2020年经济学人 为什么海龟吃塑料垃圾(1)

Turtles have an unfortunate habit of devouring¹ plastic objects floating in the sea.

海龟有一个坏习惯，就是吞食漂浮在海里的塑料制品。

These then get snared² in their alimentary³ canals, cannot be broken down by the animals' digestive enzymes⁴ and may ultimately kill them.

然后这些东西会陷入消化道，无法被动物的消化酶分解，并最终可能致死。

It is widely assumed that this penchant⁵ for plastics is a matter of mistaken identity.

人们普遍认为，这种对塑料的嗜好是一种错误的识别。

Drifting plastic bags, for instance, look similar to jellyfish, which many types of turtles love to eat.

例如，漂浮的塑料袋看起来就像许多海龟喜欢吃的水母。

Yet lots of plastic objects that end up inside turtles have no resemblance to jellyfish.

然而，海龟体内的许多塑料制品却与水母毫无相似之处。

Joseph Pfaller of the University of Florida therefore suspects that something more complicated is going on.

因此，佛罗里达大学的Joseph Pfaller怀疑，更复杂的事情正在发生。

As he writes in Current Biology, he thinks that the odour of marine⁶ micro-organisms which colonise floating plastic objects induces turtles to feed.

他在《Current Biology》中写道，海洋微生物附着在漂浮的塑料物体上，它们的气味诱使海龟进食。

The idea that the smell of plastic flotsam might lure⁷ animals to their doom⁸ first emerged in 2016.

塑料垃圾的气味可能会导致动物灭亡的想法最早出现在2016年。

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, noticed that certain chemicals, notably⁹ dimethyl sulphide,

加州大学戴维斯分校的研究人员注意到，某些化学物质，

which are released into the air by micro-organism-colonised plastics, are those which many seabirds sniff¹⁰ to track down food.

尤其是被微生物占领的塑料释放到空气中的二甲基硫化物，是许多海鸟用来寻找食物的。

These chemicals mark good places to hunt because they indicate an abundance of the algae¹¹

这些化学物质标记了捕食的好地方，因为它们表明在海洋食物链的底部

and bacteria that lie at the bottom of marine food chains. The researchers also found that birds

有大量的藻类和细菌。研究人员还发现，

which pursue their food in this way are five or six times more likely to eat plastic than those which do not.

以这种方式捕食的鸟类比不以这种方式捕食的鸟类吃塑料制品的可能性要大5到6倍。

Since turtles are known to break the surface periodically and sniff the air when navigating¹² towards their feeding areas,

众所周知，海龟在游向觅食区域时，会周期性地破开水面，并嗅空气中的气味。

Dr Pfaller theorised that they are following these same chemicals, and are likewise fooled into thinking that floating plastic objects are edible¹³.

因此，Pfaller博士推断，海龟也在遵循着这些相同的化学物质，而且同样会误以为漂浮的塑料物体是可以食用的。

1 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

2 snared   

v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He snared a job with IBM. 他以巧妙的手段在 IBM 公司谋得一职。 来自辞典例句
• The hunter snared a skunk. 猎人捕得一只臭鼬。 来自辞典例句

3 alimentary   

adj.饮食的，营养的

参考例句：

• He had the disease of alimentary canal.他患了消化道疾病。
• This system is mainly a long tube,called the alimentary canal.这一系统主要是一根长管，称作消化道。

4 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

5 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

6 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

8 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

9 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

10 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

11 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

12 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

13 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。