英语听力：探索发现 2012-12-02 美洲大平原 American Serengeti—16
时间：2018-12-27 作者：英语课 分类：探索与发现2012年
英语课
So let's go back in time, back 13,000 years to relive one day in the life of North America's great ice age plains.
It's early morning at the end of a long, hot summer. Even major rivers are beginning to run low. Colombian mammoth 1 herd 2 follows the river valley. They can't risk being far from the water. Once they’ve quenched 3 their thirst, the next priority is food. They head out to the nearby meadows where they’ll graze most of the day, processing mountains of dry grass.
Autumn is mating season. And a couple of nomadic 4 males have started shadowing their herd. By sparring, they decide who will have access to the females coming into heat, who will father the next generation. Most power struggles are resolved through ritual intimidation 5. But if two evenly matched males cross parts, this posturing 6 can escalate 7 into a full-blown fight. Both of these opponents have a broken tusk 8, letting them get closer to each other during combat. Suddenly a free clash leaves them in a deadlock 9, inextricably entwined. If they can't free themselves, they will both end up the losers.
As a constant source of food and water, even when there’s been no rain for months, this valley draws thousands of other grazers.
1 mammoth
n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的
- You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
- Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。
2 herd
n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起
- She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
- He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。
3 quenched
解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却
- He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
- I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。
4 nomadic
adj.流浪的；游牧的
- This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
- The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。
5 intimidation
n.恐吓，威胁
- The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
- The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。
6 posturing
做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )
- She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
- She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。
7 escalate
v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级
- It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
- Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。