In 1809, Darwin was born in England. When he was a child, he loved to observe nature. He observed the grass, flowers and trees. He observed fish and insects.
Darwin grew into a young man. But his love for observing nature didn’t change.
One day, Darwin walked in the forest. He heard a beautiful sound of birds from a tree. He walked to the tree quietly, raised his head and looked at the birds. Darwin observed them very carefully. He stood still for a long time.
A squirrel saw Darwin. It jumped off the tree and came near to Darwin. The squirrel climbed up his legs and stood on his shoulder. Darwin felt the squirrel on his shoulder.
He had been standing very still. The squirrel thought he was a small tree.
Later, Darwin traveled around the world to observe plants and animals. He learned a lot from that and became a famous naturalist.
observe /əbˈzɜː(r)v/ v. 看到；注意到；觀察到
nature /ˈneɪtʃə(r)/ n. 自然界；大自然
insect /ˈɪnsekt/ n. 昆蟲
raise /reɪz/ v. 提升；舉起；提起
carefully /ˈkeəfəli/ adv. 仔細地
still /stɪl/ adj. 靜止的
naturalist /ˈnætʃrəlɪst/ n. 生物學家
中文大意
1809年，達爾文出生在英國。他從小就喜歡觀察大自然。他觀察花草樹木，觀察魚兒和昆蟲。
達爾文長大成人，但他對觀察大自然的熱愛卻從未改變。
有一天，達爾文在森林裡散步，他聽到樹上兩隻小鳥婉轉的叫聲，便輕聲來到大樹下，停下腳步，抬起頭看著小鳥。達爾文觀察得十分專注，他站在樹下許久，一動不動。
一隻小松鼠看到了達爾文。它從樹上跳下來，靠近達爾文。松鼠順著達爾文的腿往上爬，站在了他的肩膀上。達爾文覺察到肩膀上的小松鼠。
原來，他一動不動地站在這裡，被小松鼠當成了一棵樹。
後來，達爾文環遊世界，觀察動物和植物。他從中學到了很多，成為了一名偉大的生物學家。
本文選自《中國少年英語報》「故事時間」欄目，原載於2018年9月《中國少年英語報》（5~6年級版）。