国家地理:Attack of the Killer Bees 杀人蜂
时间：2018-12-05 作者：英语课 分类：国家地理2007年
英语课
Costa Rica, 1986.
30 years after Doctor Cur's fateful African trip, graduate students from the University of Miami are on a field trip exploring caves.
Moving ahead of the group, 24-year-old Inn-Saing Ooi climbs into a deep crevasse 1. He's not alone. As he sweeps his flashlight around the interior of the cave, he startles a huge hive of Killer 2 Bees. And these guys don't like surprises. They quickly retaliate 3.
Stingers pierce his flesh, injecting venom 4 into his bloodstream. As the bees try to fly away, their stingers are ripped from their abdomen 5. Defending the hive means certain death. But even without the bee, the stinger keeps pumping venom for as long as a minute. Inn-Saing Ooi quickly slides into a life-threatening condition known as anaphylactic shock. Like all victims, just how quickly depends on the dose of venom and his own sensitivity. Blood pressure plummets 6 to a dangerously low level, his airways 7 constrict 8. Inn-Saing Ooi's heart rate slows dramatically. In most cases, a shot of adrenalin will jump-start the heart, elevating his blood pressure, saving his life.
But in an extreme case like this one, there is simply too much toxin 9 for his immune system to handle. Tissue and body functions break down. His kidneys fail.
Inn-Saing Ooi has nowhere to run, each sting sending out a chemical signal to the rest of the hive to keep up the assault.
The young student suffers cardiac arrest and dies. He was stung over 8 thousand times, nearly 8 times the number of stings required to kill a man his size. Tragedies like this have earned these creatures the nickname---- Killer Bees.
Despite its fearsome reputation, the killer bee is just a honeybee, a hard-working honeybee that produces some of the sweetest nectar in the world, but a honeybee that will sting its victim 10 times more frequently than its more docile 10 cousin, and it will defend an area nearly 3 times as large. So just how do you tell these bees apart? It turns out you can't. They look almost exactly the same. Even the sting of the Africanized bee is virtually identical to an ordinary bee. It's just the number of Killer Bees who join the fight that makes their attacks so dangerous.
New Words:
field trip: (n.) A group excursion for the purpose of firsthand observation, as to a museum, the woods, or a historic place. 旅行考察
crevasse: (n.) A deep fissure 11, as in a glacier 12; a chasm 13. 裂隙
anaphylactic shock: (n.) A sudden, severe allergic 14 reaction characterized by a sharp drop in blood pressure, urticaria, and breathing difficulties that is caused by the injection of a foreign substance, such as a drug or bee venom, into the body after a preliminary or sensitizing injection. The reaction may be fatal if emergency treatment, including the administration of epinephrine injections, is not given immediately. 过敏性休克
adrenalin: (n.) [生化]肾上腺素
cardiac arrest: (n.) Sudden cessation of heartbeat and cardiac function, resulting in the loss of effective circulation. 心搏停止
nectar: (n.) A sweet liquid secreted 15 by flowers of various plants, consumed by pollinators, such as hummingbirds 16 and insects, and gathered by bees for making honey. 花蜜
Africanize: (v.) To make African, as in culture. 非洲化
30 years after Doctor Cur's fateful African trip, graduate students from the University of Miami are on a field trip exploring caves.
Moving ahead of the group, 24-year-old Inn-Saing Ooi climbs into a deep crevasse 1. He's not alone. As he sweeps his flashlight around the interior of the cave, he startles a huge hive of Killer 2 Bees. And these guys don't like surprises. They quickly retaliate 3.
Stingers pierce his flesh, injecting venom 4 into his bloodstream. As the bees try to fly away, their stingers are ripped from their abdomen 5. Defending the hive means certain death. But even without the bee, the stinger keeps pumping venom for as long as a minute. Inn-Saing Ooi quickly slides into a life-threatening condition known as anaphylactic shock. Like all victims, just how quickly depends on the dose of venom and his own sensitivity. Blood pressure plummets 6 to a dangerously low level, his airways 7 constrict 8. Inn-Saing Ooi's heart rate slows dramatically. In most cases, a shot of adrenalin will jump-start the heart, elevating his blood pressure, saving his life.
But in an extreme case like this one, there is simply too much toxin 9 for his immune system to handle. Tissue and body functions break down. His kidneys fail.
Inn-Saing Ooi has nowhere to run, each sting sending out a chemical signal to the rest of the hive to keep up the assault.
The young student suffers cardiac arrest and dies. He was stung over 8 thousand times, nearly 8 times the number of stings required to kill a man his size. Tragedies like this have earned these creatures the nickname---- Killer Bees.
Despite its fearsome reputation, the killer bee is just a honeybee, a hard-working honeybee that produces some of the sweetest nectar in the world, but a honeybee that will sting its victim 10 times more frequently than its more docile 10 cousin, and it will defend an area nearly 3 times as large. So just how do you tell these bees apart? It turns out you can't. They look almost exactly the same. Even the sting of the Africanized bee is virtually identical to an ordinary bee. It's just the number of Killer Bees who join the fight that makes their attacks so dangerous.
New Words:
field trip: (n.) A group excursion for the purpose of firsthand observation, as to a museum, the woods, or a historic place. 旅行考察
crevasse: (n.) A deep fissure 11, as in a glacier 12; a chasm 13. 裂隙
anaphylactic shock: (n.) A sudden, severe allergic 14 reaction characterized by a sharp drop in blood pressure, urticaria, and breathing difficulties that is caused by the injection of a foreign substance, such as a drug or bee venom, into the body after a preliminary or sensitizing injection. The reaction may be fatal if emergency treatment, including the administration of epinephrine injections, is not given immediately. 过敏性休克
adrenalin: (n.) [生化]肾上腺素
cardiac arrest: (n.) Sudden cessation of heartbeat and cardiac function, resulting in the loss of effective circulation. 心搏停止
nectar: (n.) A sweet liquid secreted 15 by flowers of various plants, consumed by pollinators, such as hummingbirds 16 and insects, and gathered by bees for making honey. 花蜜
Africanize: (v.) To make African, as in culture. 非洲化
1 crevasse
n. 裂缝，破口；v.使有裂缝
- The deep crevasse yawned at their feet.他们脚下的冰川有一道深深的裂缝。
- He fell down a crevasse.他从裂缝处摔了下来。
2 killer
n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者
- Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
- The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。
3 retaliate
v.报复，反击
- He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
- It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。
4 venom
n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨
- The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
- In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。
5 abdomen
n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)
- How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
- He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。
6 plummets
v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的第三人称单数 )
- As a result, blood sugar plummets, sometimes even going below the baseline. 结果，血糖浓度迅速掉落，有时甚至落于基线之下。 来自互联网
- State and local governments could continue to back as tax revenue plummets. 由于税收的直线下降，州和地方政府可能继续削减支出。 来自互联网
7 AIRWAYS
航空公司
- The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
- At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。
8 constrict
v.压缩，收缩，阻塞
- Men and women alike have been constricted by traditional sexual roles.男性和女性同样受到传统性别角色的束缚。
- Severe migraine can be treated with a drug which constricts the blood vessels.严重的偏头疼可以用一种收缩血管的药物进行治疗。
9 toxin
n.毒素，毒质
- Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
- Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。
10 docile
adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的
- Circus monkeys are trained to be very docile and obedient.马戏团的猴子训练得服服贴贴的。
- He is a docile and well-behaved child.他是个温顺且彬彬有礼的孩子。
11 fissure
n.裂缝；裂伤
- Though we all got out to examine the fissure,he remained in the car.我们纷纷下车察看那个大裂缝，他却呆在车上。
- Ground fissure is the main geological disaster in Xi'an city construction.地裂缝是西安市主要的工程地质灾害问题。
12 glacier
n.冰川，冰河
- The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
- The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。
13 chasm
n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突
- There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
- A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。
14 allergic
adj.过敏的，变态的
- Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
- Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。
15 secreted
v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏
- Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
- He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 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？