Whales take twenty-four hours to copulate.是什么意思？

Whales take twenty-four hours to copulate.

鲸交配需要24小时。

whales

n. 鲸，鲸鱼( whale的名词复数 )；

例句
The whales migrate some 6,000 miles to breed and calve in the warm lagoons.
鲸会迁移6,000海里左右,到温暖的环礁湖生殖繁衍。

take

vt. 拿，取，采取，接受（礼物等），耗费（时间等）；vi. 拿，获得；n. 镜头，看法，收入额，场景；

例句
I take care of them to the best of my abilities...
我尽我所能地照顾他们。

hours

n. 小时( hour的名词复数 )，固定时间，一小时的时间或行程，重要时刻；

例句
The workforce have recently been calling for their working hours to be reduced. Many companies have accordingly switched to a five-day week.
工人们最近一直在呼吁缩短工作时间。许多公司于是转成了一周五天工作制。

to

prep. 向，朝着，到，关于，属于；adv. 朝一个方向的，到某种状态，关闭；

例句
I suggest you leave it to an expert...
我建议你把它留给专家来解决。

copulate

vi. 性交，交配，交尾；adj. 连接的，配合的；

例句
During the time she is paired to a male, the female allows no other males to copulate with her...
雌性与雄性配对时，雌性不允许其他雄性与之交配。