【趣谈英语】蜜蜂有洁癖-Bees Are Neat Freaks

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

• neat freak: one that is obsessed¹ with keeping things neat and tidy
• forage: to search for food and materials
• debris²: loose material
• immaculate: perfect; without any flaws
• groom: to keep one’s body clean
• undertaker: one who prepares dead bodies for burial
• entomb: to wrap or cover the dead
• decompose: to decay

Bees Are Neat Freaks

 

A single bee hive houses one queen bee, hundreds of male drone bees, and thousands of female worker bees. The male bees exist for the sole purpose of mating with the queen. The female worker bees serve the queen by doing various duties including cleaning, feeding, guarding, and foraging³. Keeping the hive neat and tidy is one of the most important jobs of the worker bees. The queen bee checks their work and makes them clean a cell again and again if it’s not immaculate. Not only must they keep the hive clean, they must keep the queen perfectly⁴ groomed⁵. The workers clean dust, hair, and other debris off the queen. Bees that die inside the hive are quickly dropped outside the hive. Undertaker bees later move the dried up dead bees to a remote location to prevent pests from becoming attracted to the hive. Some worker bees patch up cracks to prevent air or intruders from getting in. If something large enters the hive that can’t be removed, worker bees coat it in a material called propolis. This entombs the intruder and prevents it from decomposing⁶ and spreading disease.

1 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

2 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

3 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 decomposing   

腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等）

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the overpowering stench of decomposing vegetation. 空气中充满了令人难以忍受的腐烂植物的恶臭。
• Heat was obtained from decomposing manures and hot air flues. 靠肥料分解和烟道为植物提供热量。