新托福听写训练 第1期

M:Now let's see professor Stone spent a lot of time talking about how animals walk and run.I remember she started by describing how humans move, and later we went over the gaits of different two legged and four legged animals.Like cats, camels, lizards¹...

W:Wait.I think I missed the class when you went over how lizards move.At least, I do not have any notes on it.

M:Well, we talked in class about how modern reptiles² like lizards run.I think I even copy the diagram the professor drew on the board.Here it is.Now, look at this.Lizards run with what'scalled as sprawling³ gait, their feet are well out on either side of their body and they move diagonally opposite feet together.The left fore⁴ foot with the right hind⁵ foot and the right fore foot with the left hind foot.They use this way of moving when they 're going slowly or quickly.When they move, they bend their bodies from side to side.And they time this bending so that they increase the length of their steps.

W:Okay.That makes sense.But I remember reading that, in general, animals evolves so that their feet are right under their bodies.But I do not see why?

M:That's because even the sprawling gaits suits lizards pretty well, there's a major disadvantage to this arrangement.Reptiles can not run and breathe at the same time.They stop briefly⁶ between short breaths of anywhere from 2 to 12 strides because when they move from side to side,the muscles of the left and right sides contract at different times.To breathe though, these muscles have to contract at the same time.Mammals do not have this problem because they do not move from side to side.Their feet are in the different position.

1 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

2 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

5 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。