The animals were seriously maltreated.是什么意思？

The animals were seriously maltreated.

这些动物遭到残酷的虐待。

the

art. 指已提到的人（物），指说话人与听者已知的人（物），用于独一无二的事物前，与形容词最高级和序数词连用；

例句
He did have a real knowledge of the country...
他对该国的确知之甚多。

animals

n. 动物( animal的名词复数 )，兽，兽性，粗野残暴的人；

例句
They are saying, with varying degrees of absolutism, that animals should not be exploited at all.
他们都多多少少带有些绝对地说动物根本不该被拿来利用。

were

be的过去时复数和第二人称单数形式，有时代替 was,用于条件从句、动词 wish 之后等；

例句
Shops, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
店铺、房子和车辆全都陷于火海。

seriously

adv. 认真地，严肃地，严重地；

例句
Any aspirant to the presidency here must be seriously rich...
要想当这儿的主席一定要家财万贯。

maltreated

VERB 虐待;粗暴对待；

例句
He said that he was not tortured or maltreated during his detention...
他说自己在押期间并未遭受拷问和虐待。