时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(八月)


英语课

Elephant Study Reveals Social Bonds, Communication Skills


Those who think of elephants as solitary 1, gentle giants lumbering 2 quietly in their zoo enclosures might be surprised by the range and force of their distinctive 3 calls to each other in the wild.

Shermin de Silva, a University of Pennsylvania biologist, identifies that as a “trumpet” sound, one of 14 distinct vocalizations she and her colleagues have recorded in Sri Lanka’s Uda Walawe National Park over the past six years.

Trumpets 4 are produced actually in situations of distress," says de Silva. "So they are not particularly happy vocalizations. They are either excited or distressed 5. But in addition to the trumpets, Asian elephants produce a very peculiar 6 kind of sound that I call ‘squeaks.’"

“Squeaks tend to be produced also in situations of alarm and in situations of submission 7. So when an elephant is backing away from an opponent or backing away from in some cases, people, and alarmed by people or jackals or perceived threats, they also produced an elongated 8 form of that called 'squeals 9.' ”

Asian elephant calves 10 often emit a sort of prolonged roar when they’re nursing or when they want attention.

“They also give long versions of the roar when they are separated," De Silva says. "And you see animals roaring as they are trying to find their social companions. What do we mean when we say an animal is ‘social?’ And that is a very big question.”

According to De Silva, elephant social life is based on a variety of female bonding behaviors. While some female elephants flit from one favored companion to another, others may visit a group of companions for days or even weeks, but always return to favored friends.

De Silva observed an elephant pair they named Kamala and Kanthi who were nearly inseparable.

“When I say that females are friends with one another, they actively 11 have choices in where they go. So they can choose to be with somebody or not. Even though that choice is not apparent to us because all we see them doing is eating and moving. In the classic understanding of animal behavior, when two individuals are together spatially 12 and they are together more often than you’d expect by coincidence, you are reasonably justified 13 in thinking they prefer one another.”

In contrast, older male elephants tend to go it alone. Young males often seek to be in the rough vicinity of older males, even though little or no bonding takes place.

"African elephants...derive 14 some kind of knowledge by following around these older males," De Silva says. "They learn their place in the hierarchy 15, and there are unfortunately even incidents where young males who are deprived of this kind of guidance from older males - or females - become boisterous 16 and psychologically traumatized."

De Silva says another focus of her research was how the elephants impacted the Sri Lankan environment. Elephants till the soil with their tusks 17 and dig large holes where water can collect. They also uproot 18 trees, and plant seeds through their droppings.

Although elephants can come into conflict with humans if they raid or trample 19 crops, de Silva says their activities can indirectly 20 benefit humans too.

“If there aren’t elephants walking around dispersing 21 seeds, there aren’t going to be any trees, and if there aren’t going to be trees of a particular kind that grow up to suck up water and create clouds, then that affects the water table. These are all indirect and long timescale interactions, but they are very important interactions.”

De Silva notes that poaching, habitat encroachment 22, climate change and other factors threaten wild Asian elephant herds 23, such as those in Uda Walawe.

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the population of Asian elephants has declined significantly in recent decades, and their survival in the wild is endangered.

De Silva says that is why it is essential to work with local people to find ways to live alongside these impressive creatures, in a way that will allow both human and elephant groups to thrive.



1 solitary
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士
  • I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
  • The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际,显得十分壮美。
2 lumbering
n.采伐林木
  • Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
  • Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家,伐木业十分重要。
3 distinctive
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的
  • She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
  • This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。
4 trumpets
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花
  • A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
  • A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。
5 distressed
痛苦的
  • He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑,无法回答他们的问题。
  • The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。
6 peculiar
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
7 submission
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出
  • The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
  • No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。
8 elongated
v.延长,加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 )
  • Modigliani's women have strangely elongated faces. 莫迪里阿尼画中的妇女都长着奇长无比的脸。
  • A piece of rubber can be elongated by streching. 一块橡皮可以拉长。 来自《用法词典》
9 squeals
n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫,用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 )
  • There was an outburst of squeals from the cage. 铁笼子里传来一阵吱吱的叫声。 来自英汉文学
  • There were squeals of excitement from the children. 孩子们兴奋得大声尖叫。 来自辞典例句
10 calves
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解
  • a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
  • The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 actively
adv.积极地,勤奋地
  • During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
  • We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。
12 spatially
空间地,存在于空间地
  • A well-defined array of stable fringes results and the field is spatially coherent. 结果得到一组完全确定的稳定条纹,而光场是空间相干的。
  • The units are collaged together by a serial tectonic spatially and temporally. 这些构造单元是由构造原因,依一定的时空序列拼贴在一起的。
13 justified
a.正当的,有理的
  • She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
  • The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。
14 derive
v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自
  • We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
  • We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。
15 hierarchy
n.等级制度;统治集团,领导层
  • There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
  • She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。
16 boisterous
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的
  • I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
  • The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起,不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。
17 tusks
n.(象等动物的)长牙( tusk的名词复数 );獠牙;尖形物;尖头
  • The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
  • Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分(高一)
18 uproot
v.连根拔起,拔除;根除,灭绝;赶出家园,被迫移开
  • The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土,移居澳大利亚。
  • The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。
19 trample
vt.踩,践踏;无视,伤害,侵犯
  • Don't trample on the grass. 勿踏草地。
  • Don't trample on the flowers when you play in the garden. 在花园里玩耍时,不要踩坏花。
20 indirectly
adv.间接地,不直接了当地
  • I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
  • They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人,他们进行了间接接触。
21 dispersing
n.侵入,蚕食
  • I resent the encroachment on my time.我讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
  • The eagle broke away and defiantly continued its encroachment.此时雕挣脱开对方,继续强行入侵。
22 herds
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众
  • Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
  • There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。
学英语单词
3-butenyl
A-zone(A-horizon)
access-to-plant
algebra homomorphism
Aminex resin
angle measure
antivirbin
Antseranana
auto-decrementing
bananadine
barrel of puppethead
beat generator
ben hogans
beyond-the-object art
blind to the world
boy-wonders
butterfly style
cantilever gantry
carboniums
casesiumphotocell
catharosine
caution board
Chrome OS
clasterosporium eriobotryae hara
clutch disk
complete controllability
continuous wave generator
conversion scales
cts-v
curvemeter
dental vessel
descendence
deuterium oxide
Eadmund I
enstamped
Entosiphon
ethyl phenylbarbiturate
exsudation cyst
FALCIDIAN LAW
firenadoes
Flame Wars
genus kennedyas
glatthaar
graftling
hair-pin
Impatiens paradoxa
inversion factor
ir (infrared)
japopinic acid
laccifer lacca parasite
land jobber
liopelmas
locustae
low-temperature production
made an impression on
March of Time
mass rapid transit systems
MBR-O (memory buffer register,odd)
medium ring
minifloppy mass storage
morbillivirus canine distemper
naupathia
no message
non-linear semi-group
Osiander's sign
oxalic acid poisoning
pantaloons
Pedro Ximenez
perfect electrolyte
Pierry
plantier
post-deng
pylie
red-fin pargo
Rhinopteridae
safeguard practice
sandry
schistosomiasis mekongi
secret harbour
shellee
sinter cake
sky surfing
soda sanidinire
software company
solid fat index
stipulaceous
supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet)
supplanters
taper-thread
thermo-magnetic alloy
transphosphorylate
twelt
unifunctional circuit
universal judgment
vacuum-cleaner alloy
wasband
watch your language
white-dot generator
wonks
yashiki
year-high