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MarleneZuk_2015W-_怪异的昆虫性行为给我们的启发_
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| So, people are more afraid of insects than they are of dying. |
看来,人们害怕昆虫, |
| (Laughter) |
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| At least, according to a 1973 "Book of Lists" survey which preceded all those online best, worst, funniest lists that you see today. |
起码,根据《排行榜之书》1973年的一项调查, 当时仍无今天的各种最佳、最劣、最滑稽等在线调查 |
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according to:根据,据说; survey:n.调查;测量;审视;纵览;vt.调查;勘测;俯瞰;vi.测量土地; preceded:v.在…之前发生(或出现);先于;走在…前面;(precede的过去分词和过去式)
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| Only heights and public speaking exceeded the six-legged as sources of fear. |
只有高度和公众演讲。 比六只腿的东西更令人毛骨悚然。 |
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exceeded:v.超过(数量);超越(法律、命令等)的限制;(exceed的过去分词和过去式) sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数)
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| And I suspect if you had put spiders in there, the combinations of insects and spiders would have just topped the chart. |
我颇信,如果把蜘蛛也考虑在内的话, 蜘蛛兼昆虫一定越占恐惧榜首无疑。 |
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suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的; spiders:n.蜘蛛(spider的复数) combinations:n.[数]组合;制品(combination的复数);合谱;
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| Now, I am not one of those people. |
不过,我倒不像他们。 |
| I really love insects. |
我喜欢昆虫。 |
| I think they're interesting and beautiful, and sometimes even cute. |
我觉得昆虫有趣、很美、 有时甚至很萌。 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| And I'm not alone. |
不止我一个是这样的哦。 |
| For centuries, some of the greatest minds in science, from Charles Darwin to E.O. Wilson, have drawn inspiration from studying some of the smallest minds on Earth. |
许多世纪以来,科学界很多伟大的思想家, 从达尔文到威尔逊, 都从地球上最微小的心思得到启发。 |
| Well, why is that? |
是什么原因呢？ |
| What is that keeps us coming back to insects? |
什么原因让我们一而再地关注昆虫呢？ |
| Some of it, of course, is just the sheer magnitude of almost everything about them. |
有些原因来自昆虫的几乎每一个方面的量度。 |
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sheer:adj.纯; v.十足地; n.透明薄纱; v.[航海](使)偏航; (使)转向; magnitude:n.大小;量级;[地震]震级;重要;光度;
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| They're more numerous than any other kind of animal. |
这些量度比任何其他动物都大 |
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numerous:adj.许多的,很多的;
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| We don't even know how many species of insects there are, because new ones are being discovered all the time. |
我们甚至还不知道究竟有多少种昆虫, 因为一直都不断有新品种被发现。 |
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species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
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| There are at least a million, maybe as many as 10 million. |
现知道有至少1百万,也许有1千万之多。 |
| This means that you could have an insect-of-the-month calendar and not have to reuse a species for over 80,000 years. |
就是说,你可以搞个每月一种昆虫介绍的年历 即使不重复介绍,也可以够用80,000年。 |
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calendar:n.日历;挂历;v.把…记入日程表中;
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| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| Take that, pandas and kittens! |
熊猫小猫的,靠边站吧。 |
| (Laughter) |
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| More seriously, insects are essential . |
更重要的是,昆虫不可缺。 |
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essential:n.要点;要素;实质;必需品;adj.完全必要的;必不可少的;极其重要的;本质的;
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| We need them. |
我们很需要它们。 |
| It's been estimated that 1 out of every 3 bites of food is made possible by a pollinator . |
据估计,每3口食物中, 有两口来自授粉昆虫的工作。 |
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estimated:adj.估计的;预计的;估算的; pollinator:n.传粉者,传粉媒介,传粉昆虫;授花粉器;
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| Scientist use insects to make fundamental discoveries about everything from the structure of our nervous systems to how our genes and DNA work. |
科学家们利用昆虫得出对种种事物的根本性发现, 从神经系统到基因 和DNA是如何工作的等等。 |
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fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; genes:n.基因;(gene的复数)
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| But what I love most about insects is what they can tell us about our own behavior. |
我最喜欢昆虫的一面是它们使我们 对自己的行为有了深刻的了解。 |
| Insects seem like they do everything that people do. |
人们做的事,昆虫似乎都做。 |
| They meet, they mate, they fight, they break up. |
它们相遇、交配、打斗、分离。 |
| And they do so with what looks like love or animosity . |
而它们做的方式也掺有看来像是爱或恨的东西。 |
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animosity:n.憎恶,仇恨,敌意;
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| But what drives their behaviors is really different than what drives our own, and that difference can be really illuminating . |
但是,驱动它们的行径的和驱动我们行径的是不同的东西。 这种不同能显耀出很多道理。 |
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different than:不同于; illuminating:adj.照明的;有启发性的;v.照明,解释;(illuminate的现在分词)
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| There's nowhere where that's more true than when it comes to one of our most consuming interests -- sex. |
而最能说明这个问题的 恰恰是我们最感兴趣的 ---性！ |
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nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的; consuming:adj.消费的;强烈的;v.消耗(consume的ing形式);
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| Now, I will maintain . and I think I can defend, what may seem like a surprising statement . |
我将坚持这样一种令人意外的说法, 并且不是没有道理的: |
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maintain:v.维持;保持;维修;保养;坚持(意见); statement:n.声明;陈述,叙述;报表,清单;
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| I think sex in insects is more interesting than sex in people. |
我认为昆虫的性行为比人类的性行为有意思多啦。 |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| And the wild variety that we see makes us challenge some of our own assumptions about what it means to be male and female . |
能看得见的五花八门的品种 就足以让我们质疑 一向对何谓雌雄的想当然的想法了。 |
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variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化; assumptions:n.假定;假设;承担;获得;(assumption的复数) female:adj.女性的;雌性的;柔弱的,柔和的;n.女人;[动]雌性动物;
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| Of course, to start with, a lot of insects don't need to have sex at all to reproduce . |
自然,首先地, 很多昆虫根本无需性行就能繁殖。 |
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reproduce:v.繁殖;复制;再现;生育;
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| Female aphids can make little, tiny clones of themselves without ever mating . |
雌蚜虫不用交配就能复制很小很小的自己。 |
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aphids:n.蚜虫类(aphid的复数); clones:n.无性繁殖系个体; v.复制(clone的单三形式); mating:n.交尾;交配;v.交配;交尾;使交配;(mate的现在分词)
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| Virgin birth, right there. |
处女诞儿,十足无疑地, |
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Virgin:n.处女;童男;无…经验的人;新手;
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| On your rose bushes . |
就在你家的玫瑰枝上。 |
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bushes:n.灌木;荒野;林区;(bush的复数)
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| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| When they do have sex, even their sperm is more interesting than human sperm. |
而那些有交配行为的呢, 它们的精子都比人的精子要多姿多彩。 |
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sperm:n.精子;精液;鲸蜡油;
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| There are some kinds of fruit flies whose sperm is longer than the male's own body. |
有种果蝇, 其精子比雄虫自己的身体还要长。 |
| And that's important because the males use their sperm to compete . |
关键是因为雄虫要用其精子来竞技。 |
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compete:v.竞争;对抗;参加比赛(或竞赛);
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| Now, male insects do compete with weapons, like the horns on these beetles . |
雄性昆虫自然有用武器来竞斗的, |
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horns:n.喇叭; v.截锯…的角; beetles:n.甲虫;v.快速移动;(beetle的第三人称单数和复数)
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| But they also compete after mating with their sperm. |
但是也有在交配之后用其精子来竞斗的。 |
| Dragonflies and damselflies have penises that look kind of like Swiss Army knives with all of the attachments pulled out. |
蜻蜓和豆娘虫的阴茎跟瑞士小刀一样, 都带各色配件,能拔鞘而出。 |
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Dragonflies:n.[昆]蜻蜓(dragonfly的复数); damselflies:n.豆娘(一种蜻蜓); penises:n.阴茎;(penis的复数)
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| (Laughter) |
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| They use these formidable devices like scoops, to remove the sperm from previous males that the female has mated with. |
它们用这些攻无不胜的像勺子的器具 能把雌虫之前与之交配的雄虫的精子都刮掉。 |
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formidable:adj.强大的;可怕的;令人敬畏的;艰难的; devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数); previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前;
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| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| So, what can we learn from this? |
那么,从这些我们能学到什么呢？ |
| (Laughter) |
（笑声） |
| All right, it is not a lesson in the sense of us imitating them or of them setting an example for us to follow. |
倒不是说这里有什么我们应该模仿它们什么, 或者它们给了个什么榜样我们去跟, |
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imitating:v.模仿;仿效;冒充;(imitate的现在分词)
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| Which, given this, is probably just as well. |
幸亏也不需要这样做。 |
| And also, did I mention sexual cannibalism is rampant among insects? |
还有,刚才我提到过昆虫当中非常流行性吞噬的吗？ |
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sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的; cannibalism:n.食人;嗜食同类;残忍的行为; rampant:adj.猖獗的;蔓延的;狂暴的;奔放的;
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| So, no, that's not the point. |
所以,我意思不是学具体什么行为。 |
| But what I think insects do, is break a lot of the rules that we humans have about the sex roles. |
我只想说,昆虫在性行为方面 打破很多人们自以为是的性别角色的常规。 |
| So, people have this idea that nature dictates kind of a 1950s sitcom version of what males and females are like. |
我们人仍持有想法,仍停留在50年代的电视喜剧里看到的、 大自然决定男女人的行为之说。 |
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dictates:v.口述;指使;支配;摆布;决定;n.命令;规定;(dictate的第三人称单数和复数)
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| So that males are always supposed to be dominant and aggressive , and females are passive and coy . |
就是,男人永远是应该强势、有竞争力的, 而女人永远是被动、内敛的。 |
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supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式) dominant:adj.显性的;占优势的;支配的,统治的;n.显性; aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的; passive:adj.被动的,消极的;被动语态的;n.被动语态; coy:adj.害羞的;糊其辞的;
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| But that's just not the case. |
但事实并不是这样的。 |
| So for example, take katydids , which are relatives of crickets and grasshoppers . |
拿螽斯来说吧, 它们是蟋蟀和蚱蜢同类 |
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katydids:n.美洲大螽斯;纺织娘; relatives:n.亲戚;亲属;同类事物;(relative的复数) crickets:n.[昆]蟋蟀(cricket的复数形式); grasshoppers:n.草蜢; v.像蚱蜢似地跳;
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| The males are very picky about who they mate with, because they not only transfer sperm during mating, they also give the female something called a nuptial gift. |
其雄虫对交配对象非常挑剔, 原因是,交配时它们不单是移交精子 它们还给雌虫一种叫聘礼的东西。 |
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picky:adj.挑剔的;吹毛求疵的;过分讲究的; transfer:n.转移;调任;调离;[体]转会球员;v.调任;调走;转学;转移; nuptial:adj.婚礼的;结婚的;婚姻的;n.婚礼;
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| You can see two katydids mating in these photos. |
这图上看到的是两只螽斯在交配 |
| In both panels , the male's the one on the right, and that sword-like appendage is the female's egg-laying organ . |
两图上的雄虫都是右边那只, 而那剑状的附肢是雌虫的产卵器官。 |
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panels:n.面板(panel的复数); v.嵌镶(panel的第三人称单数形式); appendage:n.附加物;下属;[动][解剖]附器(如植物的枝叶和动物的腿尾); egg-laying:adj.产卵的;生蛋的; organ:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴;管风琴;嗓音;
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| The white blob is the sperm, the green blob is the nuptial gift, and the male manufactures this from his own body and it's extremely costly to produce. |
白斑是精子, 绿斑就是聘礼, 那聘礼是雄虫用自己的身体做材料产出来的, 成本非常昂贵。 |
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blob:n.一滴;一抹;v.弄脏;把…做错;得零分; manufactures:n.制成品(manufacture的复数);v.制造(manufacture的第三人称单数); extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; costly:adj.昂贵的;代价高的;
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| It can weigh up to a third of his body mass . |
其重量高达雄虫体重的三分一。 |
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mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集;
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| I will now pause for a moment and let you think about what it would be like if human men, every time they had sex, had to produce something that weighed 50, 60, 70 pounds. |
我且稍息,让在坐的想想: 如果人类的男性每次性交之前 都得先生产一块50、60、70磅重的东西,会是什么情形？ |
| (Laughter) |
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| Okay, they would not be able to do that very often. |
肯定就是,他们一定不能频繁性交。 |
| (Laughter) |
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| And indeed, neither can the katydids. |
事实上,螽斯也不行。 |
| And so what that means is the katydid males are very choosy about who they offer these nuptial gifts to. |
因此就意味着, 螽斯雄虫非常挑剔, 不会随便把聘礼送给不经挑剔的雌虫。 |
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choosy:adj.好挑剔的;
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| Now, the gift is very nutritious , and the female eats it during and after mating. |
这聘礼是非常营养丰富的, 雌虫在交配当中和之后都会进食之。 |
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nutritious:adj.有营养的,滋养的;
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| So, the bigger it is, the better off the male is, because that means more time for his sperm to drain into her body and fertilize her eggs. |
因此聘礼越大,雄虫越占便宜, 因为这意味着其精子有更多的时间灌进雌虫体内, 授精给她的卵子。 |
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drain:v.排水;流干;喝光,耗尽;n.排水;下水道,排水管;消耗; fertilize:vt.使受精;使肥沃;
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| But it also means that the males are very passive about mating, whereas the females are extremely aggressive and competitive , in an attempt to get as many of these nutritious nuptial gifts as they can. |
然而,这也等于说雄性在交配方面挺被动的。 而雌性则极为先声夺人、各不相让。 一心就为搞到尽量多的那些营养丰富的聘礼。 |
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whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之; competitive:adj.竞争的;比赛的;求胜心切的; in an attempt to:力图;试图;企图;
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| So, it's not exactly a stereotypical set of rules. |
这情形和一贯的俗规有出入了。 |
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stereotypical:adj.老一套的;陈规的;
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| Even more generally though, males are actually not all that important in the lives of a lot of insects. |
一个更普遍的现象是, 雄性在很多昆虫的生活并不是最重要的。 |
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generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地;
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| In the social insects -- the bees and wasps and ants -- the individuals that you see every day -- the ants going back and forth to your sugar bowl , the honey bees that are flitting from flower to flower -- all of those are always female. |
在社群类昆虫里---蜜蜂、土蜂、蚂蚁等 你每天都能见到的那几种---- 如在你的糖罐进进出出的蚂蚁, 花丛中飞来飞去的蜜蜂, 这些全都是雌性的。 |
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wasps:n.[昆]黄蜂;[昆]胡蜂(wasp的复数形式);马蜂; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); back and forth:前后移动的,来回的,反复的; sugar bowl:糖罐子; flitting:v.轻快地从一处到另一处;掠过;迁移;迁居;搬家;(flit的现在分词)
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| People have had a hard time getting their head around that idea for millennia . |
一千多年来人们都无法理解这种状况. |
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millennia:n.千年期(millennium的复数);一千年;千年庆典;太平盛世;
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| The ancient Greeks knew that there was a class of bees, the drones , that are larger than the workers, although they disapproved of the drones' laziness |
古代希腊人知道蜜蜂里有一纲类,雄峰, 比工蜂要大。 虽然希腊人看不惯雄峰的懒散, |
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drones:v.嗡嗡叫;嗡嗡响;(drone的第三人称单数) disapproved:v.不赞成;不同意;反对;(disapprove的过去分词和过去式) laziness:n.怠惰;无精打采;
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| because they could see that the drones just hang around the hive until the mating flight -- they're the males. |
它们总是围着蜂窝转, 转到婚飞为止, 人家是雄峰嘛, |
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hang around:闲荡;徘徊; hive:vi.群居; n.蜂房,蜂巢; vt.入蜂箱;
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| They hang around until the mating flight, but they don't participate in gathering nectar or pollen . |
就在等婚飞, 从来不参与采集花蜜和花粉。 |
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participate:v.参加;参与; nectar:n.[植]花蜜;甘露;神酒;任何美味的饮料; pollen:v.传授花粉给;n.[植]花粉;
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| The Greeks couldn't figure out the drones' sex, and part of the confusion was that they were aware of the stinging ability of bees but they found it difficult to believe that any animals that bore such a weapon could possibly be a female. |
希腊人搞不清楚雄峰的性别, 部分原因是给一特点弄糊涂了: 但又难以相信 持有如此武器的竟然会是雌性的动物。 |
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confusion:n.困惑;混淆;混同;困窘; stinging:v.刺;蜇;叮;(使)感觉刺痛;激怒;使不安;(sting的现在分词) bore:v.钻孔;使烦扰;n.孔;令人讨厌的人;
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| Aristotle tried to get involved as well. |
亚里士多德也掺合上了。 |
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Aristotle:n.亚里士多德; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
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| He suggested, "OK, if the stinging individuals are going to be the males ..." |
他猜测:“好吧,如果带螫针的是雄的...” |
| Then he got confused , because that would have meant the males were also taking care of the young in a colony , and he seemed to think that would be completely impossible. |
说到这,他也糊涂了, 因为照此论下去,那些在蜂群里照顾幼蜂的也是雄的啦。 这让他认为是完全不可能的事。 |
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confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式) colony:n.殖民地;移民队;
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| He then concluded that maybe bees had the organs of both sexes in the same individual, which is not that far-fetched , some animals do that, but he never really did get it figured out. |
然后他就下结论说 蜜蜂大概是一身两性的, 虽然这说法不尽荒唐,因为有些动物的确如此。 但也说明他最后还是没弄清楚。 |
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concluded:v.断定:得出结论:终止:达成:缔结(协定)(conclude的过去分词和过去式) organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数); far-fetched:adj.强词夺理的;太牵强了;
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| And you know, even today, my students, for instance , call every animal they see, including insects, a male. |
即便是现在,我的学生也是每看到一动物, 包括昆虫,都谓之为雄的。 |
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instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例;
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| And when I tell them that the ferocious army-ant soldiers with their giant jaws, used to defend the colony, are all always female, they seem to not quite believe me. |
当我告诉他们说那些凶神恶煞的军蚁, 头鳄硕大、捍卫蚁群的, 全是雌的, 学生们都半信半疑。 |
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ferocious:adj.残忍的;惊人的; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的
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| (Laughter) |
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| And certainly all of the movies -- Antz, Bee Movie -- portray the main character in the social insects as being male. |
加上所有的电影,蚂蚁电影、蜜蜂电影----- 里面的主角都给扮成是雄的。 |
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portray:vt.描绘;扮演;
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| Well, what difference does this make? |
这又咋样啦？能说明什么问题呀？ |
| These are movies. They're fiction. |
电影嘛,编的而已。 |
| They have talking animals in them. |
不就是会说人话的动物嘛。 |
| What difference does it make if they talk like Jerry Seinfeld ? |
就算只只都象 Jerry Seinfeld 地能说会道,有问题吗？ |
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Seinfeld:n.宋飞正传(美国系列喜剧名);
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| I think it does matter, and it's a problem that actually is part of a much deeper one that has implications for medicine and health and a lot of other aspects of our lives. |
我认为有问题。 而且是个根源非常深的问题, 是个能影响到我们的医疗、卫生、 生活多方面的问题。 |
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implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); aspects:n.方面;相位;面貌(aspect的复数);
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| You all know that scientists use what we call model systems, which are creatures -- white rats or fruit flies -- that are kind of stand-ins for all other animals, including people. |
各位知道科学家都使用规摹系统, 里面的生物 -- 白鼠/果蝇等-- 是相当于所有其他动物 (包括人) 的替身来的。 |
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creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数) stand-ins:n.替身;
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| And the idea is that what's true for a person will also be true for the white rat. |
基本的原理是,符合人的道理 也适用于白鼠身上。 |
| And by and large , that turns out to be the case. |
而大多数时候,结果出来也符合事实。 |
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by and large:大体上,总的来说;
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| But you can take the idea of a model system too far. |
但也有把这个假设用过头了的时候。 |
| And what I think we've done, is use males, in any species, as though they are the model system. |
而我认为用过头了的一点是 我们把雄性,任何物种的雄性,都当成是规摹系统, |
| The norm . |
视雄性为常规, |
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norm:n.规范;标准;定额;常态;v.规范;规定;
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| The way things are supposed to be. |
视之为 万事就该如此 。 |
| And females as a kind of variant -- something special that you only study after you get the basics down. |
而雌性呢,则被视为是变异的,特别的, 你得先把基本规律定了,才以此研究雌性。 |
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variant:adj.不同的;多样的;n.变体;转化;
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| And so, back to the insects. |
回到昆虫这话题上。 |
| I think what that means is that people just couldn't see what was in front of them. |
我认为人们还没有搞清楚 眼前到底发生了什么事情。 |
| Because they assumed that the world's stage was largely occupied by male players and females would only have minor , walk-on roles. |
人们假定了占据世界的大致上全是雄性, 而雌性的角色只是次要的、跑龙套的而已。 |
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assumed:adj.假定的;假设的;v.假定;假设;认为;承担;(assume的过去分词和过去式) largely:adv.主要地;大部分;大量地; occupied:adj.被占领的; v.占用; (occupy的过去分词和过去式) minor:adj.未成年的; n.未成年人; vi.副修; walk-on:继续走路
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| But when we do that, we really miss out on a lot of what nature is like. |
沿用这种想法的话,我们会遗漏很多自然界真貌。 |
| And we can also miss out on the way natural, living things, including people,can vary . |
也会遗漏对自然界、生物(包括人)的如何各异的这方面的认识。 |
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vary:vi.变化;变异;违反;vt.改变;使多样化;变奏;
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| And I think that's why we've used males as models in a lot of medical research, something that we know now to be a problem if we want the results to apply to both men and women. |
正因如此,很多医疗研究用的都是雄性规摹, 现在知道问题就来了, 研究结果没法同时既适用于男性,又适用于女性。 |
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apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求;
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| Well, the last thing I really love about insects is something that a lot of people find unnerving about them. |
我爱昆虫的最后一点是 很多人会为之惊恐丧胆的。 |
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unnerving:adj.令人担心的; v.使紧张; (unnerve的现在分词)
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| They have little, tiny brains with very little cognitive ability, the way we normally think of it. |
就是,它们脑袋很小, 被普遍觉得认知能力低。 |
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cognitive:adj.认知的,认识的; normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地;
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| They have complicated behavior, but they lack complicated brains. |
它们行为复杂,却不具备复杂的脑袋。 |
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complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
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| And so, we can't just think of them as though they're little people because they don't do things the way that we do. |
因此我们无法当它们是小人, 它们做事方法并不像人一样的。 |
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little people:n.小老百姓;异常矮小的人;侏儒;"袖珍"人;
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| I really love that it's difficult to anthropomorphize insects, to look at them and just think of them like they're little people in exoskeletons , with six legs. |
让我喜欢的一点是,我们很难把昆虫拟人化, 很难看着它们,然后把它们当作 是人的外骨骼,带六足。 |
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anthropomorphize:vt.赋与人性,人格化; exoskeletons:n.[昆]外骨骼;
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| (Laughter) |
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| Instead, you really have to accept them on their own terms, because insects make us question what's normal and what's natural. |
反而,你得以它们的本身固有的面目来看待它们。 昆虫让我们的质疑什么是常规、什么是自然的。 |
| Now, you know, people write fiction and talk about parallel universes . |
各位知道,人们喜欢编写故事,谈论平行世界。 |
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parallel:adj.平行的; v.与…相似; n.极其相似的人(或情况、事件等); universes:语义层;此生彼世;
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| They speculate about the supernatural , maybe the spirits of the departed walking among us. |
人们揣测超自然的东西, 逝者之灵在我们当中徜徉什么的。 |
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speculate:v.推测;猜测;推断;投机;做投机买卖; supernatural:adj.超自然的;神奇的,不可思议的;n.超自然现象;不可思议的事; departed:adj.过去的;死去的;以往的;n.死者;v.离去;去世(depart的过去分词);
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| The allure of another world is something that people say is part of why they want to dabble in the paranormal . |
异域世界的魅力源自 我们都想试试超自然到底是咋回事。 |
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allure:v.引诱,诱惑;吸引;n.诱惑力; dabble:vt.溅湿;浸入水中;vi.涉猎;涉足;玩水; paranormal:adj.超常的;超过正常范围的;
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| But as far as I'm concerned , who needs to be able to see dead people, when you can see live insects? |
而我确认为, 完全毋需穿视死人的能力, 能目睹活生生的昆虫就够了。 |
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as far as:至于…; concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词)
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| Thank you. |
谢谢。 |
| (Applause) |
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