托福听力短文 II-06-1

(WA) Before moving on to a new topic, I want to finish up our unit on arachnids by looking at what may seem a very unusual aspect of spider behavior --- a species where the young spiders actually consume the body of their mother.

Unlike most other spiders, this species lays one --- and only one --- clutch of 40 eggs in her lifetime. The young spiders hatch in mid-spring or early summer, inside a nest of eucalyptus¹ leaves. Their mother spends the warm summer months bringing home large insects --- often 10 times her weight --- for meal. The catch is always significantly more than her young spiders can eat. So, the mother fattens² herself up on this extra prey³ and stores the nutrients⁴ in her extra (unfertilized) eggs. As the weather turns colder, there are fewer insect prey to hunt. That's when the nutrients stored in those extra eggs begin to seep⁵ into the mother's bloodstream. So, when there are no more insects to feed to the young spiders, they attach themselves to the mother's leg joints⁶ and draw nourishment⁷ by sucking the nutrient-rich blood.

After several weeks, the mother is depleted⁸ of all nutrients and she dies. But then how do the young get nourishment? They start to feed on one another. Now, if you recall our discussion of Darwin, you'll see the evolutionary⁹ value of this: Only the strongest spiders of the clutch will survive this "cannibalism," and the mother spider will have ensured that her genes¹⁰ have an increased chance of survival through future generations.

1 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

2 fattens   

v.喂肥( fatten的第三人称单数 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值

参考例句：

• The weekly with large fattens on sex, crime and scandal. 这家发行量甚大的周刊靠宣染性、罪和丑闻打开销路。 来自互联网
• It boosts consumers' real incomes and fattens firms' profit margins. 这将增加消费者的收入提高企业的利润幅度。 来自互联网

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 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

6 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

7 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

8 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

9 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

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