Earth and Sky:Plants vs. Insects 植物和昆虫
时间：2018-12-07 作者：英语课 分类：(科普英语)Earth and Sky
英语课
Plants vs. Insects 植物和昆虫
New research is shedding light on one of the longest running battles of all time -- the war between plants and insects. Plants may seem helpless, but they have complex chemical defenses. Plants vs. insects -- today on Earth and Sky.
JB: This is Earth and Sky. Plants use chemicals to repel 1 enemies -- some chemicals are toxic 2, others just taste bad. But plants also defend themselves in more subtle ways.
DB: A plant that produces salicylic acid -- a chemical in aspirin 3 -- uses the substance to treat its own wounds -- much as humans take aspirin to stop pain. Penn State entomologist Jack 4 Schultz has found that the plant might also use salicylic acid to wreak 5 havoc 6 on its enemies.
Jack Schultz: Sure, for a long time people have been taking aspirin as a medicine, but grasshoppers 8 are getting a huge dose of this stuff when they eat plants. What does that mean to all of the signaling processes in a grasshopper 7 that aspirin would interfere 9 with?
JB: Schultz believes plants engage in a sort of "signal jamming" -- interfering 10 with an insect's biochemistry, rendering 11 it less likely to inflict 12 damage. But insects can fight dirty too ...
Jack Schultz: It's sort of espionage 13. The insect sends the plant a signal that says, "Okay, this is a microbe, not an insect, turn on your disease resistance," and essentially 14 turning on the plant's resistance to disease, it also turns down the plant's resistance to insects and makes the plant more susceptible 15 to the insect.
DB: For more -- come to today's show at earthsky.org. Our thanks to the National Science Foundation, where discoveries begin. We're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.
1 repel
v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥
- A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。
- Particles with similar electric charges repel each other.电荷同性的分子互相排斥。
2 toxic
adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的
- The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
- There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
3 aspirin
n.阿司匹林
- The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
- She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。
4 jack
n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克
- I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
- He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
5 wreak
v.发泄；报复
- She had a burning desire to wreak revenge.她复仇心切。
- Timid people always wreak their peevishness on the gentle.怯懦的人总是把满腹牢骚向温和的人发泄。
6 havoc
n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱
- The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
- This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。
7 grasshopper
n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱
- He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
- The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。
8 grasshoppers
n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的
- Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句
9 interfere
v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰
- If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
- When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。
10 interfering
n.表现，描写
- She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
- His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。
11 inflict
vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担
- Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
- Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。
12 espionage
n.间谍行为，谍报活动
- The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
- Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。
13 essentially
adv.本质上，实质上，基本上
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
14 susceptible
adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的
- Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
- We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。