【英语时差8,16】纳塔耳分散现象：孩子们离家出走的时候

 

 

Yaël: Hey Don, why the sad face?

 

Don: Yaël, I am beginning to think my son will never move out of the basement.

 

Y: I wouldn't worry. Natal¹ dispersal is a perfectly² natural thing.

 

D: Natal what?

 

Y: Natal dispersal. That's what happens when young animals leave home to make a life for themselves. Birds leave the nest. Mammals leave their home territories.

 

D: Do we know why they leave?

 

Y: Scientists think there are a number of reasons why young animals leave home. By 

doing so, they avoid competing with their relatives for resources. They avoid 

competing with each other for mates. And they also avoid inbreeding which can lead 

to less healthy offspring.

 

D: So, do all animals disperse³?

 

Y: Not all, but let's take bears as an example. Scientists have been keeping track of 

bear dispersal in many parts of the world. Most bears leave their mother's territory before they reach sexual maturity⁴ at age five. In Scandinavia, ninety-four percent of brown bear males and forty-one percent of females leave their natal territory. In Canada, grizzly⁵ bear males and females leave their mother's territory, but males leave in greater numbers and travel farther than females. In Virginia, black bear mothers  encourage their young to move away at one year of age and males even swim across   rivers to find a new home.

 

D: Hmm.

 

Y: You don't seem convinced.

D: Oh, I'm convinced.

 

Y: Then what is it?

 

D: Do scientists say anything about charging rent to encourage dispersal?

 

Y: I think that just might work for you, Don.  

 

1 natal   

adj.出生的，先天的

参考例句：

• Many music-lovers make pilgrimages to Mozart's natal place.很多爱好音乐的人去访问莫扎特的出生地。
• Since natal day,characters possess the visual elements such as dots and strokes.文字从诞生开始便具有了点画这样的视觉元素。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

4 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

5 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。