TOEFL听写之翻译反译文稿
托福听写作业1
This morning I want to tell you about a recent scientific discovery dealing with the relationship between plants and animals. This is about a desert shrub whose leaves can shoot a stream of poisonous resin a distance of six feet. You think it would be safe from all attacks by insects? But a recent study has found one insect, a beetle that can chew its way past the plant's defense system by cutting the main vein that delivers the poison to the leaves. This vein cutting is just one method the beetles used to prepare a safe meal. Another is by cutting a path all the way across the leaves to hold the flow of chemicals. Then they simply eat between the veins of poison. In the past, scientists who studied insect adaptation to plant defenses have focused on chemical responses. That is, how the insects can neutralize or alter the poisonous substances plants produce. What's unique about this chewing strategy is that the beetle is actually exhibiting a behavioral response to the plant's defenses rather than the more common chemical response. It is only after a beetle's survived several encounters with the plant's resin that it learns how to avoid the poison: by chewing through the resin transporting veins on the next leaf it eats. And thus gives itself a safe meal. However, it can take a beetle an hour and a half of careful vein cutting to prepare a small leaf that takes it only a few minutes to eat. So, though the method is effective, it's not very efficient.
今天早上我要介绍一个有关于植物和动物之间的关系的科学发现。这一科学发现是关于一种沙漠灌木，这种灌木的叶子可以喷射出一股有毒树脂达六英尺远。你认为它会免受所有昆虫的袭击了吗？但是最近的研究发现一种昆虫，这种属于甲壳虫类的昆虫可以为自己开辟一条避开这种植物防御系统的通路，方法是切断主要的向叶子传递毒液的叶脉。这种切断叶脉的方法只是甲壳虫用来为自己筹备安全饮食的一种方法。它们还可以通过切断整个叶片来阻止有毒化合物的流动，然后它们只吃在有毒叶脉之间的叶片。在过去，研究昆虫对植物防御的适应性方面始终关注的是化学反馈，也就是说昆虫如何中和或者改变植物产生的有毒物质。
这种嚼蚀策略的与众不同之处在于这种甲壳虫实际上在应对植物防御上应用了行为反馈而非通常的化学反馈。在甲壳虫多次遇到这种植物的树脂袭击之后它才学会了如何避免毒液：依靠咬掉它要吃的那片叶子的传送树脂的叶脉并因此获得一份安全的晚餐。然而，切断叶脉来准备一份只用几分钟就吃完的晚餐需要甲壳虫一个半小时的小心工作。所以说，尽管这种方式很有效，但它并不是很有效率。
托福听写作业2
Human populations near the equator have evolved dark skin over many generations because of exposure to the fiercest rays of the sun. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in other parts of the animal kingdom. The African grass mouse is a good example. Most mice are nocturnal, but the African grass mouse is active during daylight hours. This means that it spends its days searching for food in the semi-dry bush in scrubby habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Its furry stripe's like a chipmunk's, which helps it blend in with its environment. Because it spends a lot of time in the intense tropical sun, the grass mouse has also evolved two separate safeguards against the sun's ultraviolet radiation. First, like the population of humans in this region of the world, the skin of the grass mouse contains lots of melanin, or dark pigment. Second and quite unusual, this mouse has a layer of melanin-pigmented tissue between its skull and skin. This unique cap provides an extra measure of protection for the grass mouse and three other types of African mouse, like rodents that are active during the day. The only other species scientists has identified with the same sort of skull adaptation is the white tent-making bat of the Central American tropics. Although these bats sleep during the day, they do so curled up with their heads exposed to the sun.
由于暴露在强烈太阳辐射下，在赤道附近的人类在几代之后进化出了黑色的皮肤。相似的现象同样发生在动物王国里的某些方面。非洲草老鼠就是一个很好的例子。多数老鼠都是夜行动物，但是非洲草老鼠是活跃在白天。这就意味着它在东部和南部非洲的树丛繁盛的栖息地同时半干旱的灌木丛里搜寻食物。它的毛茸茸的条纹和花粟鼠很像，而这帮助它与周围环境融为一体。由于它长时间在热带强烈的太阳光下活动，这种草老鼠已经进化出两种不同的保护措施来抵御来自太阳的紫外线辐射。首先，像在这一地区的人类一样，草老鼠的皮肤含有大量的黑色素。其次，很不寻常的是，在这种老鼠的皮肤和头骨之间有一层黑色素着色的组织。这种不同寻常的覆盖层给了草老鼠和其他三种非洲老鼠额外的保护措施。比如说白天活动的啮齿类动物。科学家发现拥有这种头盖骨适应性的另一类物种是在热带的中美洲白色尾皮蝠。虽然这类蝙蝠在白天睡觉，但它们蜷缩着把头部暴露在阳光下。
托福听写作业3
We've been looking at fear from a biological perspective, and someone asked whether the tendency to be fearful is genetic. What some studies done with mice indicate that mammals do inherit fearfulness to some degree. In one study, for instance, a group of mice was placed in a brightly lit open box with no hiding place. Some of the mice wandered around the box and didn't appear to be bothered about being so exposed. But other mice didn't move. They stayed up against one wall which indicated that they were afraid. Well, when fearful mice, or you might say anxious mice like the ones who stayed in one place, when mice like these were bred with one another repeatedly, after about twelve or so generations, then all of the offspring showed similar signs of fearfulness. And even when a new born mouse from this generation was raised by a mother and with other mice who were not fearful, that mouse still tended to be fearful as an adult. Now why is this? Well it's thought that specific genes in an animal's body have an influence on anxious behavior. These are genes that are associated with particular nerve-cell receptors in the brain. And the degree of overall of fearfulness in the mammal seems to depend in large part on the presence or absence of these nerve-cell receptors. And this appears to apply to humans as well by the way. But while a tendency towards anxiety and fear may well be an inherited trait, the specific form that the fear takes has more to do with the individual's environment. So a particular fear, like a fear of snakes or the fear of spider, say, is not genetic, but the overall tendency to have fearful responses, is.
我们已经从生物学角度剖析了恐惧，有些人提问说是否恐惧的倾向性是由基因决定的。一些针对老鼠的研究表明哺乳动物确实在某种程度上继承恐惧情绪。举例来说，在一项研究中曾把一群老鼠放进没有躲藏处的一个明亮的盒子中。一些老鼠在盒子里转悠，它们没有显示出任何暴露在亮出的慌张，但是另外一些老鼠基本不动。它们顶在一门墙上的行为表明了它们的恐惧情绪。那么，当这些恐惧的老鼠，或者说焦虑的老鼠，就像那些在一个地方不动的老鼠，它们彼此之间交配繁殖，在十二代左右的所有后代都会显现出相同的惧怕症状。甚至一代中的一个新生儿，当它被一只并无恐惧症状的妈妈养大同时和一群无恐惧症状的老鼠生活在一起，这只老鼠同样会表现出和成年老鼠一样的恐惧症。现在的问题是为什么会如此？广泛认为动物体内的特定基因对于焦虑行为有一定影响。这些基因与大脑中的特殊神经细胞受体相联系，同时哺乳动物的整体恐惧水平似乎很大程度上决定于这些神经细胞受体的工作与否。另外这些方面似乎同样对人类适用。然而尽管焦虑和恐惧的倾向性是遗传特征，恐惧的特殊表现形式与个体所处环境有很大的关系。所以一个特定的恐惧表现，就如惧怕蛇或者蜘蛛，不是源于基因，而是整体上的恐惧反应倾向是基因决定的。
This morning I want to tell you about a recent scientific discovery dealing with the relationship between plants and animals. This is about a desert shrub whose leaves can shoot a stream of poisonous resin a distance of six feet. You think it would be safe from all attacks by insects? But a recent study has found one insect, a beetle that can chew its way past the plant's defense system by cutting the main vein that delivers the poison to the leaves. This vein cutting is just one method the beetles used to prepare a safe meal. Another is by cutting a path all the way across the leaves to hold the flow of chemicals. Then they simply eat between the veins of poison. In the past, scientists who studied insect adaptation to plant defenses have focused on chemical responses. That is, how the insects can neutralize or alter the poisonous substances plants produce. What's unique about this chewing strategy is that the beetle is actually exhibiting a behavioral response to the plant's defenses rather than the more common chemical response. It is only after a beetle's survived several encounters with the plant's resin that it learns how to avoid the poison: by chewing through the resin transporting veins on the next leaf it eats. And thus gives itself a safe meal. However, it can take a beetle an hour and a half of careful vein cutting to prepare a small leaf that takes it only a few minutes to eat. So, though the method is effective, it's not very efficient.
今天早上我要介绍一个有关于植物和动物之间的关系的科学发现。这一科学发现是关于一种沙漠灌木，这种灌木的叶子可以喷射出一股有毒树脂达六英尺远。你认为它会免受所有昆虫的袭击了吗？但是最近的研究发现一种昆虫，这种属于甲壳虫类的昆虫可以为自己开辟一条避开这种植物防御系统的通路，方法是切断主要的向叶子传递毒液的叶脉。这种切断叶脉的方法只是甲壳虫用来为自己筹备安全饮食的一种方法。它们还可以通过切断整个叶片来阻止有毒化合物的流动，然后它们只吃在有毒叶脉之间的叶片。在过去，研究昆虫对植物防御的适应性方面始终关注的是化学反馈，也就是说昆虫如何中和或者改变植物产生的有毒物质。
这种嚼蚀策略的与众不同之处在于这种甲壳虫实际上在应对植物防御上应用了行为反馈而非通常的化学反馈。在甲壳虫多次遇到这种植物的树脂袭击之后它才学会了如何避免毒液：依靠咬掉它要吃的那片叶子的传送树脂的叶脉并因此获得一份安全的晚餐。然而，切断叶脉来准备一份只用几分钟就吃完的晚餐需要甲壳虫一个半小时的小心工作。所以说，尽管这种方式很有效，但它并不是很有效率。
托福听写作业2
Human populations near the equator have evolved dark skin over many generations because of exposure to the fiercest rays of the sun. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in other parts of the animal kingdom. The African grass mouse is a good example. Most mice are nocturnal, but the African grass mouse is active during daylight hours. This means that it spends its days searching for food in the semi-dry bush in scrubby habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Its furry stripe's like a chipmunk's, which helps it blend in with its environment. Because it spends a lot of time in the intense tropical sun, the grass mouse has also evolved two separate safeguards against the sun's ultraviolet radiation. First, like the population of humans in this region of the world, the skin of the grass mouse contains lots of melanin, or dark pigment. Second and quite unusual, this mouse has a layer of melanin-pigmented tissue between its skull and skin. This unique cap provides an extra measure of protection for the grass mouse and three other types of African mouse, like rodents that are active during the day. The only other species scientists has identified with the same sort of skull adaptation is the white tent-making bat of the Central American tropics. Although these bats sleep during the day, they do so curled up with their heads exposed to the sun.
由于暴露在强烈太阳辐射下，在赤道附近的人类在几代之后进化出了黑色的皮肤。相似的现象同样发生在动物王国里的某些方面。非洲草老鼠就是一个很好的例子。多数老鼠都是夜行动物，但是非洲草老鼠是活跃在白天。这就意味着它在东部和南部非洲的树丛繁盛的栖息地同时半干旱的灌木丛里搜寻食物。它的毛茸茸的条纹和花粟鼠很像，而这帮助它与周围环境融为一体。由于它长时间在热带强烈的太阳光下活动，这种草老鼠已经进化出两种不同的保护措施来抵御来自太阳的紫外线辐射。首先，像在这一地区的人类一样，草老鼠的皮肤含有大量的黑色素。其次，很不寻常的是，在这种老鼠的皮肤和头骨之间有一层黑色素着色的组织。这种不同寻常的覆盖层给了草老鼠和其他三种非洲老鼠额外的保护措施。比如说白天活动的啮齿类动物。科学家发现拥有这种头盖骨适应性的另一类物种是在热带的中美洲白色尾皮蝠。虽然这类蝙蝠在白天睡觉，但它们蜷缩着把头部暴露在阳光下。
托福听写作业3
We've been looking at fear from a biological perspective, and someone asked whether the tendency to be fearful is genetic. What some studies done with mice indicate that mammals do inherit fearfulness to some degree. In one study, for instance, a group of mice was placed in a brightly lit open box with no hiding place. Some of the mice wandered around the box and didn't appear to be bothered about being so exposed. But other mice didn't move. They stayed up against one wall which indicated that they were afraid. Well, when fearful mice, or you might say anxious mice like the ones who stayed in one place, when mice like these were bred with one another repeatedly, after about twelve or so generations, then all of the offspring showed similar signs of fearfulness. And even when a new born mouse from this generation was raised by a mother and with other mice who were not fearful, that mouse still tended to be fearful as an adult. Now why is this? Well it's thought that specific genes in an animal's body have an influence on anxious behavior. These are genes that are associated with particular nerve-cell receptors in the brain. And the degree of overall of fearfulness in the mammal seems to depend in large part on the presence or absence of these nerve-cell receptors. And this appears to apply to humans as well by the way. But while a tendency towards anxiety and fear may well be an inherited trait, the specific form that the fear takes has more to do with the individual's environment. So a particular fear, like a fear of snakes or the fear of spider, say, is not genetic, but the overall tendency to have fearful responses, is.
我们已经从生物学角度剖析了恐惧，有些人提问说是否恐惧的倾向性是由基因决定的。一些针对老鼠的研究表明哺乳动物确实在某种程度上继承恐惧情绪。举例来说，在一项研究中曾把一群老鼠放进没有躲藏处的一个明亮的盒子中。一些老鼠在盒子里转悠，它们没有显示出任何暴露在亮出的慌张，但是另外一些老鼠基本不动。它们顶在一门墙上的行为表明了它们的恐惧情绪。那么，当这些恐惧的老鼠，或者说焦虑的老鼠，就像那些在一个地方不动的老鼠，它们彼此之间交配繁殖，在十二代左右的所有后代都会显现出相同的惧怕症状。甚至一代中的一个新生儿，当它被一只并无恐惧症状的妈妈养大同时和一群无恐惧症状的老鼠生活在一起，这只老鼠同样会表现出和成年老鼠一样的恐惧症。现在的问题是为什么会如此？广泛认为动物体内的特定基因对于焦虑行为有一定影响。这些基因与大脑中的特殊神经细胞受体相联系，同时哺乳动物的整体恐惧水平似乎很大程度上决定于这些神经细胞受体的工作与否。另外这些方面似乎同样对人类适用。然而尽管焦虑和恐惧的倾向性是遗传特征，恐惧的特殊表现形式与个体所处环境有很大的关系。所以一个特定的恐惧表现，就如惧怕蛇或者蜘蛛，不是源于基因，而是整体上的恐惧反应倾向是基因决定的。
