时间:2019-01-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(九月)


英语课

Panama Research Institute Dedicated to Earth's Ecosystem


Every year, about 1,000 scientists from around the world visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. The Institute is one of the oldest and largest facilities of its kind in the world. Its research on flora 1, fauna 2 and geology is responsible for many recent discoveries about how the Earth's tropical ecosystems 3 work.

Barro Colorado Island

It's 6 o'clock in the morning, and light barely filters through the canopy 4 of this tropical rainforest on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. But neither insects, the lack of light nor the intense humidity deter 5 these scientists. They are looking for monkeys.

Anthropology 6 Professor Stephanie Ramirez studies spider monkeys. “I am interested in knowing how food affects their reproductive potential, because spider monkeys mostly consume fruit, and we noticed that when fruit is not abundant or available they can’t conceive,” she said.

There are 1,800 monkeys on the island; 39 of them are spider monkeys. Eight of have had radio collars placed around their necks.

Ramirez and her assistant Lauren Mills can locate the animals by picking up their signals with a radio receiver.

Field studies

The two researchers are only a small contingent 7. About 1,000 scientists come here every year for field studies.

“The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute here in Panama is something of a mecca for all biologists in the world who are interested in the tropics and in tropical biology,” explains Tony Coates, a scientist emeritus 8 with the Institute.

The Institute was established in Panama 100 years ago. Today, Barro Colorado is the most studied rain forest in the world.

Abby Bruning came from South Dakota to study ants. “We manipulate their diets. Either they will be on a high carbohydrate 9 or a high protein diet and at the end we run analyses to see how well they fight off infection, death rates and things like that,” Bruning stated. She studies one of about 200 species of ants here.

Pink flower trees on the forest’s canopy are Dipteryx Panamensis, better known as Almendro. The working ants love the flowers and take them home, one petal 10 at a time. It took Azteca ant colony more than a year to build their structure. They are the favorite meal of ant eaters.

Smithsonian scientists estimate there are about 100 species of mammals on this tiny island. More than half of them are bats. There are 71 species of reptiles 11 and about 30 million insect species.

“The vast majority of all species of plants and animals live in the tropics. The vast majority of all the technical knowhow, political will, education and financing are in the temperate 12 world. How to get those two worlds together is one of the greatest issues facing global conservation,” Coates explained.

Tropical biology library

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is headquartered in Panama City. Its library, with 70,000 volumes on tropical biology, is regarded by scientists as one of the best in the world.

“It follows the same system as the Library of Congress,” Coates added.

Nearby, Culebra, a major Smithsonian educational center, is open to the public. One hundred thousand people, mostly Panamanian school children, visit this center each year.

“That’s our biggest educational contribution to our host country of Panama,” Coates noted 13.

As the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama prepares for its centennial, it is also getting ready to launch new research facilities in the town of Gamboa.

Private donors 14 want STRI to examine subjects of growing concern today, such as the forest's ability to control erosion and to capture carbon from the air, and ways to restore and preserve one of the richest and most important excosystems on the planet.



n.(某一地区的)植物群
  • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
  • All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。
n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物,动物区系
  • This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
  • Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念,指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。
n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )
  • There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样,从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句
n.天篷,遮篷
  • The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
  • They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。
vt.阻止,使不敢,吓住
  • Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
  • Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。
n.人类学
  • I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
  • Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。
adj.视条件而定的;n.一组,代表团,分遣队
  • The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
  • Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。
adj.名誉退休的
  • "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
  • He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。
n.碳水化合物;糖类;(plural)淀粉质或糖类
  • You should not have too much carbohydrate in your diet.你日常饮食中不该有过多碳水化合物。
  • Cashew nuts are rich in carbohydrate.腰果含丰富碳水化合物。
n.花瓣
  • Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
  • A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。
n.爬行动物,爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )
  • Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
adj.温和的,温带的,自我克制的,不过分的
  • Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
  • Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。
adj.著名的,知名的
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 );献血者;捐血者;器官捐献者
  • Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去,请给我们发电子邮件。
  • About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
A fool's bolt is soon shot .
actual mixing cycle
Akula
allocation of agriculture
Amidozon
ampere-turns
arsenic ulcer
ataraxias
Bain circuit
baths
bells the cat
benzotriazole
cabalize
chromatin body
Chulmleigh
circular point at infinity
CMTMDS
collecting tubules
compensating market
contestations
creped paper
cut to a point
cyclomation
data reading system
decoupling era
diffusion speed
direct ascent weapon
doliops similis
dump skip
equatorial coordinates
euler microtime scale
ex-ante efficiency analysis
facsimiled
fibre grease
first-aid
food demand
formamide process
frondosely
fuck-me
full-year loss
glason
grammole
hand power crane
heating pattern
Heichelheim's tests
high speed paper cutting machine
highly internationalized operation
Hitzig tests
hornblendite
immedial sky blue
international reference group
inverse of multiplication
jayakody
Kanigogouma
keeps guard
keneret
lapsed sales discounts
ligamentous ankylosis
like fury
litas
logp
Michiganensians
milking pipeline
modelbuilding
neptunic rocks
not put a foot wrong
official position
one upper
organizational change
paralyses
perihysteric
physiology of protozoa
pneumatic linkage
poetica
preeclampsia
prosinesses
reauthorising
red prussiate of potash
residual competence
road-blocking
root-mean-square simulation error
Schwegenheim
shadflies
Shell sort
short rainbow
side-strain
sidescraper
sing low
slash with
sowles
stress-timeds
subtriplicated
sweep along
tethered unit
their majesties
treating waste water
tuco-tuco
vettura
wallabas
wavefront curvature
wely
when to charge