EveryonehasheardofGroundhogDay(土拨鼠日).ItisaminorAmericanholiday.GermanandBritishsettlersintroducedit.51Theythoughtthatthegroundhogawakensfromitswinter’ssleeponFebruary2.Thegroundhogcomesout

Question

  Everyone has heard of Groundhog Day(土拨鼠日). It is a minor American holiday. German and British settlers introduced it.    51   

  They thought that the groundhog awakens from its winter’s sleep on February 2. The groundhog comes out of its hole. If the sun is shining it will see its shadow. The shadow scares it. So it runs back into its hold. This means six more weeks of winter. If the day is cloudy it will not see its shadow. Since it is not scared it stays out of its hole.    52     These are the same things we say on Groundhog Day today.

     53     They are known mainly to country people. City people just don’t know how to look for them. to the city people a groundhog sitting straight by its hole may look like a root. It could also be seen as a clod(块) of earth. Or it may look like a broken fence-post. But a farmer may see groundhogs anywhere he looks. They’ll be watching like sentinels(哨兵).

  The groundhog is a native American.    54     It may also appear as far north as Alaska. It is hated by farmers. the groundhog eats a third of its weight in a day. What an enormous appetite! It may eat about a half-ton of alfalfa(苜蓿) in a summer. So 10 groundhogs in a big field would eat five tons.

  Why do groundhogs eat so much? To prepare for winter.    55     This extra food is changed to fat. This fat is what they live on during their long winter’s sleep.

A.      Here is what they believed.

B.      Groundhogs are strange animals.

C.      This means that spring will soon come.

D.     In the fall when food is plentiful they fill up.

E.      It is found in most states east of the Rockies.

F.      There are several ways to protect the groundhog.

G.     While it is not one of your major holidays it is on that children tend to love.

Answer 1

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