3 Rain Forests

Tropical rain forests grow near the equator, in the hottest parts of the world. Rain forests are always wet. The moisture just never dries up.

The trees in a rain forest are very tall and have very few limbs. The leaves are all at the top. They form a high ceiling. Very little sunlight comes through the leaves. Inside a rain forest it is as dark and quiet as a church.

There are very few low-growing plants on the rain forest floor. Walking through a rain forest is like being at a circus’s high trapeze show—the most exciting things are happening high above the ground. Monkeys swing on vines, with baby monkeys on their backs. Large snakes crawl from branch to branch. Giant bats make squeaky noises.

The animals that stay near the ground are fascinating, too. The gentle tapir, which looks like a small horse with a long nose, covers itself with mud from head to foot. When the mud dries, it forms a kind of armor. It protects the tapir from biting insects. Another ground animal is the anteater. It has a long, sticky tongue that works like a fly trap. But the tongue is really an ant trap. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner the anteater eats nothing but ants, ants, and more ants!

3 雨林 热带雨林生长在赤道附近，世界上最热的地区。雨林总是很潮湿，水分从不干涸。

雨林里的树非常高，树枝很少。树叶都长在顶部，形成了一个高高的顶棚。很少有阳光能透过树叶照进来。雨林内部像教堂一样黑暗而安静。

雨林地面上几乎没有低矮的植物。穿过雨林就像在看马戏团的高空秋千表演——最精彩的事情都发生在离地面很高的地方。猴子在藤蔓上荡来荡去，背上还带着小猴子。大蛇在树枝间爬行。巨型蝙蝠发出吱吱的叫声。

待在地面附近的动物也很迷人。温顺的貘看起来像长着长鼻子的小马，从头到脚都沾满了泥。当泥干了之后，就形成了一种盔甲，保护貘免受咬人的昆虫的侵害。另一种地面动物是食蚁兽。它有一条长长的、黏糊糊的舌头，就像捕蝇器一样工作，但这条舌头实际上是捕蚁器。食蚁兽的早餐、午餐和晚餐除了蚂蚁还是蚂蚁，吃了又吃！