Wild Africa - Deserts 浩瀚沙漠 - 10
Living underground, mole 1 rats are sheltered from the Kalahari's worst extremes of temperature. We think of deserts as hot places. But nightly temperatures can fall well below zero.
At dawn, meerkats need to soak up the warmth of the rising sun to get fully 2 active. The temperature in the Kalahari steadily 3 climbs as high as 70 Celsius 4 on the ground. Meerkats can only tolerate short bursts of activity in the morning and evening. This means they need to be very efficient at gathering 5 food. So they quarter their territory, traveling several kilometers a day.
Tasty beetles 6 and scorpions 7 are common in this grassy 8 desert. But finding them means spending a lot of time with your head in the sand. So meerkats are very vulnerable to predators 9. To protect the group, young males take turns keeping watch. This frees the others up to keep hunting. Scorpions have a lethal 10 sting, but meerkats are fast as lightning.
The Kalahari's high levels of rainfall mean food is plentiful 11 year round, one reason why this desert can support more large mammals than any other in the world.
Springbok are the most successful desert antelopes 12 in Africa. With short, thin fur, they can easily offload heat by sweating. The white patterns on their coats help to reflect solar radiation. And they never need to drink. They can extract all the moisture they need from the most meagre desert plants.
But in southern Africa's deserts, there is a lurking 13 challenge. Cheetahs 14 shadow the springbuck herds 15. They ,too, evolve in the desert. Thinly-furred and lightly-built, everything about them is designed to deal with heat and speed.
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words:
1.meerkat: 猫鼬
2.offload:to get rid of and pass on to another卸下，排掉
(eg.): He does come to offload the blame for launching the transmitting tools to market.
- She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
- The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。
- The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
- They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
- The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
- Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
- The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
- The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
- He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
- He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
- 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》
- You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou. 你保证黑蝎子永远不再踏上兰州的土地。 来自电影对白
- You Scorpions are rather secretive about your likes and dislikes. 天蝎：蝎子是如此的神秘，你的喜好很难被别人洞悉。 来自互联网
- They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
- Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。
- 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》
- A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
- She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。
- Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
- Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。
- One jump, and you're out, and we'll run for it like antelopes.' 你只要一跳就出来了，我们可以像羚羊那样飞快地逃掉。”
- Most antelopes can withhold their young for weeks, even months. 绝大部分羚羊能把分娩期推迟几个星期，甚至几个月。
- Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
- There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. 花豹不像狮子或印度豹，是属于较神秘而隐居的大猫。 来自互联网
- Among this lot are cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, spotted hyenas and elephants. 印度豹、狮子、花豹、犀牛、斑点土狼、大象等，都是此地的居民。 来自互联网