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
学英语单词
afflicter
American College of Trial Lawyers
amphibious research ship
andorites
Augustinian order
Betz's cell
Biophot
Bizhe
blanked out
Bousse
butyracea
capital ratio
cellothene
chewy gum
circumferential strain
class body
close to corn field
coherent smallpox
conveyer equipment
cooling mandrel
crosswalk line
cuboid cell
current amplification factor
cyclic olefin
D.Sc.L.
daily time cards
debaryocidin
defibrination syndrome
depropa nizer
derived cost
dine room
dog tired
downface
duracaine
eccentric-and-rod mechanism
Eminase
erwinia betivora (takim) magrou
eternizement
experimental equipment
farm-yards
flexible side group
floor-plans
foreign body in uterus
Forest-beat
formed conductor
Full crl.
Gangin
gear-shaving machine
get entangled in
gray lemming
hyperchaos
incendiary
intermediate glass former
invalid child
lazims
macroscopic particle
metasyntactic
metrohm
mirabilite (glauber's salt)
miss punching
missoulas
motivelessly
nanobiomechanics
nonreturn-to-zero on one recording
nustaleek
parabolical mirror
Pararotavirus
paulins
Penagos
perintegrations
phaedr-
point locking bar
poofter
preponderance of the evidence
pressure refueling
prezzies
RDPS
Rhamnus wilsonii
rotary blowing machine
salmon leap
salvific
securityfocus
self-betterment
Sharnūb
shell collectings
something or other
standing rib
staple air sampler
static var compensator
sub-span
syllabic writing
tetarcaoid
timm
true-life story
truffling
trun-off thyristor
unique working space
unreined
us masked
Vittaryd
warm stage
xylaria regalis