⑬claw/klɔː/n.爪 ⑭be allowed to do ... 被允许做......

　　⑮"(be) of＋n." 表示"具有......特点、特征"。

　　⑯according to 按照，依据

　　⑰popular adj.大众的，流行的　be popular with 受......欢迎

　　⑱natural adj.自然的，天生的(此处可换为born)

　　世界上的龙

　　[第1～2段译文]

　　龙可能是友好的也可能是凶猛的，可能会带来好运也可能带来死亡与毁坏，但有一点是确定的--几乎世界上所有地方的人都谈论它们。对于一种实际上并不存在的生物，那是非同寻常的。

　　在中国的文化里，龙是慷慨和智慧的，尽管它们也许是变化莫测的。龙跟皇室家族是紧密联系在一起的：皇袍上有一个五爪金龙的标志。其他王室成员也能穿带有龙标志的袍子，但是他们袍子上的龙爪少，颜色也不同。根据大众的看法，如果出生在龙年，你就聪明、勇敢，并且是天生的领导者。

　　But in the west, dragons had a different reputation⑲. The very first text in English, the Anglo­Saxon poem Beowulf, tells the story of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf⑳， who fights and kills a dangerous dragon\s\up1(21(21) but is himself killed in the fight. However, across the border\s\up1(22(22) in Wales, the red dragon which appears on the Welsh flag\s\up1(23(23) is a positive\s\up1(24(24) symbol, \s\up1(25(25)indicating\s\up1(26(26) strength and a sense of\s\up1(27(27) national identity\s\up1(28(28).

　　Why should the dragon have a different character\s\up1(29(29) in different parts of the world? Some experts believe it is due to\s\up1(30(30) the animals the myths\s\up1(31(31) grew out of\s\up1(32(32). In the west, the idea of the dragon probably came from the snake - an animal \s\up1(33(33)which people hated and were afraid of\s\up1(34(34).

　　But in China, the idea of the dragon may have come from the alligator - a shy animal which lives in rivers, but which is usually only seen when there is plenty of water\s\up1(35(35) - a good sign for agriculture. So the Chinese dragon was a bringer\s\up1(36(36) of good fortune\s\up1(37(37).

　　⑲reputation/ˌrepjʊ'teIʃn/n.名誉；名声

　　⑳Beowulf作a Scandinavian hero的同位语。

　　\s\up1(21(21)who引导非限制性定语从句，修饰Beowulf，且在从句中作主语。

　　\s\up1(22(22)border/'bɔːdə/n.边境；国界

　　\s\up1(23(23)which引导定语从句，修饰the red dragon，且在从句中作主语。

　　\s\up1(24(24)positive/'pɒzətIv/adj.正面的　negative adj.负面的

\s\up1(25(25)现在分词短语在句中作状语。