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科学美国人60秒:小蚜虫骑在大蚜虫背上逃往安全地方

时间:2019-07-26 11:40:00 来源:可可英语编辑:aimee 可可英语APP下载 | 可可官方微信:ikekenet

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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是杰森·古德曼。

Imagine you're an aphid, a tiny insect that sucks plant sap for a living.
想象你是一只蚜虫——一种以吸食植物汁液为生的小昆虫。

You're munching away when a cow comes along to munch on the same plant you're on.
你正在津津有味地咀嚼时，突然过来一头牛要吃掉你所在的那株植物。

You feel its warm breath. So you drop to the ground to avoid being eaten and run away.
你感觉到了牛的温热气息。所以为了避免被吃掉，你赶紧跳到地上逃跑了。

The ground is a scary place for an aphid, but it's better than a cow's mouth.
对蚜虫来说，地面是个可怕的地方，但好过牛的嘴巴。

But if you're an especially small, young aphid, also known as a nymph,
不过如果你是一只特别小的年幼蚜虫，即幼虫，

scampering over cracks, stones and twigs is really difficult.
那要跳过裂缝、石头和树枝就很难了。

Luckily, young aphids have a solution.
幸运的是，小蚜虫找到了解决方法。

They climb aboard the back of a larger aphid that's also making an escape and hitch a ride, cowboy style.
它们爬到同样在逃命的大蚜虫背上，像牛仔那样搭便车。

"Sometimes there's a pile of nymphs at the beginning that climb on the adult,
“有时一开始会有一堆小蚜虫爬到成年蚜虫背上，

sometimes even eight or nine nymphs that all climb on the adult."
有时甚至有八九只。”

University of Haifa entomologist Moshe Gish.
海法大学的昆虫学家摩西·吉什说到。

Thanks to a series of experiments, Gish learned that the nymphs actively seek out adults after dropping to the ground.
经过一系列实验，吉什了解到，蚜虫幼虫落到地面后会主动寻找成年蚜虫。

It's not that they just try to climb onto any old thing they find nearby.
也就是说，蚜虫幼虫不会随便在附近找个成年蚜虫就爬到其背上去。

For the adults, the nymphs are a bit of a nuisance.
对成年蚜虫来说，蚜虫幼虫有点讨厌。

"There is some disadvantage for the adult. It slows it down."
“这对成年蚜虫来说有些不利。因为幼虫会减慢它们的速度。”

The grownups try to toss off their riders, like a mechanical bull at a college bar.
成年蚜虫会努力把幼虫甩下来，就像大学酒吧里的机械牛一样。

And they'll toss off a relative just the same as they will an unrelated nymph.
即便蚜虫幼虫是自己的亲戚，它们也会像甩掉和自己不相干的幼虫那样将其甩下来。

But somehow, evolution has allowed this piggyback riding behavior to persist.
但不知为何，进化让这种背驮式骑行延续了下来。

"Probably the cost that the adult pays for that delay
“很可能是因为，成年蚜虫为耽误逃命时间所付出的代价，

is not high enough to balance the benefit that the colony gets from saving a few nymphs."
不足以平衡种群保存几只幼虫所获得的益处。”

In other words, the advantage to the younger bugs outweighs the cost imposed on the older ones. The entire colony benefits.
换句话说，年幼蚜虫的利益大于成年蚜虫的损失。这是整个种群的获益。

The results are in the journal Frontiers in Zoology.
研究结果发表在《动物学前沿》期刊上。

Aphids are some of agriculture's most important pests, but to Gish they are also a part of a fascinating, important ecosystem.
蚜虫是农业中最重要的害虫之一，但对吉什来说，蚜虫也是迷人且重要的生态系统的一部分。

"Most people think of aphids — if we think of aphids —
“大多数人想到蚜虫时——如果我们会想到蚜虫的话——

they think of aphids as tiny dots on their plants that kill off their plants.
都会将它们视为杀死植物的小点。

But there's a whole world there...
但那里存在一个完整的系统，

all the interactions with the host plants and there's a chemical warfare between aphids and their host plants.
有蚜虫与宿主植物之间的所有互动，还有蚜虫与宿主植物之间展开的化学战争。

It's coevolution and it's an arms race.
这是二者的共同进化，也是一场军备竞赛。

There's a lot of action going on between the aphids and the plants, and the aphids and their predators, and the aphids and the elements.
蚜虫和植物、蚜虫与捕食者以及蚜虫与自然环境之间存在大量活动。

It's a whole world."
这是个完整的世界。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason Goldmang.
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·古德曼。

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重点讲解：
1. run away 离开；逃离；躲开；
I can't stand any more. I'm going to run away.
我再也受不了了#aGa3^NQJHBD]。我要逃走TeQ;qUujxzTWezX1XG。
2. hitch a ride 搭便车（旅行）；搭顺风车；
They hitched a ride in a truck.
他们搭乘了一辆路过的货车jQd6k#O!l9T。
3. seek out 寻找到；找出；
Ellen spent the day in the hills and sought me out when she returned.
埃伦在山里呆了一整天，并于回来后找到了我@*XZdxax^J。
4. kill off 毁灭；破坏；扼杀；使停止；
It is an effective treatment for the bacteria and does kill it off.
这是杀菌的特效药，能将其全部消灭IXFlYi@)Cz。

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重点单词		查看全部解释
advantage	[əd'vɑ:ntidʒ]	想一想再看 n. 优势，有利条件 vt. 有利于	联想记忆 X 单词advantage 联想记忆： ad+vant来到+age名词反缀,表示“状态，总称”→利益
fascinating	['fæsineitiŋ]	想一想再看 adj. 迷人的	联想记忆 X 单词fascinating 联想记忆： fascinate使…入迷+ing表形容词，“正 …的”，“令人…的”→迷人的
benefit	['benifit]	想一想再看 n. 利益，津贴，保险金，义卖，义演 vt.	联想记忆 X 单词benefit 联想记忆： bene好，fit做－做事后的好处
avoid	[ə'vɔid]	想一想再看 vt. 避免，逃避	联想记忆 X 单词avoid 联想记忆： a朝向，void空－空城计－避开
evolution	[.i:və'lu:ʃən]	想一想再看 n. 进化，发展，演变	联想记忆 X 单词evolution 联想记忆： e出+volut卷，转+ion→转出来→进化，发育
ecosystem	['ekəusistəm]	想一想再看 n. 生态系统
effective	[i'fektiv]	想一想再看 adj. 有效的，有影响的	联想记忆 X 单词effective 联想记忆： ef出，fect做－做出来的效果
bacteria	[bæk'tiəriə]	想一想再看 n. (复数)细菌
delay	[di'lei]	想一想再看 v. 耽搁，推迟，延误 n. 耽搁，推迟，延期
colony	['kɔləni]	想一想再看 n. 殖民地，侨民，侨居地，聚居(地), 群体，菌落