2023考研英語(yǔ)閱讀昆蟲(chóng)學(xué)有失蜂度
The strange case of the bandit bumblebees
熊蜂：不可思議的土匪
TO MOST people, bumblebees are charming, slightly absurd creatures that blunderthrough garden and meadow with neither the steely determination of the honeybee nor themalevolent intention of the wasp.
在人們的印象里，熊蜂可愛(ài)、友好而又有些令人可笑。它們跌跌撞撞地穿過(guò)花園和草場(chǎng)，既不像蜜蜂，有鋼鐵般的決心;也不似黃蜂，具備惡意的企圖。
If you are a plant, though, things look rather differentfor from the point of view of someflowering plants many bumblebees are nothing more than thieves.
不過(guò)，如果你是一株植物，你就會(huì)從新定義它們。從一些有花植物角度來(lái)看，熊蜂是徹頭徹尾的賊：
They rob them of their nectar and give nothing in return.
它們掠奪花蜜，卻未予回報(bào)。
Nectar robbery, in which a bumblebeecarves a hole in the side of a flower as a bank robber might cut his way into a vault, wasdiscovered by Charles Darwin.
某些花的形狀發(fā)生了演化，以促進(jìn)具有長(zhǎng)舌的昆蟲(chóng)為其授粉。昆蟲(chóng)的長(zhǎng)舌能探到狹小管道狀花的深處。
This technique lets bees get at the nectar of flowers whose shapes have evolved toencourage their pollination by insects with long tongues, which can reach down narrowtubes.
達(dá)爾文最先發(fā)現(xiàn)熊蜂搶劫花蜜的行為。熊蜂在花的一側(cè)切開(kāi)一個(gè)口，行徑無(wú)異于銀行強(qiáng)盜殺進(jìn)金庫(kù)。它們憑借這種本領(lǐng)獲取狹小管道狀花的花蜜。
Some bumblebees do have such tongues. But some do not.
有的熊蜂的確有長(zhǎng)舌，不過(guò)有些確實(shí)沒(méi)有。
Short-tongued bees are, however, unwilling to deny themselves the bounty of nectar insidethese flowers. Hence the hole-cutting.
短舌熊蜂難以抵御豐厚花蜜的誘惑，于是就有了切口打孔。
By breaking in in this way, though, a bumblebee nullifies the 100m-year-old pact betweenflowering plants and insects: that the plant feeds the insect in exchange for the insectpollinating the plant.
然而這種暴力獲取的方式卻撕毀了有花植物和昆蟲(chóng)間一億萬(wàn)年的古老契約：植物為昆蟲(chóng)提供食物，昆蟲(chóng)履行為其授粉的義務(wù)。
The question about nectar robbery that has intrigued biologists from Darwin onwards iswhether the behaviour is innate or learnt.
熊蜂搶劫花蜜的行為到底是先天性還是后天性，自達(dá)爾文起，生物學(xué)家們一直對(duì)此感到困惑。
Darwin, though he originated the idea that many behaviour patterns are products ofevolution by natural selection, suspected that it is learnt.
達(dá)爾文推測(cè)這是后天性的。
Insects, in other words, can copy what other insects get up to.
換言之，他推測(cè)昆蟲(chóng)有能力模仿其他昆蟲(chóng)的行為習(xí)慣。
Only now, though, has somebody proved that this is true.
直到現(xiàn)在，這種推測(cè)才被證明是正確的。
The observations were made by David Goulson, and his colleagues.
做出觀測(cè)的是David Goulson以及他的同事。
To test his ideas he had to go from Britain to Switzerland, for only there could he find a flowerof the correct shape to conduct the study.
為了檢驗(yàn)他的想法，他必須遠(yuǎn)離英國(guó)前往瑞士。因?yàn)橹挥心抢锊拍苷业叫螤詈线m的花以進(jìn)行研究。
His crucial observation was that when the flowers of an alpine plant called the yellow rattleare robbed, the entry holesbecause of the structure of the flowertend to beunambiguously on either the right-hand side or the left-hand side.
決定性的觀測(cè)在于yellow rattle被熊蜂造訪后留下的孔。由于這種花的特殊結(jié)構(gòu)，人們可以明確地區(qū)分出孔在花的左側(cè)還是右側(cè)。
Moreover, preliminary observation suggested that the holes in flowers in a single meadoware often all made on the same side.
加之初步觀測(cè)結(jié)果表明，同一塊草場(chǎng)中這種花上的孔常常在同一側(cè)。
This led him to speculate that bumblebees in a particular area do indeed learn the art ofnectar robbery from one another, and then copy the technique with such fidelity that theyalways attack a flower from the same side.
他認(rèn)為，對(duì)于生活在所研究的特定草場(chǎng)中的熊蜂，它們確確實(shí)實(shí)從其他個(gè)體那里學(xué)習(xí)了搶劫花蜜的技術(shù)。并且它們模仿的相當(dāng)精準(zhǔn)，以至于總是從同一側(cè)侵襲花朵。
Crime and nourishment
罪與饈
His team monitored 13 alpine meadows during the summers of 2009 and 2011.
他的研究組于2009年和2011年的夏天監(jiān)測(cè)阿爾卑斯山13塊草場(chǎng)。
They painstakingly recorded the sites of robbery holes in yellow-rattle flowers, and studiedthe behaviour of 168 bumblebees.
他們煞費(fèi)苦心地記錄yellow rattle上搶劫孔的位置，并且研究了168只熊蜂的行為。
They tried to follow each bee until it had visited 20 flowers, though they lost sight of someinsects before they had reached this score.
研究組盡力追蹤每只熊蜂，直到它光顧的花達(dá)到20朵為止。
If they could, they then captured the insect so as not to follow it again on another occasion.
盡管有些熊蜂沒(méi)有達(dá)到這個(gè)數(shù)量就不見(jiàn)了，但若夠數(shù)，他們旋即捉捕那只熊蜂，以防止二次追蹤。
Dr Goulson found, as he reports in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, that twoshort-tongued bumblebee species which live in the area, Bombus lucorum and Bombuswurflenii, demonstrated handedness when they robbed flowers.
博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，生活在該地區(qū)的兩種短舌熊蜂在打劫花時(shí)表現(xiàn)出利手行為。
Moreover, if one species was behaving in a left-handed manner in a particular meadow,the other was likely to do the same.
更有甚者，如果針對(duì)特定的草場(chǎng)，一種熊蜂是左撇子，那么另一種熊蜂通常也是左撇子。
This suggests that one species can learn from anothera trick previously thought to beconfined to vertebrates.
這暗示一物種可以向另一物種學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)去人們認(rèn)為只有脊椎動(dòng)物才有這種本領(lǐng)。
Handedness in any given meadow, Dr Goulson found, increased as the season progressed.
他還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在任何指定的草場(chǎng)中，利手性隨著季節(jié)的更替而強(qiáng)化，
But each summer appeared to start as a blank slate.
但每到夏天則似乎從新形成。
The handedness that developed in a meadow in 2009 did not predict its handedness in2011.
某塊草場(chǎng)中09年利手性并沒(méi)有預(yù)測(cè)出11年的利手性。Goulson博士將以上發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《生態(tài)學(xué)與社會(huì)生物學(xué)》上。
The most reasonable explanation, Dr Goulson argues, is that each year a few bumblebeeswhich have learnt the trick of nectar robbery in the previous season come out ofhibernation and start robbing flowers again.
Goulson博士認(rèn)為最合理的解釋是：每一年，一些熊蜂在過(guò)去季節(jié)里掌握了搶劫花蜜本領(lǐng)，它們冬眠后再次出來(lái)?yè)尳佟?/p>
By chance, they make more holes on one side of the flowers than the other, and as the habitis picked up by other, newly hatched bees, a preference for left or right spreads by aprocess of positive feedback.
它們偶然間在花的一側(cè)制造出更多的搶劫孔。由于其他新孵化出的熊蜂效仿了這種習(xí)慣，左利手或右利手作為一種正反饋進(jìn)行傳播。
The bees have, in other words, created a simple culture.
或者說(shuō)，熊蜂創(chuàng)造出一種簡(jiǎn)單的文化。
It is a criminal culture, admittedly.
誠(chéng)然，這是一種罪惡的文化，
But no one ever said that nature was pretty.
但沒(méi)有人曾說(shuō)，自然界原本是優(yōu)雅的。
詞語(yǔ)解釋
1.evolve to 演變;衍變
But the universe as we observe it seems toevolve that way.
但宇宙貌似正如我們所觀測(cè)的那樣在不斷地進(jìn)行演變。
All of this is done by using techniques andtechnologies that have been around for years butwhich have continued to evolve.
所有這些都不是用什么新技術(shù)實(shí)現(xiàn)的，而是采用這幾年廣為應(yīng)用同時(shí)又在不斷發(fā)展的技術(shù)。
2.unwilling to 不愿意
What part of our plan are we each unwilling to change?
在我們的計(jì)劃中，有哪部分是我們各自不愿意改變的?
One reason, he said, why he believes the government has not accepted it yet, and also whythey are unwilling to increase the quotas.
他說(shuō)，這就是為什么政府還沒(méi)有接受放寬酒水供應(yīng)的提議和不愿意去提高酒類的配額的原因之一。
3.in exchange for 作為的交換
You and the piece of grass are all they have given me in exchange for the whole world,which I enjoyed outside.
你和這小塊草皮是他們所給我的，用來(lái)交換我在外面享受著的整個(gè)世界的。
In exchange for your effort, you are rewarded with composting service, provided byreliable workers .
以你的努力為交換，你將獲得由可靠的工人提供的堆制肥料服務(wù)。
4.get up to 趕上，追上;達(dá)到
When I got up to him,I could see that he was one of my friends after all.
我追上他后，發(fā)現(xiàn)他原來(lái)是我的一個(gè)朋友。
Yesterday I got up to page 100.
昨天我看到了100頁(yè)。
The strange case of the bandit bumblebees
熊蜂：不可思議的土匪
TO MOST people, bumblebees are charming, slightly absurd creatures that blunderthrough garden and meadow with neither the steely determination of the honeybee nor themalevolent intention of the wasp.
在人們的印象里，熊蜂可愛(ài)、友好而又有些令人可笑。它們跌跌撞撞地穿過(guò)花園和草場(chǎng)，既不像蜜蜂，有鋼鐵般的決心;也不似黃蜂，具備惡意的企圖。
If you are a plant, though, things look rather differentfor from the point of view of someflowering plants many bumblebees are nothing more than thieves.
不過(guò)，如果你是一株植物，你就會(huì)從新定義它們。從一些有花植物角度來(lái)看，熊蜂是徹頭徹尾的賊：
They rob them of their nectar and give nothing in return.
它們掠奪花蜜，卻未予回報(bào)。
Nectar robbery, in which a bumblebeecarves a hole in the side of a flower as a bank robber might cut his way into a vault, wasdiscovered by Charles Darwin.
某些花的形狀發(fā)生了演化，以促進(jìn)具有長(zhǎng)舌的昆蟲(chóng)為其授粉。昆蟲(chóng)的長(zhǎng)舌能探到狹小管道狀花的深處。
This technique lets bees get at the nectar of flowers whose shapes have evolved toencourage their pollination by insects with long tongues, which can reach down narrowtubes.
達(dá)爾文最先發(fā)現(xiàn)熊蜂搶劫花蜜的行為。熊蜂在花的一側(cè)切開(kāi)一個(gè)口，行徑無(wú)異于銀行強(qiáng)盜殺進(jìn)金庫(kù)。它們憑借這種本領(lǐng)獲取狹小管道狀花的花蜜。
Some bumblebees do have such tongues. But some do not.
有的熊蜂的確有長(zhǎng)舌，不過(guò)有些確實(shí)沒(méi)有。
Short-tongued bees are, however, unwilling to deny themselves the bounty of nectar insidethese flowers. Hence the hole-cutting.
短舌熊蜂難以抵御豐厚花蜜的誘惑，于是就有了切口打孔。
By breaking in in this way, though, a bumblebee nullifies the 100m-year-old pact betweenflowering plants and insects: that the plant feeds the insect in exchange for the insectpollinating the plant.
然而這種暴力獲取的方式卻撕毀了有花植物和昆蟲(chóng)間一億萬(wàn)年的古老契約：植物為昆蟲(chóng)提供食物，昆蟲(chóng)履行為其授粉的義務(wù)。
The question about nectar robbery that has intrigued biologists from Darwin onwards iswhether the behaviour is innate or learnt.
熊蜂搶劫花蜜的行為到底是先天性還是后天性，自達(dá)爾文起，生物學(xué)家們一直對(duì)此感到困惑。
Darwin, though he originated the idea that many behaviour patterns are products ofevolution by natural selection, suspected that it is learnt.
達(dá)爾文推測(cè)這是后天性的。
Insects, in other words, can copy what other insects get up to.
換言之，他推測(cè)昆蟲(chóng)有能力模仿其他昆蟲(chóng)的行為習(xí)慣。
Only now, though, has somebody proved that this is true.
直到現(xiàn)在，這種推測(cè)才被證明是正確的。
The observations were made by David Goulson, and his colleagues.
做出觀測(cè)的是David Goulson以及他的同事。
To test his ideas he had to go from Britain to Switzerland, for only there could he find a flowerof the correct shape to conduct the study.
為了檢驗(yàn)他的想法，他必須遠(yuǎn)離英國(guó)前往瑞士。因?yàn)橹挥心抢锊拍苷业叫螤詈线m的花以進(jìn)行研究。
His crucial observation was that when the flowers of an alpine plant called the yellow rattleare robbed, the entry holesbecause of the structure of the flowertend to beunambiguously on either the right-hand side or the left-hand side.
決定性的觀測(cè)在于yellow rattle被熊蜂造訪后留下的孔。由于這種花的特殊結(jié)構(gòu)，人們可以明確地區(qū)分出孔在花的左側(cè)還是右側(cè)。
Moreover, preliminary observation suggested that the holes in flowers in a single meadoware often all made on the same side.
加之初步觀測(cè)結(jié)果表明，同一塊草場(chǎng)中這種花上的孔常常在同一側(cè)。
This led him to speculate that bumblebees in a particular area do indeed learn the art ofnectar robbery from one another, and then copy the technique with such fidelity that theyalways attack a flower from the same side.
他認(rèn)為，對(duì)于生活在所研究的特定草場(chǎng)中的熊蜂，它們確確實(shí)實(shí)從其他個(gè)體那里學(xué)習(xí)了搶劫花蜜的技術(shù)。并且它們模仿的相當(dāng)精準(zhǔn)，以至于總是從同一側(cè)侵襲花朵。
Crime and nourishment
罪與饈
His team monitored 13 alpine meadows during the summers of 2009 and 2011.
他的研究組于2009年和2011年的夏天監(jiān)測(cè)阿爾卑斯山13塊草場(chǎng)。
They painstakingly recorded the sites of robbery holes in yellow-rattle flowers, and studiedthe behaviour of 168 bumblebees.
他們煞費(fèi)苦心地記錄yellow rattle上搶劫孔的位置，并且研究了168只熊蜂的行為。
They tried to follow each bee until it had visited 20 flowers, though they lost sight of someinsects before they had reached this score.
研究組盡力追蹤每只熊蜂，直到它光顧的花達(dá)到20朵為止。
If they could, they then captured the insect so as not to follow it again on another occasion.
盡管有些熊蜂沒(méi)有達(dá)到這個(gè)數(shù)量就不見(jiàn)了，但若夠數(shù)，他們旋即捉捕那只熊蜂，以防止二次追蹤。
Dr Goulson found, as he reports in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, that twoshort-tongued bumblebee species which live in the area, Bombus lucorum and Bombuswurflenii, demonstrated handedness when they robbed flowers.
博士發(fā)現(xiàn)，生活在該地區(qū)的兩種短舌熊蜂在打劫花時(shí)表現(xiàn)出利手行為。
Moreover, if one species was behaving in a left-handed manner in a particular meadow,the other was likely to do the same.
更有甚者，如果針對(duì)特定的草場(chǎng)，一種熊蜂是左撇子，那么另一種熊蜂通常也是左撇子。
This suggests that one species can learn from anothera trick previously thought to beconfined to vertebrates.
這暗示一物種可以向另一物種學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)去人們認(rèn)為只有脊椎動(dòng)物才有這種本領(lǐng)。
Handedness in any given meadow, Dr Goulson found, increased as the season progressed.
他還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在任何指定的草場(chǎng)中，利手性隨著季節(jié)的更替而強(qiáng)化，
But each summer appeared to start as a blank slate.
但每到夏天則似乎從新形成。
The handedness that developed in a meadow in 2009 did not predict its handedness in2011.
某塊草場(chǎng)中09年利手性并沒(méi)有預(yù)測(cè)出11年的利手性。Goulson博士將以上發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《生態(tài)學(xué)與社會(huì)生物學(xué)》上。
The most reasonable explanation, Dr Goulson argues, is that each year a few bumblebeeswhich have learnt the trick of nectar robbery in the previous season come out ofhibernation and start robbing flowers again.
Goulson博士認(rèn)為最合理的解釋是：每一年，一些熊蜂在過(guò)去季節(jié)里掌握了搶劫花蜜本領(lǐng)，它們冬眠后再次出來(lái)?yè)尳佟?/p>
By chance, they make more holes on one side of the flowers than the other, and as the habitis picked up by other, newly hatched bees, a preference for left or right spreads by aprocess of positive feedback.
它們偶然間在花的一側(cè)制造出更多的搶劫孔。由于其他新孵化出的熊蜂效仿了這種習(xí)慣，左利手或右利手作為一種正反饋進(jìn)行傳播。
The bees have, in other words, created a simple culture.
或者說(shuō)，熊蜂創(chuàng)造出一種簡(jiǎn)單的文化。
It is a criminal culture, admittedly.
誠(chéng)然，這是一種罪惡的文化，
But no one ever said that nature was pretty.
但沒(méi)有人曾說(shuō)，自然界原本是優(yōu)雅的。
詞語(yǔ)解釋
1.evolve to 演變;衍變
But the universe as we observe it seems toevolve that way.
但宇宙貌似正如我們所觀測(cè)的那樣在不斷地進(jìn)行演變。
All of this is done by using techniques andtechnologies that have been around for years butwhich have continued to evolve.
所有這些都不是用什么新技術(shù)實(shí)現(xiàn)的，而是采用這幾年廣為應(yīng)用同時(shí)又在不斷發(fā)展的技術(shù)。
2.unwilling to 不愿意
What part of our plan are we each unwilling to change?
在我們的計(jì)劃中，有哪部分是我們各自不愿意改變的?
One reason, he said, why he believes the government has not accepted it yet, and also whythey are unwilling to increase the quotas.
他說(shuō)，這就是為什么政府還沒(méi)有接受放寬酒水供應(yīng)的提議和不愿意去提高酒類的配額的原因之一。
3.in exchange for 作為的交換
You and the piece of grass are all they have given me in exchange for the whole world,which I enjoyed outside.
你和這小塊草皮是他們所給我的，用來(lái)交換我在外面享受著的整個(gè)世界的。
In exchange for your effort, you are rewarded with composting service, provided byreliable workers .
以你的努力為交換，你將獲得由可靠的工人提供的堆制肥料服務(wù)。
4.get up to 趕上，追上;達(dá)到
When I got up to him,I could see that he was one of my friends after all.
我追上他后，發(fā)現(xiàn)他原來(lái)是我的一個(gè)朋友。
Yesterday I got up to page 100.
昨天我看到了100頁(yè)。
