英语听力文摘 English Digest 201、求偶的蚊蚋

　　How to Meet an Eligible¹ Gnat²
夏夜，蚊子的嗡嗡声常令人抓狂，但对异性蚊子来说这或许是甜蜜的“情歌”。美国康奈尔大学研究人员的最新研究发现，埃及伊蚊就是通过这些嗡嗡声上演着求偶二重奏。
蚊子的嗡嗡声并非从蚊子口中发出，而是其飞行时翅膀快速振动产生的。雄性埃及伊蚊的振翅频率是600赫兹，雌性为400赫兹。研究人员发现，在求偶过程中，雄性和雌性伊蚊都会将振翅频率调整到1200赫兹。
此外，研究人员还将微电极植入埃及伊蚊的听觉器官中，结果发现这种伊蚊的听觉器官对频率高达200赫兹的声音都很敏感，而此前的研究认为，雄性蚊子听不到频率超过800的声音。
研究人员表示，埃及伊蚊能传播黄热病、登革热等疾病，对其求偶过程进行声学干预，或许可以在一些黄热病和登革热肆虐的地区控制埃及伊蚊的数量。

　　'How to Meet an Eligible Gnat' on this Moment Of Science.
Have you ever walked into a swarm³ of insects–gnats⁴, mosquitoes, or one of their many cousins–and then found yourself unable to shake the swarm? You fake left, go right, but the little buggers still hover⁵ above. As if it that weren’t bad enough, did you know your head had just become the happening scene, where every hip⁶ gnat wants to be–in other words, the insect world’s equivalent of a singles bar?
That’s right, swarms⁷ are places for the sexes to meet and greet. The first time an entomologist reported the purpose of swarms was in 1906. Frederick Knab wrote that he’d netted 901 mosquitoes from a swarm, but only 4 were females!
Here’s how Knab explained it: males gather around some landmark–a cornstalk, perhaps the head of an unsuspecting human–and wait for eligible females. When a female enters the swarm, the males immediately pick up her flight tone, which is different from theirs. Coupled with one lucky guy, she flies to some protected place to mate.
After their interlude, the female goes to lay her eggs, but the male returns to the swarm, on the outside chance that he’ll get lucky once more. That’s why Knab netted so many more males than females.
Sometimes, these gatherings⁸ get quite large. In Germany, in 1807, people saw a huge cloud of smoke billowing over a church. So they called in the fire brigade, only to realize that the dark cloud was actually a swarm of gnats who’d picked the church steeple as their rendezvous⁹.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 gnat   

v.对小事斤斤计较，琐事

参考例句：

• Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.小事拘谨，大事糊涂。
• He's always straining at a gnat.他总是对小事很拘谨。

3 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

4 gnats   

n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He decided that he might fire at all gnats. 他决定索性把鸡毛蒜皮都摊出来。 来自辞典例句
• The air seemed to grow thick with fine white gnats. 空气似乎由于许多白色的小虫子而变得浑浊不堪。 来自辞典例句

5 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

6 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

7 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

8 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

9 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。