时间:2018-12-24 作者:英语课 分类:Scientific American(十)月


英语课

 Researchers have known about these high-pitched squeaky songs for years. But they only recently discovered that mice can learn the songs of other mice. Such vocal 1 learning is a rarity among animals. We know of only three kinds of birds—parrots, hummingbirds 2 and songbirds—and some mammals—like humans, whales, dolphins, sea lions, bats and elephants—that have demonstrated the ability to learn the vocal patterns of other animals. That is, until now.


 
Scientists at Duke University observed that when two male mice of different lineages were kept together, the animals gradually learned to match the pitch of their songs to one another. And when the researchers examined the mice, they found that the rodents 3 can also form the correct brain-to-vocal-cord connections to control the sounds they make. The research is published in the journal PLoS ONE. 
 
The mouse songs are admittedly primitive 4. But the findings left scientists on a high note.

1 vocal
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目
  • The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
  • Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。
2 hummingbirds
n.蜂鸟( hummingbird的名词复数 )
  • Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious. 蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
  • Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨?
3 rodents
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )
  • Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病,常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲,有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句
4 primitive
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物
  • It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
  • His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。
学英语单词
abortive lysogeny
acanthopanax senticosus harms.
acoustic surface-wave memories
acute laryngotracheobronchitis
airborne radar weather detection
all-wool
anti-missiles
astatic error
auxiliary yard
biochemistry of bone
bow-on
burnt cork
Calumet L.
cardiopulmonary insufficiency
casts pearls before swine
Cepol
character encoding scheme
cinematographer
coke float
Colognians
colson's ebulliometer
combined schedule of bonds payable by funds
crystal phosphorescence
cyclopropylcarbinol
data addressed storage
David's quadrant
DC high voltage
deoxy-d-glucose
dextrates
digressional
direct coupled type
disobedient
double dual
elemetary getter
enlarged-end porcelain tube
finvarras
fixatures
fossilised
furnace roof
global learning
grid disc
horse power per liter
huggett
hypothetic(al) parallax
ignition cable
Indispensable Reefs
industrial economics of capital construction
inhibit concentration
insulatedswitch rod
inverse least squares estimate
Islamisms
isogradient
Kālīganj
lift damper
light-weight pipe
lowbrowness
lower curtate
mean range
meringum denticulatum copel.
merit appraisal
microfractures
middle haemorrhoidal artery
mochokid
money-wise
Mozhayka
muy muy
nonsonicated
numeric shift
nutrient demanding crop
olefins
organosilver
overshot field of vision
Pacific suite
Petitioning Immunity
physiogenic
principal distance of photo
priority of operator
profitmonger
prolocutorships
Saxifraga parva
seal with double-cone
second reduction machine
seismic Mach number
slender-tailed meerkat
snakingly
square root symbol
successive reflex
sudden failure
taq DNA ligase
teleprocessing exchange service
timetablings
top rade
torsional relaxation
travelling hopper
trimethyl-acetaldehyde
tropical wave disturbance
turn of expressions
up to the standard
vers librist
version description document
w.p.a
water consumption graph