时间:2018-12-27 作者:英语课 分类:英语时差8,16


英语课

 Last time we were thinking about why some birds hop 1 and other birds walk. We decided 2 that you can't make any blanket statements about this, because there will always be exceptions. But in general it's true that larger birds are more likely to walk and smaller birds to hop, just because of the amount of energy it takes. But there's more to it than that. Ornithologists are actually very interested in bird legs and feet. The differences between different kind of legs are used in bird classification. For example, what we commonly call "songbirds"--cardinals, wrens 3, mockingbirds, warblers--are also called "perching birds." They have specialized 5 structures in their feet that include three toes pointing forward and one more called the "hallux" that points back. That three-and-one design is excellent for holding on to branches, which is an important skill to possess if you are a bird. Okay, so far so good. But now, what does that kind of foot make more difficult? You got it--a foot with a conspicuous 6 hallux toe won't be very good at walking. Some birds manage it, and there are different kinds of hallux toes that make it easier or harder. But to move around with feet like that, sometimes you just might be better off hopping 7. So, evolution has to make a choice. Is it better to perch 4 safely on branches or walk comfortably on the ground? Do I catch food with my feet or my beak 8? And so on. The end result can be birds with different kinds of feet, and different kinds of walks.



1 hop
n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过
  • The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛,看谁单足跳跃最快。
  • How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远?
2 decided
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
3 wrens
n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 )
  • Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟,例如鹪鹩,会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句
4 perch
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于
  • The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
  • Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。
5 specialized
adj.专门的,专业化的
  • There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
  • These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。
6 conspicuous
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的
  • It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显,抽烟对健康有害。
  • Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。
7 hopping
n.鸟嘴,茶壶嘴,钩形鼻
  • The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
  • This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。
学英语单词
a drop in the bucket
admissible load
ailish
airborne geochemical exploration
angina septica
arteriae epigastrica superior
automatic exposure control system
blind cover
bones of foot
Bou Azzer
broadseal
buttress zone
Canxixe
chamber of commerce
checkered steel plate
Chimonobambusa armata
chokedar
Cloonfad
clyve
coal mine
colo(u)r vision
colony for investment
commingled yarn
communicableness
crunchier
cylinder mixer
delapril
digladiates
dispropriated
DIVADS
doany
dominance system
drain-body junction
eternal law
evisceration of orbit
feed formula
field reversal
financial resource
formal-actual parameter correspondence
FSM (fine striped memory)
glomeratas
Haines's formula
harrelsons
hematogeneous
Heusenstamm
interaction cross section
intermediate frequency furnace
Jacques Monod
john smiths
karyolymph
kick-stepped
knockahs
knot torus
lanestenyl
lepidoblastic texture
liberal constructionist
lites
loom mechanism
mani-pedi
medical welfare
metroprolol
mine loading mass
neodymium glass laser rod
non-governmental agency
Norddal
otological
partly paid share capital
peromelic monster
plane table triangulation
pontoon-tank roof
portuguese dance
program interaction
pupillogram
push someone to the wall
reventilate
romper suit
root cause
rossetter
serial communication controller
serial plate camera
Sicilian rose
skunkworks project
slack-keys
southwesterlies
stone crusher
stored grain insects
t'iao tuan kung
tax on buildings
telegraph signal
Trece Martires
triamide
triethyl-carbinol
tuymans
unprofor
urgency call
vane relay
Velefique
ventral diaphragm
vertical circle level
waitrons
wool-jersey
zonen