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听力文本
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
As you unwrap a Halloween candy or two, it's worth paying your respects to the real reason for many of the treats: a tiny fly whose trick is to make chocolate possible. "They're all in the family Ceratopogonidae, which is the biting midges family. But not all of the adults bite. How we usually do it is we call them 'Cerats.'" Erica McAlister is a at the Natural History Museum of London, and author of The Secret Life of Flies.
The "cerats"—related to no-see-ums—do a job that's very hard to get done by hand: they crawl through long, twisty cacao flowers, pollinating the stubborn cacao tree. Which produces the beans used to make chocolate. "They are really, really difficult to pollinate. So you do need these little things to do it."
And to McAlister, at least, the tiny midges are a beautiful sight to behold. "They look like a very tiny mosquito, but they are basically absolutely covered in hair, they're very beautiful, very hirsute little organisms. And the males have got the most—they look like feather duster antennae. He's got to not only smell for the female, he's listening. And his ears are on the antennae. They're not very robust, these things, they're tiny, as the name implies. They've got nice external genitalia for the boys... I don't know what else you want me to say. (laughs)"
Well, here's the bad news: The chocolate midges are in danger, as farmers clear out shade-grown rainforest plots, in favor of sunnier monocultures of cacao. That threatens the tiny flies, which need the damp rotting leaf litter of the forest floor to thrive. But some producers are taking notice. "Obviously our human demand for chocolate has gone up, so now a lot more research is going into fly pollinators, including these as well." As for McAlister? She won't be joining you on that chocolate binge. "I can't stand it. Revolting stuff."
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
参考译文
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
当你揭开一两颗万圣节糖果的包装纸时，值得向大多数糖果真正的“推手”致敬：一只小苍蝇，它的技巧使巧克力成为可能。“它们都属于蠓科昆虫，也就是吸血蚊类。但并不是所有成年蠓虫都咬人。我们通常称它们为‘Cerats’。”艾丽卡·麦克阿里斯特是伦敦自然历史博物馆的蝇类专家，也是《苍蝇的秘密生活》一书的作者。
“cerats”俗称“看不到”，它们做的工作很难用手完成：它们爬过长且卷曲的可可花，为顽固的可可树授粉。可可树会产出用来制作巧克力的豆子。“可可树非常难以授粉。所以，需要这些小生物来帮忙。”
至少对麦克阿里斯特来说，这些小蠓虫是一道美丽的景色。“它们看起来很像非常小的蚊子，但从根本上说它们全身都是毛，它们是非常漂亮而且毛发浓密的小生物。雄性蠓虫的毛发最旺盛——它们的触角看上去像鸡毛掸子。雄性不仅用嗅觉寻找雌性，还会借助听觉。雄性的耳朵长在触角上。它们的身体并不强健，体型很小，正如其名所示。雄性蠓虫有细小的外生殖器……我不知道你们还想让我说什么。（笑）”
不过有个坏消息：巧克力蠓虫正处于危险之中，因为农民清理了用于荫下栽种的雨林土地，以支持更喜阳光的单一栽培可可树。这对需要潮湿腐烂的森林落叶层才能繁衍生息的小苍蝇造成了威胁。不过一些制造商已经注意到了这个问题。“显然，我们人类对巧克力的需求不断增加，所以现在有更多的研究聚焦苍蝇传粉，包括这些在内。”至于麦克阿里斯特？她是不会和你们一起享受巧克力狂欢的。“我受不了这些令人作呕的东西。”
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. in danger 危险；风险；
Children's lives are in danger every time they cross this road.
孩子们每次过这条马路都面临着生命危险。
2. clear out 清理，整理(容器、房间等) ；
I'll clear out that closet and then you can hang your clothes there.
我把那个小衣橱清理出来，你可以把衣服挂在那里。
3. take notice 注意；关注；
This should make people sit up and take notice.
这件事应引起人们的关注。
4. go up （价格、数量或水平）上涨，上升；
He believes food prices will go up in the future.
他认为食品价格将来会上涨。
