【英语时差8,16】为什么有这么多蛇死在公路上?

 It's a familiar sight: you're driving along one of those long, dry stretches of highway in any of the southwestern states, and you keep coming across snakes that have been run over by cars. Why should snakes have worse luck with cars than any other desert animal does? One reason is that snakes are cold-blooded -- that is, their body temperature isn't maintained internally the way ours is, but fluctuates with the temperature of their environment. If you are cold-blooded and you live in the desert, you will find yourself getting very chilly¹ at night, because sandy terrain² does not hold heat very long after sunset. To get around this, snakes will often "bask³" on warm rocks; and they also seek hot places to help aid in their digestion⁴. This, in fact, is true of any snake, no matter what part of the country you find them in. The deserts just make a particularly clear case exactly because they do get cold so fast at night, and snakes can't hide out in wooded or grassy⁵ areas. Now you can probably see the problem that comes when human beings enter into the picture. When we move into deserts, we build those long roads out of asphalt and other materials that retain heat long after the sun has gone down. Desert snakes come out to bask away the cold hours on these convenient stretches of warmth. And, well...that turns out to be a mistake.

1 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 bask   

vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于

参考例句：

• Turtles like to bask in the sun.海龟喜欢曝于阳光中。
• In winter afternoons,he likes to bask in the sun in his courtyard.冬日的午后，他喜欢坐在院子晒太阳。

4 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

5 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。