The platypus, also known as duckbill for the shape of its mouth, is one of the oldest animals in the world.

　　This strange animal of Australia has a mouth similar to the bill of the duck. Its bill is soft and it has no teeth in the mouth.

　　The female platypus lays eggs like a bird. But it feeds its baby with milk, which comes out from some gland in the skin and wells up in a “pit”.

　　Because it often swims in water so it has webs on its feet. The glands on its hind feet can secrete poisonous fluid.

　　The platypus lives mainly on insects. On the average, a platypus eats as much food as half of its own weight every day.

　　鸭嘴兽

　　因其嘴巴的形状而得名的鸭嘴兽是世界上最古老的哺乳动物之一。

　　澳大利亚的这种奇怪的动物的嘴巴像鸭嘴，而且它的嘴巴是软的，嘴里也没有牙齿。

　　像雌鸟一样，雌鸭嘴兽也下蛋。但是它却用奶哺育幼兽。它的奶是由皮肤里的腺体分泌的，流出来聚集在一个“坑里”。

　　因为它常在水里游泳，所以它脚上有蹼。它后脚上的腺体能分泌出毒液来。

　　鸭嘴兽主要以吃昆虫为生。一只鸭嘴兽平均每天要吃等于自己体重一半的食物。

　　(文/赵奉贤；英语辅导报初中教师版04~05学年第24期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)