【一起听英语】孤独的生物

 Dima: Hello and welcome to this edition of 6 Minute English with me, Dima

Kostenko

 

Rebecca: and me, Rebecca Byrne.

Dima: Today we'll have some useful words and phrases used in science and

environmental studies as we talk about the loneliest creature on the planet. But

first - Rebecca, can I ask you a question?

Rebecca: Responds

Dima: If you were asked to put yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 means a

very sociable¹ person who hates being on her own and 1 means a complete

loner, where do you reckon your place would be?

Rebecca: Responds

Dima: Responds. OK, in that case I'd like to stretch your imagination a bit. Imagine

always living completely on your own. How would you feel about that?

Rebecca: Responds

Dima: And if on top of that you had to live in darkness, deep underground?

Rebecca: Responds

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 2 of 4

Dima: Well, it may be hard to imagine but there is a creature on Earth that lives

exactly like that: no light, no company - it reproduces by dividing itself - and

even no oxygen! It's not a human being of course, it's only a tiny little bug², but

the fact that it exists came as a big surprise to a group of scientists who

discovered it only a few months ago.

Rebecca: I think I remember that story… Wasn't it somewhere in South Africa?

Dima: That's right, deep in a gold mine. In a moment we'll hear from one of those

scientists, Dr Dylan Chivian, and I hope you can help me with the language

Rebecca.

Rebecca: Responds

Dima: But first, as usual, a question to you: You remember that the lonely bug lives

without oxygen. So how do you think it gets its energy? Is it from:

a) gold

b) sulphate, or

c) iron?

What do you think Rebecca?

 

Rebecca: Answers

Dima: We'll check your answer later but first let's hear from Dr Chivian, and here is

Rebecca with some words and expressions to help you understand him better.

Rebecca: 'To speculate on something', meaning to suggest, or to guess that something is

a possible. 'A blueprint³' - that's a full and detailed⁴ plan of something.

'Ecosystem⁵', a word that describes living organisms and the environment where

they live. And 'genome' - in other words, a complete set of genes⁶, or full

genetic⁷ information.

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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Dima: So, as you listen, look out for these words and expressions:

Rebecca: Speculate on. Blueprint. Ecosystem. Genome.

Dima: Are you ready? Here's Dr Chivian:

Clip 1 0'13"

It's something we've speculated on before, but to really find it happening here on Earth is

confirmation⁸ of that idea, that you could in fact pack the blueprint for an entire ecosystem into

a single genome.

Rebecca: Dr Chivian says scientists have suspected that an organism like this might

exist. And now their idea has been confirmed. The lonely bug is in fact a

reflection, or a plan of a whole natural system, hiding in a single set of genes.

Dima: And that's not all: Dr Chivian says the bug could even help in the search for

extraterrestrial forms of life.

Rebecca: 'Extraterrestrial' - meaning coming from outer space, from planets other than

Earth.

Dima: Listen to him again and this time try to find the answer to this week's question:

How does the lonely bug get its energy? Here's a tip for you: try and catch the

name of a certain chemical. And what's your language point Rebecca?

Rebecca: I've got a couple in fact: the verb 'to evolve', which is to develop slowly, and a

very common phrase 'it may well be', meaning it's quite possible. Shall we

listen?

Clip 2 0'20"

Early Earth and other planets didn't have a lot of oxygen on them, so life has evolved to use

oxygen in order to get its energy, you know. If we ever discover life on other planets, it may 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

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very well be that they live without oxygen and instead potentially use chemicals like sulphate

to get their energy.

Dima: That was scientist Dr Dylan Chivian. Now, before we talk about the answer to

this week's question, could you go through some of today's vocabulary again

Rebecca?

Rebecca: Responds. First of all we talked about the phrase to speculate on something,

meaning to suggest, or to guess that something is possible. Then there was the

word blueprint - a full and detailed plan of something. We defined

ecosystems⁹, a word that describes living organisms and the environments

where they live. And then, genome - a complete set of genes, or full genetic

information. We mentioned the adjective extraterrestrial, meaning coming

from outer space, from planets other than Earth. And then we heard the verb to

evolve, which is a shorter way of saying to develop slowly. And finally, my

favourite: a very common expression that means 'it's quite possible'. Can you

remember what it is Dima?

Dima: 'It may well be'?

Rebecca: That's exactly right. Or, as Dr Chivian put it, 'it may very well be'.

Dima: Thanks Rebecca. Finally, back to our question. Which chemical does the lonely

bug get its energy from?

Rebecca: Responds (the choice was gold, sulphate or iron and I said… which was

correct/wrong…)

Dima: I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Until next week.

Both: Goodbye! 

1 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

2 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

3 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

6 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

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句