【英语时差8,16】金合欢树，蚂蚁和大象

Acacias, Ants And Elephants D:Hey,Yael, what ants, acacia trees and elephants have in common? Y:Hmm,I don't know,Don. D:Ants, acacia trees and elephants are linked together in a somewhat ironic¹ relationship. Acacias are thorny² scrubby African trees.Acacia leaves are an important food source for many of Africa’s largest herbivores such as giraffes, zebras and elephants.Such large grazers can do significant damage to an acacia tree. In order to deter³ these hungry browsers⁴, the whistling acacia has formed an alliance with ants. The acacia trees provide housing and sugary nectar for the ants.And in return armies of these biting ants swarm⁵ any animals attempting to eat the trees.It turns out that although the trees invest a lot of resources in the protective ants, trees that are grazed by big animals actually survive better than trees that aren’t grazed at all. Y:Surprising！Why it that? D:When the trees are munched⁶ by large herbivores they develop special hollow thorns the protector ants like to live in, and produce a sweet nectar for the guard ants to eat. Fenced off trees, while protected from hungry giraffes and elephants, stop producing homes and nectar for the ants.The disappearance⁷ of the protector ants allows a different species of ant to move in and take over. These new ants promote the activity of destructive stem boring beetles⁸, which can stunt⁹ the growth and even kill acacia trees. Y:I see.If not for the damage from hungry elephants, the tree doesn’t invest energy to house and feed the ants. But without its relationship with the protector ants, the tree suffers even more.

 

转自可可英语

1 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

2 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

3 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

4 browsers   

浏览器

参考例句：

• Three-layer architecture is a model made up of browser, web server and background database server. 这种体系结构是由Browser、Web Server、Database Server组成的浏览器／Web服务器／后台数据库服务器三层模型。 来自互联网
• Another excellent approach is to abandon the browser entirely and, instead, create a non-browser-based, Internet-enabled application. 另一个非常好的方法是干脆放弃浏览器，取而代之，创建一个不基于浏览器，但却是基于互联网的应用。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 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。

6 munched   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。
• The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鲜胡萝卜。 来自辞典例句

7 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

8 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。