【英语时差8,16】在心里是双胞胎

 

Don: Hey Yael, are you a twin?

 

Yael: Nope.

 

D: Are you sure?

 

Y: Unless there's something my parents haven't told me, yes, I'm sure. I'd know if I had a twin brother or sister.

 

D: Perhaps, but even if you don't have a twin, you could still be a twin.

 

Y: I don't get it.

 

D: You could be a chimera¹.

 

Y: Oh, right. Actually, I still don't get it. A chimera is a mythological² beast with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon, right?

 

D: In mythology³, yes, but in biology a chimera is an organism made up of two distinct genetic⁴ lines.

 

Y: But how is that possible?

 

D: It's what happens when twin embryos⁶ fuse in the womb. The fusion⁷ results in what looks like a single embryo⁵, but the genetic material from each twin remains⁸ separate.

 

Y: So what does that mean? Does a chimera have one arm from one twin and the other arm from the other twin?

 

D: Something like that. It's not like the arms would look different, exactly, or that the  body's organs wouldn't be compatible or not work properly. But they do contain different and distinct sets of chromosomes⁹. So if you're a chimera, your liver could  be composed of cells with one set of chromosomes while your heart, say, consists of  cells with an entirely¹⁰ different set. Cool, huh?

 

Y: What happens when the embryos that fuse are of different sexes?

 

D: Then the chimera could be a hermaphrodite.

 

Y: Well, I know I'm not a hermaphrodite.

 

D: But you could be your own twin.  

 

1 chimera   

n.神话怪物；梦幻

参考例句：

• Religious unity remained as much a chimera as ever.宗教统一仍然和从前一样，不过是个妄想。
• I am fighting against my chimera.我在与狂想抗争。

2 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

3 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

6 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

7 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 chromosomes   

n.染色体( chromosome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chromosomes also determine the sex of animals. 染色体也决定动物的性别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Each of four chromosomes divide longitudinally. 四种染色体的每一种都沿着纵向分裂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。