An Earthworm

陳傳光

Im an earthworm. Welcome to my home！ I live in a wonderful place withplenty of food， fresh air， and just the right amount of moisture2.

When some people come into my home， all they see is dirt3. Soil4 is a lotmore than dirt. Soil includes partly dissolved5 rocks and minerals6.

Soil contains water and air， too. They are good things for me. I need water tokeep my skin moist. I get air from the soil. Can you believe it？ I breathe throughmy skin！

Soil also has humus7 in it. Humus is small bits of dead plants and animals.Humus is usually brown or black， so it can change the color of the soil. Humus iswhat I eat.

My home has different layers. The top layer is full of humus， lots of roots， andplenty of air and water. The middle layer has small rocks and some humus. Thebottom layer is made up of tree roots and bedrock. I mostly live in the top twolayers where there is food， air， and water.

I do a lot to fix up my home. When I eat humus， I make it into even smallerbits. In this way， plants can use it as food. But I do more than that.

When I crawl8 through the soil， I mix the layers. My tunnels9 help bring air，water， and food to other living things. Even the slime10 on my skin is good for the soil.

Next time if you see an earthworm like me， think about how I care for the soil，my home.

我是一條蚯蚓。歡迎來(lái)到我家！我住在一個(gè)很棒的地方，有充足的食物、新鮮的空氣和恰到好處的水分。

當(dāng)一些人走進(jìn)我家時(shí)，他們看到的都是泥土。土壤不僅僅是泥土。土壤包括部分溶解的巖石和礦物質(zhì)。

土壤也含有水和空氣。它們對(duì)我很有好處。我需要水來(lái)保持皮膚的濕潤(rùn)。我從土壤中獲得空氣。你能相信嗎？我通過(guò)皮膚呼吸！

土壤中也含有腐殖質(zhì)。腐殖質(zhì)是死去的動(dòng)植物的小碎塊。腐殖質(zhì)通常是棕色或黑色的，因此它可以改變土壤的顏色。腐殖質(zhì)是我的食物。

我的家有不同的分層。頂層充滿了腐殖質(zhì)、大量的根、充足的空氣和水。

中間層有小巖石和一些腐殖質(zhì)。底層由樹(shù)根和基巖組成。我通常生活在最上面兩層，那里有食物、空氣和水。

我下了很多功夫來(lái)修理我的家。當(dāng)我吃腐殖質(zhì)時(shí)，我會(huì)使它變成更小的小塊。通過(guò)這種方式，植物可以將其作為養(yǎng)料。但我做的不止這些。

當(dāng)我在土壤中爬行時(shí)，我會(huì)把土層混合在一起。我的洞穴通道幫助把空氣、水和食物帶給其他生物。甚至我皮膚上的粘液對(duì)土壤也有好處。

下次如果你看到一條像我這樣的蚯蚓時(shí)，想想我是如何愛(ài)護(hù)土壤———我的家的。

Notes

1. earthworm 蚯蚓

2. moisture? 潮氣；水分

3. dirt 塵土；泥土

4. soil 泥土；土壤

5. dissolve 使……溶解

6. mineral 礦物質(zhì)；礦物

7. humus 腐殖質(zhì)

8. crawl? 爬行

9. tunnel 隧道；地道；洞穴通道

10. slime 黏液