【趣谈英语】蝙蝠不瞎-Bats Aren’t Blind

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

 

accurate: fully¹ correct

simile²: a figure of speech for comparing one thing to another, often with “like” or “as”

mammal: a warm-blood animal that nurses its young

misleading: causing someone to think something that is not true

echo: a sound that occurs due to a reflection of sound waves off an object

prey³: a living thing that is hunted and used for food

nocturnal: active at night; at rest during daylight

 

Bats Aren’t Blind

The expression “blind as a bat” is not an accurate simile. Studies suggest that bats rely on visual landmarks⁴ just like birds do. Unlike birds, bats are mammals. The only mammal in the world that can fly is the bat. Some species of bats fly about rapidly when hunting for insects. This may be where the misleading expression comes from. It is true that bats don’t have strong night vision. Nocturnal bats rely on a sonar system called echolocation. They deliver a high-pitched call and wait for an echo. The echo tells the bats how far away they are from an object. This helps bats find their way around at night. It also helps them catch their prey. Not all bats are nocturnal, though. Large fruit bats don’t live in caves and actually like the daylight. Only a few of more than 1000 species of bats feed on blood.

1 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。

2 simile   

n.直喻，明喻

参考例句：

• I believe this simile largely speaks the truth.我相信这种比拟在很大程度上道出了真实。
• It is a trite simile to compare her teeth to pearls.把她的牙齿比做珍珠是陈腐的比喻。

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句