时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

Picture this: A foraging 1 squirrel comes into range of a hungry, coiled rattlesnake. The squirrel realizes the danger too late--the rattlesnake strikes out and bites, fangs 2 pumping venom 3 deep into the squirrel's small body.

The poison doesn't kill immediately, but the squirrel's death warrant is signed all the same. Even as he squirms away from the snake and bounds to his hiding place in the underbrush, the venom works its way through his system, dissolving his tissues and eventually killing 4 him.



Meanwhile the snake slithers after the departed squirrel, taking his time. Uncannily, he homes right in on the squirrel's hiding place. How did the snake know where his prey 5 was hiding? Do snakes have some kind of magical sixth sense?



Actually, snakes DO have a kind sixth sense, but it has nothing to do with magic.



Although snakes often have very sharp vision, a sense of smell, and a sensitivity to heat and vibrations 6, their most important sensory 7 system is one that we humans don't share with them at all. This sixth sense is called the "vomeronasal system," and the sense organs for this are two tiny, bulb-shaped structures located on the roof of the snake's mouth. This sensory system is somewhat similar to smell--in that it senses the presence of chemicals in the snake's environment. Snakes can use this extra sense to detect the faint chemical traces left by departing prey, or they can use it to track down a mate.



On our next program we'll learn how snakes use their flicking 8, forked tongue to aid this sixth sense in the quest for prey. 



1 foraging
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的现在分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西)
  • They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句
2 fangs
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座
  • The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 venom
n.毒液,恶毒,痛恨
  • The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
  • In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上,毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。
4 killing
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
5 prey
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
6 vibrations
n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 );震动;感受;(偏离平衡位置的)一次性往复振动
  • We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
  • I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了,她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 sensory
adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的
  • Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
  • The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。
8 flicking
(尤指用手指或手快速地)轻击( flick的现在分词 ); (用…)轻挥; (快速地)按开关; 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)
  • He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马,之后挥动了缰绳。
  • There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。
学英语单词
5'-DFUR
a lay
acosmia
aidothymidine
airconditioned
all or nothing check
all-weather wind vane and anenometer
alternating plasticity
aluminium tanker
any transport over mpls
aphyosemions
archeophytic
areomete
argentaffine
artificial signal source
asportavit
Balme's cough
bushy run
callicarpa longiloba merr.
chordates
commercial warehouse
communication language
composition of air
contrivable
cosmic-ray source
cryohemostasis
death-light
dichobunids
disinhabit
domestic proceedings
drill-and-thinner
drop-down menu
electromechanical accelerometer
encyclica
energy transmission medium
engine-room
eolianites
epipolar axis
error rate measuring equipment
flue-cured tobacco
furphies
fuzziness
granola bars
hamway
in-place regeneration
iniomous
known accumulation
lindenii
Lowndes County
lumber freeboard mark
medical value
megadynamics
Methorate
mimetics
mis-sent items
mizen-yard
mould amylase
neurological system
NM-64 super neutron monitor
non-regulated
OBR
onyx agate
out-performance
outside poster
paper-core cable
pintle lock
planal
polydnaviruses
polymeric electro-optical material
postemergency
Potentilla conferta
power supply change over
pre-births
projective conformal geometry
put it in another way
red haws
reducing plane table equipment
reforcing pad
Robeson, Is.
saint-ange
sign-off
signboarding
sintered source
Soxhlet (extraction) apparatus
sssoes
stirred tank reactor
stpd
subjunctive mood
take law as the criterion
tracer
trichlorobutyraldehyde
tube valve
upper carboniferous periods
urt
valley board
vertical drive shaft
vinovich
wanderu
watersky
wave-induced current
worker's insurance
zenith photography