听力文摘：果蝇喜欢酒精!

When human females are pregnant, they're advised to stay away from alcohol, for fear of harming the fetus¹.

当人类女性怀孕时，人们就会建议她们戒酒，以免伤害胎儿。

And most parents refrain from giving their infants bottles full of whiskey or beer, for obvious reasons.

大多数父母都不会给婴儿接触满瓶的威士忌或者啤酒，原因是显而易见的。

But if you're a fruit fly, literally² dousing³ your offspring in alcohol is apparently⁴ one of the best ways to protect them from danger, particularly from certain types of wasps⁶.

但如果你是一只果蝇，毫不夸张的说，你把后代浸没在酒精中是保护它们远离危险的最好办法之一，特别是这样能避免黄蜂的伤害。

How and why?

如何以及为什么要这样做？

Let's back up a bit.

让我们来回顾一下。

First, certain types of wasps prey⁷ on fruit flies by injecting eggs inside fruit fly larvae⁸.

首先，特定类型的黄蜂会将卵注入果蝇幼虫中，以捕食果蝇。

Unless an infected larva kills the wasp⁵ egg, it hatches and the wasp larva eats its way out from inside the fruit fly larva, killing⁹ it.

除非受感染的果蝇幼虫杀死黄蜂卵，否则当黄蜂卵孵化出来后，黄蜂幼虫将会由内而外吞噬果蝇幼虫，将其杀死。

One way for fruit fly moms to protect against this gruesome fate is to lay their eggs in an alcohol soaked environment, such as fermenting¹⁰ fruit, when they see that parasitic¹¹ wasps are around.

果蝇妈妈为防止幼虫遭受厄运的其中一种办法是，当看到寄生蜂的出现时，将卵产在酒精浸泡的环境之中，例如发酵的水果里。

Although alcohol is toxic¹² to fruit flies, it's even more toxic to wasps, which, unlike fruit flies, have not evolved a high level of alcohol tolerance¹³.

尽管酒精对果蝇有毒，但酒精对黄蜂的毒性更大。与果蝇不同，黄蜂还没有进化成对高浓度酒精的耐受性。

So if the larvae eat enough alcohol rich food, it can kill the wasp egg and keep it from hatching.

所以如果果蝇幼虫吃了足够富含酒精的食物后，它就可以杀死黄蜂卵并使之不能孵化。

Apparently, fruit flies are not the only fly species to use alcohol to protect their young.

很明显，果蝇并不是利用酒精来保护幼虫的唯一的蝇类。

In fact, it seems that most flies that eat rotting fruit use the alcohol defense¹⁴ against wasps.

实际上，大部分的苍蝇都会食用腐烂水果，利用酒精来防御黄蜂。

So fruit flies are not unique in this regard, but they're still mighty¹⁵ impressive.

所以果蝇在这方面并不独特，但它们仍然令人印象深刻。

1 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 dousing   

v.浇水在…上( douse的现在分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. 另外一个蜘蛛在冲刷第二遍时才被发现，是个活蜘蛛。 来自互联网
• At this point, the specimen can be shattered by dousing it with sterilized warm saline. 此时，可以用浸入温暖的消毒盐水的方法粉碎标本。 来自互联网

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

6 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

7 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

8 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 fermenting   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• The fermenting wine has bubbled up and over the top. 发酵的葡萄酒已经冒泡，溢了出来。 来自辞典例句
• It must be processed through methods like boiling, grinding or fermenting. 它必须通过煮沸、研磨、或者发酵等方法加工。 来自互联网

11 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

12 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

13 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

14 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

15 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。