英语听力：探索发现 2012-10-05 长毛象王国 Mammoth—12

 The male flicks¹ the air with his tongue to test if the ewe will accept him. The next stage of courtship is not so subtle. He gives her a kick. At this highly-charged time of year, skirmishes can easily erupt between the rams², especially if they both have the same ewe in their sights.

 

But though there was food in Beringia, it was still cold, bitterly cold. The much of the year, temperatures would have remained below freezing 24 hours a day. How did the ice age animal survive in such a harsh world?

 

The more hair, the better for a start. Mask oxen can stay warm in temperatures of minus 50 degree centigrade, thanks to their chill-proof woolly coats. In fact, they have the warmest fur of any mammal. They have an extremely long outer layer over another very dense³ fine wool layer beneath, a combination so effective that even in winter, the mask ox can overheat if it runs too far. From frozen mammoths’ remains⁴, we know they had a very similar fur coat, made up of strands⁵ of hair up to a meter long.

1 flicks   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• 'I shall see it on the flicks, I suppose.' “电影上总归看得见。” 来自英汉文学
• Last night to the flicks. 昨晚看了场电影。 来自英汉文学

2 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

3 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》