时间:2018-12-24 作者:英语课 分类:Scientific American(八)月


英语课

Two years ago, Duke University Medical Center researchers said that the supposedly useless appendix is actually where good gut 1 bacteria safely hide out during some unpleasant intestinal 2 conditions.


Now the research team has looked at the appendix over evolutionary 3 history. They found that animals have had appendixes for about 80 million years. And the organ has evolved separately at least twice, once among the weird 4 Australian marsupials and another time in the regular old mammal lineage that we belong to.


Darwin thought that only a few animals have an appendix and that the human version was what was left of a digestive organ called the cecum. But the new study found that 70 percent of rodent 5 and primate 6 groups have species with an appendix. And some living animals have a cecum and an appendix. If Darwin had known about species that had both organs, he probably would have revised his views of the appendix, the researchers note.


Ironically, it’s natural selection that keeps the human appendix from shrinking away completely. Because smaller ones are more likely to become infected. And keep your genes 7 out of the pool.


—Steve Mirsky

 



1 gut
n.[pl.]胆量;内脏;adj.本能的;vt.取出内脏
  • It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
  • My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。
2 intestinal
adj.肠的;肠壁;肠道细菌
  • A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
  • This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句
3 evolutionary
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的
  • Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
  • These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
4 weird
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
5 rodent
n.啮齿动物;adj.啮齿目的
  • When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜,这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
  • This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。
6 primate
n.灵长类(目)动物,首席主教;adj.首要的
  • 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
  • The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。
7 genes
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
标签: SSS marsupial
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abrasive belt
acute obliterating bronchiolitis
avalanche mode
battery-electric road vehicle
behavior medicine
bilingual edition
bonded tendon
Bostoner
Briggsia dongxingensis
C. C.
cabieses
career coaching
cattle inventory cycle
cecchetti school
Celestines
chaisiri
coactivated
compensation for the surface subsidence
crylic acid
disentailing deed
double fisting
dowel bush
earth-fast
end by
euler relation
exit light
F. C. A.
fluposition
for all the world
forging die steel
Fort Bend County
fucketh
fully protective tube housing
get in sb.'s hair
grigorovich
Guanabara, B.de
hearth stone
heavy straw board
high pressure hydrogen
hollow plywood
houselights
IADIC (integrated analog-to-digital converter)
intentional offence
intermediate part
intinction
iron tincture
kidney chamber
Kysyl-Sulus
Kyzyl-Tayga, Gora
laidlomycin
landslide track
lecidea piperina
leutopoietic
magnetic area moment
magnitude of reaction
matters in dispute
maunches
Mbean
mediterranean-type
mesh enclosure
message from
metallothionein
mexican spotted fever
monitorization
mugilids
non-return-to-zero representation
nonstreptococcal
on-scener
pay twenty shillings in the pound
peki
peripheral trench
personal hygienes
Picking up a Tow
Pine R.
power steam
pressure gauge with iron case
pretendo
processing for syrup
proterhinid
pyramidal crown
quirks and quilletts
rapid propagation
recirculating dry kilm
removable table roll section
roaded catchment
rutidosis
ship festival and dance (egypt)
shorttermer
skeeved out
slap-slap
sliver spinning machine
spoil ground dunnage
successio
superior rectal vein
synagogue-goers
textile glass fibre
transit apron
turcomen
ulcerative skin-disease
volatile random access memory
water content of steam
Xeriuini, R.