VOA常速英语2014--Biologist Creates Portrait Gallery of North American Bees 生物学家绘制北美蜜蜂精美肖像画

 

Biologist Creates Portrait Gallery of North American Bees 生物学家绘制北美蜜蜂精美肖像画

While the collapse¹ of honey bee colonies in North America is still an unsolved mystery, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey is trying to preserve the memory of thousands of varieties of pollinating insects, some of which may become extinct.

A mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder² is devastating³ honeybee populations all over the world.

一种被称为蜂群崩溃综合症的神秘现象正在对世界各地的蜜蜂种群造成群毁灭性打击。

Conservationists say some of North America's 4,000 bee species could be wiped out.

自然资源保护者表示北美4000种蜜蜂可能被彻底灭绝。

Rutgers University researcher Rachael Winfree said honeybees are not the only pollinators in danger.

罗格斯大学研究人员瑞切尔·温弗雷称蜜蜂种群中不仅仅是传粉者处于危险之中。

“What we found is that the native wild insects are doing about a half of the flower visitation,” she said.

“我们发现本地野生昆虫的采花量只有一半,”她说道。

蜜蜂.jpg

A scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Sam Droege, said bees are too beautiful to be forgotten if they vanish forever.

美国地质调查局科学家山姆·多格称如果蜜蜂永远消失的话，太过漂亮的它们将无法被遗忘。

So, with the help of a lab technician, he is making full color portraits of them.

因此在实验室技术员的帮助下,他正在绘制蜜蜂的全彩画像。

“When you look at our native species,

“当你观察我们的本地物种,

you are talking metallic⁴ colors,

你所看到的是金属的颜色,

metallic greens, blues⁵, blacks with heavy pitting, some are highly armored, some are red,” he said.

金属绿色、蓝色,重点蚀黑色,一些好似穿上了装甲,而一些则是红色的,”他说。

Droege is photographing not only the domesticated⁶ honeybees,

多格不仅拍摄家养蜜蜂,

but also many of the wild species that pollinate crops.

还有许多授粉作物的野生品种。

He collects some of the specimens⁷ himself,

他自己收集一些标本,

while others are sent to him by government agencies, researchers and institutions across the country.

而政府机构、研究人员及在全国各地机构也会将其他标本送到他手上。

Before their photo session, the bees must be washed and dried.

在拍摄照片之前,蜜蜂必须经过洗净晾干处理。

Droege positions them in a special white box that bounces the light, leaving no shadows.

多格将它们放置在一个反射光线,不留阴影的特殊白盒子当中。

The photographs, taken from multiple angles, are merged⁸ by a computer program into a single beautiful picture.

从多个角度拍摄的照片最后经由计算机程序合成最终变成一幅美丽的画面。

Droege said his work has two components¹⁰.

多格表示他的工作有两个组成部分。

“One component⁹ is simply scientific,

“其中之一仅仅涉及科学,

so that it illustrates¹¹ our identification guide, which are very technical and can only be seen by a small number of people.

它描绘了我们的身份证明指南,这方面技术性很强,一小部分人才能看懂。

But the other aspect is sort of a vehicle for talking and illustrating¹² all the beauty.”

但是另一方面则是通过拍摄工具描绘出所有的美丽。”

Droege said the detailed¹³ photos will help researchers by saving them time and preventing identification errors.

多格表示细节详尽的照片将帮助研究人员节省时间及防止鉴别错误。

Some of the pictures are available at the U.S. Geological Survey website.

 

而其中一些照片会刊登在美国地质调查局网站中。

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

5 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

6 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

9 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

10 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

11 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

12 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

13 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。