【英语时差8,16】孔雀鱼择偶-更喜欢冒险者（上）

Nobody could attract women like James Bond. They just couldn’t resist his manly¹ qualities, like his penchant² for dodging³ bullets, or leaping from airplanes. Well, those old Bond movies look kind of silly these days, especially the dim-witted female characters who fawn⁴ all over Bond at the drop of a hat. But there’s something interesting going on here. The suggestion seems to be that males who take risks are more attractive to females. Studies done on another species — guppies — suggest just such a mechanism⁵ for the attractiveness of risk-taking. Researchers Lee Dugatkin and Jean-Guy Godin noticed a fish equivalent of risk-taking behavior: when a predator⁶ is introduced into the tank, male guppies swim up to it. The females watch from a distance. The guppy that swims closest to the predator, without being eaten, is then regarded as more attractive by the females. It gets more mates.

1 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

2 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

3 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

4 fawn   

n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承

参考例句：

• A fawn behind the tree looked at us curiously.树后面一只小鹿好奇地看着我们。
• He said you fawn on the manager in order to get a promotion.他说你为了获得提拔，拍经理的马屁。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。