时间:2018-12-05 作者:英语课 分类:国家地理2007年


英语课
When male Antarctic fur seals head to the beach each spring, it's no vacation. They are basically gonna be here for a month, holding their territory not eating, not sleeping, and just hoping they get some females in.

95% of the Antarctic fur seal population breeds on the beaches of South Georgia Island. Aggressive males get here first, it's often a fight for the best breeding spot and the biggest heroines.

It's all hormonal 1. Everything's about hormones 2 on the beach. This is definitely a muscle beach. The males are so territorial 3, so aggressive, Naturalist 4 Conrad Field and I will have to be ready to defend ourselves when we go in for a closer look.
We have the sticks, something that's not, not to harm them, but simply to hold them off if they charge. They're, they're nasty potentially.
Yeah, they're, they're quick as lightening, very, very powerful. These males are weighing 400, 450 pounds. And they can throw a hundred pounds over their shoulder on the run. So they aren't really to be feared but to be respected. And the sticks primarily are just to extend our range out, like this.

You can't blame these guys for being hostile, there's a lot at stake.
All about real estate and passing new genetic 5 line on. And now the females are coming in, and they will go to the best places on the beach to have their pups, so the males who have the best real estates, they get the most females.
So it's the old location, location, location thing?
Exactly.

These guys stuck in the middle of a river have their work cut out for them.
We are definitely in a low-rent district here. These guys have lost, but they are still holding the territory with hopes that the females will come in.

She's trying to find the best way, the best real estate possibly. See how big she is? She's a pregnant one, and she's coming down, and these males, if she gets within area, their territory, they will try to herd 6 her and keep her in there.
Look at them.
Look at them go. Try to get her. Now he's taking a big chance because he's leaving the harem open. So he's just got her in?
Yep, he's just got another female.

Females give birth to their pups and then mate again 6 to 8 days later.
Pup is only a couple of days old, still has a staggering head, about 3 to 4 days.

Life on the beach isn't easy for newborn pups. We watch as a mother fights off skuas and a giant petrel looking for a meal. Pups face other dangers. Aggressive males that can easily crush them seemingly unconcerned about whom they are running over.
You see what happens, the female moves and the male tries to keep her from going anywhere. He's no connection to the pup, and she's trying to get to her pup.
Now this one I don't want to walk towards. Yeah. I don't blame ya.

For Antarctic fur seals, life begins, and sometimes ends on the beach.
And if anybody ever wanted a lesson in, in elementary evolution and biology, this is it, isn't it?
Yeah, the strongest definitely survive in this situation. But to come out and see all this, and all the behaviors, absolutely amazing.


at stake: At risk to be won or lost 危险
harem: A group of women sexual partners for one man. 【动】[集合词](与一只雄动物配偶和聚居的)一群雌动物
skua: 【动】贼鸥




1 hormonal
adj.激素的
  • Some viral diseases are more severe during pregnancy, probably tecause of hormonal changes. 有些病毒病在妊娠期间比较严重,可能是由于激素变化引起的。
  • She underwent surgical intervention and a subsequent short period of hormonal therapy. 他接受外科手术及随后短暂荷尔蒙治疗。
2 hormones
adj.领土的,领地的
  • The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
  • They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
3 naturalist
n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)
  • He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业,同时是个博物学爱好者。
  • The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。
4 genetic
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
5 herd
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
学英语单词
0995
Africa
air operated friction clutch
Aldrin(Octalene)
allocation criteria
Ampass
ampullae
angular industrial thermometer
anode solution
anode supply voltage
application for credit
araca
arbitrary reference value
autonomic ganglion
bariprazole
beryllonite
block structured process
borrow money on credit
centralized machinery control console
choledochoenterostomy
conjure ... up
controllable self-excited constant voltage device
core mixing subfactor
cross ... path
depinct
disproportionations
divert attention from
DNA helicase
dodge under
dorsal fascia of hand
Duncan Peninsula
dwarf mouse unit
echinocarpa
examinationist
febres
fellahs
fiercest
gen up
generalized soft mode
histo
horizontal mobility
hyphoderma cremeum
ice storage
isografts
isometabole
it's all very well...but...
John XIV
kasbas
l'unita
liquid metal reactors
low pin-count memory device
Mac-Mahon
matrix of alternating form
Media Interface Connector
Musculus sternothyroideus
Nanchong
nanowatts
non-insulin-dependent diabetes
nonmolten origin
OpenSSH
ophioirenina theae
oxyacetylene flame
pachycondyla javana
panas
Parson's brass
pingpong tables
Professor van Blommestein Meer
program swapping
punchestown
reciprocal motor
recursive mqcro
reducible configuration
release fuze
retailer's stock
rhyta
right off the bat
rigid expanded plastics
Saletin
saturating
scake stand
shingle-beach
ship bottom anticorrosive paint
Silene moorcroftiana
sinusoidal undulation number
solyankas
storage replication service
subirrigating
sunset job
Talyy
tax auditor
Temnopleuroida
the Czech Republic
theoretical source function
three strikes law
tip droop
trotamine
vacuum velocity
vowelish
whitewater rafting
wind-cold
wipe-out mode
zero loss circuit