【英语时差8，16】狼蜘蛛选择交配对象

 Ya?l: My cousin is always falling for these obnoxious¹, awful men who are just like her father. You'd think she'd learn not to make the same mistake her mother made.

Don: Well, you know what they say. A woman will marry the man who reminds her of her father, and a man will marry a woman who reminds him of his mother.

Y: Yeah, yeah. I just think that's so silly. Humans must be the silliest animals on the planet.

D: Actually, we're hardly the only animals to choose mates based on our early social interactions. In fact, though worlds away from us as a species, some female wolf spiders also make their mating choices on the basis of familiarity. Male wolf spiders run the gamut² in physical appearance. They can vary in color and in hairiness. What's interesting is that there isn't a general preferred look among females, but instead, females prefer males who look like males they encountered when they were young and sexually immature³. In fact, some female wolf spiders prefer familiarity to the extent that they will often eat a male suitor that doesn't fit that profile. The wider her range of familiarity with different looking males, the more discriminating⁴ a female is, and thus more likely to devour⁵ a male who looks unfamiliar⁶. The influence social experience has on the female wolf spider's mating choice is almost unheard of among invertebrates⁷. This spider challenges what we thought we knew about arachnids and invertebrates.

Y: I guess it also challenges my theory that humans are the silliest animals on the planet. If we are silly, we're not alone.  

1 obnoxious   

adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的

参考例句：

• These fires produce really obnoxious fumes and smoke.这些火炉冒出来的烟气确实很难闻。
• He is the most obnoxious man I know.他是我认识的最可憎的人。

2 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

3 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

4 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

5 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

6 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

7 invertebrates   

n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
• In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句