【英语时差8,16】冬麦

According to the famous song, American is beautiful for its spacious¹ skies, purple mountains, and amber² waves of grain. If you were to make a music video based on these lyrics³ you'd probably want mid⁴ to late summer images of fruit-laden trees and fields of rippling⁵ wheat under sunny blue skies.   

But where the amber waves of grain are concerned, the image might be slightly misleading. While at least some wheat in the United States and Canada is planted in the spring and harvested in the summer, much is planted in the late fall and harvested in the spring. Winter wheat manages to survive freezing temperatures and being buried under piles of snow.

How do these plants pull it off?

After being planted in the mid to late fall, winter wheat seedlings⁶ undergo a process called cold acclimation⁷. They begin to grow and poke⁸ through the soil as the temperature drops to around forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit⁹. As the plant's leaves absorb light the seedlings produce large amounts of carbon and store it in the crown, the part of the plant where root and shoot meet underground.

At the same time, the absorption of light combined with low temperatures triggers the expression of certain genes¹⁰ that help the plant tolerate freezing temperatures. Although scientists do not fully¹¹ understand precisely¹² how this process works, it is clear that carbon production and freezing tolerance¹³ are necessary for the plant's survival.

When the snow melts and temperatures rise in the spring, the plant has plenty of stored energy for steady growth. By mid spring many North American wheat fields are beautiful with waves of grain ready for harvest.

 

1 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

2 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

3 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

4 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

5 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

6 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 acclimation   

n.服水土，顺应，适应环境；服习；驯化

参考例句：

• The incipient lethal temperature are shifted upward by acclimation to warmer temperature. 四角蛤蜊起始致死温是随驯化温度的变化而改变。 来自互联网
• A respiration rate compensation throught thermal acclimation is demonstrated by E. 温度驯化能导致速率补偿，表现为25℃驯化河蟹的呼吸率明显低于10℃驯化河蟹的呼吸率。 来自互联网

8 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

9 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

10 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

13 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。