넘어지다. 무너지다.

 

There are a lot of other fabulous sights here.

* fabulous = good, excellent

 

A man wearing a green uniform and a hat with a wide brim came up to us.

* brim: 챙

 

It was good to see it back in its normal form. 학교버스가 원래의 형태로 돌아가 있는 것을 보니 좋았다.

 

Just when I was starting to have fun, I almost forgot why we came.

 

Well, I know that Ms. Frizzle has her heart set on seeing the spotted bat.

*have one’s heart[mind] set on = set one’s heart on 어떤 것을 성취하거나 얻기를 열망하다. ~하려고 결심하다.

예) she’s set her heart on having a pony.

 

There’s no way of telling what kind of bats we will catch tonight when we go mist-netting.

~할 방도가 없어.

 

Soon we turned off the main highway and onto a road that went through the woods.

 

Home sweet home! 즐거운 나의 집!

 

Where are the cabins? 오두막집들

 

There’s nothing here but grass and trees.

 

Ms. Frizzle knew that Arnold did not always like to rough it. Oops, I think I got that wrong. Arnold never liked to rough it.

* rough it 캠프나 여행에서 불편한 생활을 하다. 잠시 불편한 조건에서 살다.

 

Chapter6.

We need these hip waders.

*wader 물 속을 걸어서 건너는 사람. 물 속을 걷기 위한 방수 장화

 

We call this a ‘mist net’ because it’s as filmy as mist,” the ranger said.

* filmy: 매우 가늘고 투명한

*ranger 관리원, 경비원

 

In about half an hour, 약 30분 내에,

 

Just then we heard the clanging of a bell. “Chow time!”

* clang 쨍그랑 소리, 쨍하고 울리며 움직이다.

* Chow time 식사 시간

 

She had changed into another bat outfit and had a campfire going on the bank of the river.

 

We’re having a cookout!

* have a cookout 야외 요리파티를 하다.

 

Everybody dug in and enjoyed the cookout.

 

May I be excused?

 

He waded into the river and came back with something cupped in his hands.

* cupped 찻잔처럼 움푹한, 찻잔 모양의

 

The membrane is made up of two thin layers of skin containing blood vessels, nerves, and tendons.

* tendons 힘줄들,

 

He cupped the tiny Yum-yum in his hands again.

 

Chapter7.

The class stood on the bank of the river watching bats zipping in from directions.

*zip: go quickly 매우 빨리 움직이거나 매우 빨리 가다.

 

Look how fast those bats zero in on the insects.

* zero in on sth: 특정한 사람이나 사물에 당신의 모든 주의를 돌리다. 조준을 하다. 목표를 겨냥하다

 

Most of the bats darted over or around the mist nets, but every now and then one got caught.

* every now and then 가끔, 때때로

 

…when Ranger Mike showed us the brown furry creature clinging to his glove.

* cling to ~: 에 매달리다. ~에 달라붙다. ~을 고수하다

 

In the U.S. they live in all forty-eight of the continental states.

여기서 they는 bats.

 

No sooner had we let the big brown bat go than we had more action at the nets.

우리가 the big brown bat를 놓아주자 마자, 우리는 망에서 더 많은 움직임을 얻었다.

 

In the next instant it seemed to stop in midair.

* midair 공중, 허공

 

This is a bat – and then some! Come and meet the western mastiff, the largest bat in the U.S.A.

* and then some: and even more 그 보다 더

 

Only in self-defense. But it’s best not to mess around with any bats. Some have strong jaws and could give you a bad bite.

* mess around 빈둥거리다 = spend time doing various things that are not important. 꾸물대다, 난폭하게 굴다 = behave in a stupid or annoying way.

 

Bats carry a bad disease called rabies.

* rabies: 동물에 의해서 사람에게 옮아서 죽음으로 몰 수 있는 질병

 

Bats that feed on soft insects, such as moths, have weak jaws and soft bites. But bats that feed on beetles or other crunchy insects have stronger jaws to bite down hard.

* bite down 물다.

 

Ranger Mike had to climb onto a rock to set the mastiff free. “This one needs at least six feet of free fall to get airborne,”

* free fall 자유 낙하; 물체의 중력에 의한 낙하

* airborne: 비행 중인, 하늘 높이 뜬, 공중으로 올라가는

 

She opened it – and out flew a cloud of silvery moths. They seemed to blink like fireflies in the darkness.

* silvery: 은빛의

* blink 깜박이다.

 

Chapter8.

He waded into the cold waster and carefully untangled the prize. 포획물, 뜻밖의 횡재

 

We couldn’t do this with every wild animal, but Bugs seems to be taking it in stride.

* take sth in your stride: 수월하게 해내다. Deal with a problem or difficulty calmly and not to allow it to influence what you are doing.

 

A wild animal’s home is a place where it can roam. Bus needs wide-open spaces to survive.

* roam 돌아다니다. 배회하다.

 

This bat is too precious to nature for us to even think about taking him away from his home.

 

Chapter9.

Rise and shine, sleepyheads! 잠꾸러기들

 

Ms. Frizzle had fixed a big lunch for us – hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, and potato chips. The food was as good today as it had been the night before.

* as it had been the night before. 지난 밤에 그랬던 것처럼.

 

Everybody grab a life preserver.

* life preserver 구명조끼 또는 구명벨트

 

This turned out to be fun after all.

 

Have a good trip home. I’m mighty glad you came. So long, and have a good summer.

* So long = goodbye 잘 있어. 또 만나

 

We hadn’t been airborne for long when the bat-o-meter started beeping like mad.

 

Not much later we landed in a parking lot in a large city.

얼마 지나지 않아

 

No other state is home to so many different kinds of bats – thirty-two at last count. 최근 집계로는

 

Fewer bats mean more insects; more insects mean more disease and more damage to crops that provide the food we eat. We should all do our part to protect the bats that dive and dart in the night sky.

*We should all do our part: 우리 모두는 우리의 본분을 다 해야 한다.

 

, but the big brown bat is the record holder.

* record holder 기록 보유자