时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

Don: All right, Yael, you're a moth 1. And mating for you is a big deal because it takes eight or nine hours. So the last thing you want is for some predator 2 to interrupt you and your mate in the act.



Yael: I'm guessing that's true not just for moths 3. It's just that moths can't put up a do- not-disturb-sign.



D: Well, in some sense, they can. You see, certain species of male moths use toxins 5 to protect themselves during sex. In fact, during the courtship dance, the male moth releases a derivative 6 of these toxins, which enables the female to choose the moth  who can offer her the most protection.



Y: Are the males just born with these toxins?



D: Actually, the toxins come from plants. The male rattlebox moth gets these toxins in its larval stage, when it eats from the rattlebox plant. The wasp 7 moth, on the other hand, gets them from the poisonous dogfennel plant before the big night. In both cases, the chemicals make the moths so unappealing that spiders have actually been observed cutting them loose from their webs.



Y: That's one handy toxin 4.



D: When the moths mate, the male passes the toxins along with his sperm 8 to the female, and the wasp moth actually releases the toxin in a cloud of miniature confetti that sticks to him and the female. The toxin protects them both during mating, and  continues to protect the female and the eggs later on. In fact, the rattlebox moth passes enough toxins to the female that she's protected from predators 9 for the rest of her life span, which is about thirty days.



Y: All this makes me wonder what my husband has done for me lately. 

 



1 moth
n.蛾,蛀虫
  • A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
  • The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。
2 predator
n.捕食其它动物的动物;捕食者
  • The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
  • Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴,它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。
3 moths
n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )
  • The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去,弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 toxin
n.毒素,毒质
  • Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
  • Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。
5 toxins
n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )
  • The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
  • Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 derivative
n.派(衍)生物;adj.非独创性的,模仿他人的
  • His paintings are really quite derivative.他的画实在没有创意。
  • Derivative works are far more complicated.派生作品更加复杂。
7 wasp
n.黄蜂,蚂蜂
  • A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
  • Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。
8 sperm
n.精子,精液
  • Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
  • In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中,一个精子使一个卵子受精。
9 predators
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面)
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
afterpeak
alkaline secondary battery
articless of incorporation
backman
baseline privacy
basket worm
be complicated by
boshter
buck's fizz
chain and flight conveyer
chemical crystallogphy
chord splice
cold closed-die forging
coulter
credit card insurance
cyzicus pen. (kap?dag yarimadasi)
DBOA
dehydro-freezing
dehydromucic acid
demographic sample
depthkeeping
dimethylallyltranstransferase
discocephalous
downwarp
drill sergeants
Ellingstedt
emotional labour
exalt
exchange rate margin
explosion spectrum
flight safety
godfrey harold hardy
Haematopinus suis
Hammurapi
headstones
hemp flea beetle
hetlage
high-speed local network (hsln)
hot-aggregate conveyer
Hypostat
island
larissa
lay off pay
leukorrhea
linear gradient
living water use
make a search after
Malioidosis
melodic instrument
mineral licks
ochsman
oenin
officer of the watch
oil purification system
on a crash basis
operation control system
operative range of an energizing quantity
ossia
overlap indicator
overwhelmment
p.wk.
peroni
peroxide-based
pic
Piekberg
porocele
potential transmittance
power amplifier tetrode
prime factors
progressed to
prompt notification
pull-off pole
ranatras
rancons
random sampling
request signal
reskinned
Robertsville
sacrament of penance
saguaro
sealing water pipe
shot your wad
Silicon Beach
small mesenteric artery
standardized synthetic module
story shear
supplemental directive
temporary directory table
tender-conscienced
Tomma
unenvied
unhat
upper side
vocal register
wave spectra analyzer
weaponist
white radishes
William Graham Sumner
wood surface
wulfenite
wunk