(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
Plants thrive all over the planet, despite the fact that many animals love to snack on them. Various hypotheses account for all those plants. One is that predators kill enough plant-eating animals to give vegetation a chance. Another is that plants develop physical and chemical means to defend themselves.
尽管事实上有许多动物喜欢以植物为食,但地球上的植物仍然欣欣向荣
Now researchers have teased out some of these factors in an East African savanna.
如今,科学家已在东非草原筛选出了真正的影响因素
。The impala—an African antelope—eats grasses and trees and is itself eaten by wild dogs and leopards. Impala often munch on a tree called the acacia. Some acacia have thorns, and some don't.The researchers found that the impala—perhaps not surprisingly—prefer thorn-free acacia. Also, the animals avoid woody areas where predators are more likely to hide.
黑斑羚是生活在非洲的一种羚羊,以草和树木为食,是野狗和豹口中的猎物
And as a result, the thorn-free, vulnerable acacia are more plentiful in woody areas with plenty of predators. But the thorny acacia are more numerous on the open savanna, where they need to defend themselves. The study is in the journal Science.
结果显示,没刺的、易受攻击的金合欢树更多地生长在林木茂盛的地方,且那儿聚居着大量捕食者
The researchers say their findings show that both plant defenses and carnivorous predators help plants thrive. They also say that when humans influence—in part by eliminating large predators—we disrupt longstanding, complex systems. And that we should really try to better understand such systems, and our effects on them.
科学家称,他们的研究表明,植物防御和肉食性捕食者对植物的繁茂都有促进作用
词语解释
1.snack on吃;当作快餐、零食吃
People also tend to snack on unhealthy fattening foods when under tension.
在压力之下的人倾向于吃那些不健康的增肥食品.
2.account for 说明;解释
How do you account for the company's alarmingly high staff turnover?
你怎么解释这家公司高得惊人的人员流动率?
3.tease out 梳理;提取
CT scans are used on birds to tease out the hidden physics of flying.
研究人员利用电脑断层扫描来梳理出所隐藏的飞行机理 。
4.munch on 津津有味地咀嚼
We eat while watching TV, we munch on something at our desk at work, we crunch on something while driving and drink something (sugary of course) while reading or waiting.
看电视时吃点小零食,工作时嘴里嚼嚼东西,开车时吃点东西,阅读或者等候时也会来点喝的(当然又是含糖的) 。