留美老师带你每日说英文 第936期:自然界的同类相食

 While it may seem counterproductive for members of the same species to eat each other, cannibalism¹ can promote the survival of the species as a whole by reducing competition, culling³ the weak, and bolstering⁵ the strong.

虽然对于同种族的成员来说，同类相食看似毫无用意，但那其实可以促进整个种族的存活，毕竟竞争减少了，弱者也被筛选了出来，强者则得到帮助。

学习重点：

1.counterproductive 产生不良后果的

counterproductive (adj.) 产生不良后果的

counter (v.) 反对；反击

counterargument (n.) 用来反驳的论点

2.species 种类

species (n.) 种类

breed (n.) 品种

3.cannibalism 自相残杀

cannibalism (n.) 自相残杀

cannibal (n.) 同类相食的动物；食人者

4.cull² 扑杀

cull (v.) 扑杀

eliminate (v.) 消灭

5.bolster⁴ 支撑; 增强

bolster (v.) 支撑; 增强

boost (v.) 提高；增加

reinforce (v.) 增援

1 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。

2 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

3 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分

4 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

5 bolstering   

v.支持( bolster的现在分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• Why should Donahue's people concern themselves with bolstering your image? 唐纳休的人为什么要费心维护你的形象？ 来自辞典例句
• He needed bolstering and support. 他需要别人助他一臂之力。 来自辞典例句