威爾斯美語板橋分校

If you saw pictures of my brother as a baby, you’d be impressed. It’s not that he was especially cute; it’s that he grew from forty centimeters to over 180 centimeters. What you may not know, though, is he has fewer bones in his big body than he did in his baby body.

你要是看過我弟小時候的照片, 你肯定會感到印象深刻. 不是因為他特別可愛, 而是因為他居然從40公分長到超過180公分. 但你可能不知道, 他長大後身上的骨頭比嬰兒時期少.

Vocabulary
1. impress (v.) 使印象深刻
2. especially (adv.) 特別地

My brother is not special in having fewer bones now. Almost all newborns have about 300 bones. As adults, we end up with about 206 bones, as long as we don’t break a leg into pieces on a ski trip.

我弟的骨頭變少這件事並非特例. 多數新生兒約有300根骨頭. 只要我們沒有在滑雪時把骨頭跌斷, 成年後, 我們身上的骨頭會剩下約206根.

Vocabulary
1. newborn (n.) 新生兒
2. adult (n.) 成人
3. end up 最後成為…..
4. as long as 只要

As babies get older, some of the separate bones grow together to become a single, larger bone. A baby’s skull is made up of five separate pieces. These pieces get larger, and by the time we reach our teens, their edges have fused into one solid bone. If the skull started out in one piece, there wouldn’t be enough room for our growing brain!

嬰兒成長時, 有些骨頭會合而為一, 長成一塊較大的骨頭. 嬰兒的頭骨有5片, 會逐漸長大, 等到我們成為青少年時, 這5片骨頭的邊緣會結合起來, 形成一整塊堅固的頭骨. 如果頭骨一開始就是一整片的話, 那就沒有足夠的空間給我們日漸長大的腦囉!

Vocabulary
1. separate (adj.) 個別的; 單獨的
2. single (adj.) 單一的
3. skull (n.) 頭骨
4. fuse (v.) 結合

Even though he has fewer bones than he used to, my baby brother now towers over me. I think some bones just don’t want to stop growing!

即使我弟現在的骨頭比以前少, 但是他可比我高得多, 看來有些骨頭會長不停!

Vocabulary
1. tower over 高過; 聳立