大千世界:电鱼
不知道大家听说过电鱼没有...它们往往生活在浑浊的水域当中，依靠发射电流探测出障碍物以及猎物的位置...原理和蝙蝠发出的超声波差不多...在今天的大千世界中，我们就来关注下这类不同寻常的鱼。
Don: Zzzzap! zzzzaapp!
Yaël: What are you doing, Don?
D: Yaël, I'm pretending I'm an electric fish having a conversation.
D: The so-called electric eel is one kind of fish that produces electrical discharges. They can emit very strong electrical charges, hundreds of volts 2 stronger than a car battery! They use their electricity to shock and kill prey 3 or deter 4 predators 6. But there are hundreds of other fish species that produce relatively 7 weak electrical discharges–much too weak to hurt or shock you or another fish.
Y: Why? Such weak electric signals don't seem very useful?
D: Weakly electric fish use their electric organ discharges for two important functions–communication and navigation. Since many electric fish are nocturnal or live in murky 8 water, they have evolved the ability to "see" their surroundings using electricity. The electrical field they create reacts differently to different kinds of objects. For example, a rock, a fish and a plant each conduct electricity differently. The fish detect these differences using electric receptors in their skin, and so can move easily around obstacles and find food without using their eyes. The dark or murky water also makes it hard to find and communicate with others. But electric fish use their electrical discharges to send signals to one another. By varying the frequency or pattern of their electric organ discharges, these fish can create complex communication signals. Behavioral studies of electric communication in these fish have found that electric fish signal this way during courtship, territorial 9 disputes and other social situations.
Y: Cool! So Electric fish use electricity instead of light and sound to find their way and talk to each other!
Discharge: 排放(物)
thunder and lightning caused by electrical discharges 由放电长生的雷电
emit: 散发,放射;发出
The chimney emitted thick smoke into the air.
烟囱向空中散发出浓烟。
Nocturnal: 夜间活动的
The owl 10 is a nocturnal bird.
猫头鹰是夜间活动的鸟。
Murky: dark and difficult to see through 浑浊的，污浊的
She gazed into the murky depths of the water.
她注视着那幽暗的水底。
Detect: 发现,察觉;查出,看穿
I detected anger in her voice.
我察觉出她说话声里含着愤怒。
He soon detected the faulty valve.
他很快查到了出毛病的阀门。
Obstacle: 障碍(物);妨碍
His reluctance 11 to compromise is an obstacle to his political success.
他不肯妥协是他政治上成功的一个障碍。
Her parents' opposition 12 is an obstacle to her marriage.
她父母的反对是她结婚的障碍。
Vary: 使不同;变更;修改
He never varied 13 his habits.
他从未改变过自己的习惯。
Courtship: (动物的)求偶
Courtship will include displays in which the male fluffs up his feathers.
鸟儿求偶的表现包括雄鸟抖松羽毛的炫耀行为。
- He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
- In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。
- The floating potential, Vf is usually only a few volts below ground. 浮置电势Vf通常只低于接地电位几伏。 来自辞典例句
- If gamma particles are present, potential differences of several thousand volts can be generated. 如果存在γ粒子，可能产生几千伏的电位差。 来自辞典例句
- Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
- The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
- 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。
- 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。
- birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
- The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
- The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
- She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
- She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。
- The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
- They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。
- Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
- I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。
- The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
- He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。