时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

Even without the guidance of organized religion, some animals instinctively 1 know that it’s a good thing to help others.

即使没有类似人类宗教的指引,有些动物仍能本能地救助处于危难中的其它动物。



A Helping 2 Hand

伸出援手



For example, when a bird spots a predator 3, instead of just flying away, it calls out in alarm and warns everyone in the vicinity.

比如,一只小鸟发现了捕食者,它就会发出叫声以警示和提醒附近其它的小动物们。



When a dolphin is injured, other dolphins help it swim up to the surface and get some air.

如果一只海豚受伤了,那么其他海豚也会帮助它一直游到岸边以呼吸新鲜空气。



And in a lab experiment that was set up so that one rat had to sit on a platform or else his rat friends would get an electrical shock when they tried to feed, the rats quickly learned to cooperate and take turns sitting on the platform.

在类似试验中,一只老鼠必须要坐在一个平台上以防止它的朋友们试图进食时被电击,很快老鼠们就学会了如何协作,它们轮流坐在平台上以防止同伴被电击。



Evolution

进化



You might think that evolution would work against this kind of altruism 4 since, instead of concentrating on their own survival, animals spend time and energy helping others.

因为这些动物们不仅仅只关心自己的生命,也会花费时间与精力去帮助其他动物。所以,你可能会认为进化过程会有悖于这种利他主义。



But evolutionists suggest that when animals help animals who are their genetic 5 relatives, or who are likely to return the favor later on, they are actually helping their species to survive the process of natural selection.

但进化论者认为,当动物们在帮助那些遗传亲属,或可能会在稍后回报其所提供的这种帮助时,它们实际上是在帮助它们的种群能够在自然选择的过程中存活下来。



Some animals will even sacrifice their own lives to insure the survival of the larger group. The worker honeybee, for example, will die defending her hive if necessary.

某些动物甚至会牺牲自己的生命以保全更大种群的存活。比如说工蜂,在保护蜂巢的过程中就会不惜牺牲生命。



Selfish Acts

自私行为



Even acts that seem selfish may end up helping the group in the long run. For instance, when there isn’t enough food to go around, wasps 6 and termites 7 will cannibalize their nest-mates. Gruesome as this may seem, it insures the colony’s survival through tough times.

甚至,某些看上去貌似自私的行为实际长远看来也有助于种群存活。比如说,当附近没有足够的食物时,黄蜂和白蚁就会对它们同族的伙伴进行蚕食。也许听上去很可怕,但实际上这保证了艰难时期种群的存活。



Although here at A Moment of Science, we don’t condone 8 human cannibalism 9, we still hope that these examples of altruism in animals will give you some food for thought.

我们《科学一刻》栏目虽然不能宽恕人类自相残杀的行为,但我们希望,这些存在于动物之间的利他主义将会带给大家一些发人深省的思想。



1 instinctively
adv.本能地
  • As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近,她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
3 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。
4 altruism
n.利他主义,不自私
  • An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
  • Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。
5 genetic
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
6 wasps
黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 ); 胡蜂; 易动怒的人; 刻毒的人
  • There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
  • We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中,而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中
7 termites
n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )
  • Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
  • This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句
8 condone
v.宽恕;原谅
  • I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
  • I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。
9 cannibalism
n.同类相食;吃人肉
  • The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
  • They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。
学英语单词
account supervisor
adulteration acts
all the more
all-suitest
analog-to-digital converter resolution
anduoite
animal biochemistry
Apple Passbook
ASCALAPHIDAE
assembly sequence
Baitouweng Tang
Ban Pak Nam
bay leaves
berbericine
bicontinuous isomorphism
Blankenrath
burnstein
cartha-sore
cassidula paludosa
central enterprises
clobetasol propionate unguent
closure head assembly
cold rolled carbon steel
controlateral
cosmic sediment
crowd scene
deliverable state
dibble planting
division of amplitude
dressing floor
drop guide tube
Edinburgh(Turnhouse) Airport
enameloid tissue
End System-to-Intermediate System
energy of retraction
epiplerosis
ethyl cartrizoate
franchisees
fundic uteri
genus trialeurodess
granddam
greenaugh microscope
growing conditions in north China
hachmeister
Harrison Seamount
hepatic cell cords
homogenizing heat treatment
Konsuloff's reaction
l'wren
labor-using technology
lancelet
laughterless
laying nest
Let it be said
liquid nitrogen-cooled detector
low-frequency transconductance
luminous indicator board
lysdexia
made his market
manganoniobite (manganocolumbite)
Martyrs of al-Aqsa
maximinning
microbraids
NASDAQ Composite
national response coordination center
neo-hippies
noisy modt
nonsimultaneous prestressing
noune
oniroid
optical ranging
orbital geophysical observatory satellite
output of systems analysis and design
parasteatoda lanyuensis
plainswoman
polyubiquitylation
Preveeillin
Pāngāsia
radioactivity pollution
re elect
refactorisations
rewaken
rieng
setting - up exercises
short-circuit between plates
single-phase double-speed motor
staged capacity
stock accounting
Talok
tangential oblique seismic reflection
toe cheese
toping cycle
tracking station of satellite
trump out
two-pass cooling
upnors
v-fitc
valence quark
verdura
virus pig pneumonia
wet and dry bulb recording hygrometer
yeaman