VOA慢速英语2019--同时发光的萤火虫

Summer Theater: Fireflies That Light Up at the Same Time

Crowds will gather in two forests in the United States in coming weeks to see light shows created by a rare species of firefly.

These fireflies have the ability to light up with others at the same time. The insects stay lit for 10 seconds, go dark for about a minute, then shine bright again.

“You’re standing¹ in a dark forest and suddenly there is a brilliance² of little lights everywhere,” said Tara Cornelisse. She spoke³ to the Reuters news agency. Cornelisse is a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Portland, Oregon.

Scientists are not sure why some fireflies light up at the exact same time. But they believe that it helps attract reproductive partners during the weeks-long mating season.

Three years ago, Cornelisse traveled to the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival in the Allegheny National Forest to see the light show.

Cornelisse said of the experience, “It’s like the Milky⁴ Way flashes on and then off. You hear people gasp⁵ ‘Ohhhh!’”

Synchronous⁶ fireflies are found only in a handful of places in the United States. In addition to the Allegheny National Forest, they light up the night sky in Tennessee at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Oak Ridge⁷ Wildlife Management Area. Others are found in South Carolina’s Congaree National Park, and around Cajon Bonito Creek⁸ in Arizona.

This list of places comes from the website Firefly.org.

Other synchronous firefly species are found in Southeast Asia.

Starting life underground

Fireflies live for two years under Earth’s surface as larvae⁹. They feed on worms and snails¹⁰, creatures that live mainly underground, notes Sara Lewis. She wrote a book called “Silent Sparks: The Wondrous¹¹ World of Fireflies.” She is a professor at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Once the fireflies are adults, they rise up above the ground to spend a few weeks finding a partner, mating and making eggs before they die, said Lewis.

She added that researchers “know very little about why … (the fireflies) developed this behavior that makes them an eco-tourist attraction.”

Loss of fireflies

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is making final preparations for the crowds of people coming to see its light show.

Park service officials found a way to limit the number of vehicles entering the park. They set up a lottery¹² for the 1,800 parking spaces on the grounds. More than 28,000 people entered the competition. People from over 40 states and as far away as Taiwan won the chance to leave their car near the park’s entrance in Townsend, Tennessee.

Tickets sold out in 12 hours for a 2019 light show in the Allegheny forest on June 22, said Peggy Butler, the event’s organizer. The park is a short drive from the small town of Tionesta, home to fewer than 500 people. This year, officials are trying to limit the crowd to 800.

Organizers said many visitors who come to the firefly events are from Asia.

Butler said, “They want to see the fireflies they remember but don’t see any more in places like China and Japan, where human impact and human encroachment¹³ on the environment has led to the loss of the firefly.”

There are 2,000 different kinds of fireflies worldwide, lighting¹⁴ up the night sky in yellow, green or blue. In Asia, synchronous males remain in mangrove¹⁵ trees, timing¹⁶ their flashes to interest flying females.

The situation is generally the opposite in North America, where it is the males who are flying around flashing and the females are sitting on the ground, Lewis said.

The downside to firefly light shows is the likelihood that without crowd controls and limits, humans will destroy the very thing that drew them there in the first place.

“There is a danger in just the presence of those people,” Lewis said. “You could actually wipe out the population that is so attractive.”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

brilliance – adj. intense light or brightness

flash - n. a sudden burst of bright light

gasp – n. the sound made of a person breathing heavily

synchronous – adj. existing at the same time

larvae – n. the active, developing form of an insect

eco-tourist – n. people who travel for please to see wild, often threatened natural environments

impact – n. the effect or influence of one person or thing

encroachment – n. the invasion of one’s territory or rights

wipe out - v. to destroy

draw - v. to pull or act like a magnet

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

5 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

6 synchronous   

adj.同步的

参考例句：

• The message can be used only with synchronous operations.消息只能与同步操作一起使用。
• Synchronous machines do not easily fall out of step under normal conditions.在正常情况下，同步电机不易失去同步。

7 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

10 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

12 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

13 encroachment   

n.侵入，蚕食

参考例句：

• I resent the encroachment on my time.我讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
• The eagle broke away and defiantly continued its encroachment.此时雕挣脱开对方，继续强行入侵。

14 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

15 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

16 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。