【英语时差8，16】萤火虫数量减少，专家忧心忡忡

 Preecha Jiabyu used to take tourists on a rowboat to see the banks of the Mae Klong River aglow¹ with thousands of fireflies.

These days, all he sees are the fluorescent² lights of hotels, restaurants and highway overpasses³.

"The firefly populations have dropped 70 percent in the past three years," said Preecha, 58, a former teacher who started providing dozens of rowboats to compete with polluting motorboats.

The fate of the fireflies drew more than 100 entomologists and biologists to Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai for an international symposium⁴ on the "Diversity and Conservation of Fireflies."No single factor is blamed, but researchers in the United States and Europe mostly cite urban sprawl⁵ and industrial pollution that destroy insect habitat. The spread of artificial lights also could be a culprit, disrupting the intricate mating behavior that depends on a male winning over a female with its flashing backside.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain stunned⁶ the U.S. political establishment and bolstered⁷ his image as a maverick⁸ by choosing the little-known female governor of Alaska as his running mate in the race against Democrat⁹ Barack Obama.

McCain's choice of Sarah Palin also means that no matter who wins in November, U.S. history will be made: Either the first black man will become president or the first woman will be vice¹⁰ president.

Palin offers risks and rewards for McCain. The choice of a 44-year-old, first-term governor to be his vice president could undermine one of McCain's main campaign themes: that Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator, is too inexperienced to become president.

But Palin, whose nomination¹¹ was announced on Aug. 29, could help McCain rally social conservatives, a core Republican constituency that has had an uneasy relationship with McCain. Palin has a strong anti-abortion record and opposes gay marriage.

1 aglow   

adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地

参考例句：

• The garden is aglow with many flowers.园中百花盛开。
• The sky was aglow with the setting sun.天空因夕阳映照而发红光。

2 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

3 overpasses   

n.立交桥，天桥，高架道路( overpass的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Is that why they're constructing so many underpasses, overpasses and highways? 那就是他们建这么多天桥、地下通道和公路的原因吗？ 来自辞典例句
• I also find more overpasses and elevated highways have been built. 我也发现建造了更多人行天桥和高架道路。 来自互联网

4 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

5 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

6 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

7 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

8 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。