【英语时差8,16】眼镜蛇

Don: Hey Yaël, why are you wearing safety goggles¹? Yaël: In case I run into any spitting cobras, Don. D: Spitting cobras? I didn't know there were any wild cobras in the United States. Y: There aren't. Cobras live in Africa and Asia where they kill thousands of people each year, but I'm going to the reptile² exhibit at the zoo. The scary thing is, some cobra species don't even have to bite you to injure you. They can spit poison a distance of three feet and they always aim for the eyes . Their poison is a neurotoxin that causes pain and can damage the mucus membranes³ and cornea. It can even cause blindness. D: Wow. Y: And that's not all. Scientists have found that they can hit a target about two feet away with one-hundred-percent accuracy. D: I don't think I could spit that well. Y: The snakes don't really spit. The poison is released from openings in the front of their fangs⁴. As it's released, they expel air from their lungs to blow the poison outward. Researchers used high-speed photography to find out how they hit their target every time. Instead of holding their head still to spit, the snakes rotate it from side to side, spreading the poison over an area. D: So, it's like using a shot gun with lots of pellets instead of a rifle with a single bullet. Y: Exactly. The snakes don't need to aim perfectly⁵, they just need to be close. D: That is interesting, Yaël. But aren't the zoo snakes in glass enclosures? Y: I imagine so. But better safe than sorry.

1 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

2 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

3 membranes   

n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物

参考例句：

• The waste material is placed in cells with permeable membranes. 废液置于有渗透膜的槽中。 来自辞典例句
• The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a system of intracellular membranes. 肌浆网属于细胞内膜系统。 来自辞典例句

4 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。