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科学美国人60秒 SSS 2013-09-11

时间：2013-11-25 05:23:14

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（单词翻译）

 In the east African savanna1, pools of water form during the rainy season only to dry up a few months later. Being a fish in one of these temporary ponds is a challenge. To survive, they race to maturity2, with the shortest generation time of any vertebrate.

 
To monitor the development of the so-called annual fish, researchers raised two different species in the lab.
 
The fish could grow by almost a quarter of their body length each day. One species could already reproduce at 17 days of age. The other took an additional day. The eggs these youngsters fertilized3 then hatched in as little as 15 days, leaving only a month between generations. The study is in the journal EvoDevo. 
 
Embryonic4 annual fish survive the dry season by lying dormant5 underground. Once the rains return and the pool forms, they quickly reproduce before the water dries up again. Their short generation time is thus a crucial evolutionary6 adaptation. Their temporary ponds force them to live fast, die young and leave a desiccated corpse7.

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1 savanna bYbxZ     
n.大草原
参考例句：
  • The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
  • They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。
2 maturity 47nzh     
n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期
参考例句：
  • These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
  • This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。
3 Fertilized 0f66e269f3e72fa001554304e59712da     
v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
  • Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。
4 embryonic 58EyK     
adj.胚胎的
参考例句：
  • It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
  • The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。
5 dormant d8uyk     
adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的
参考例句：
  • Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
  • This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。
6 evolutionary Ctqz7m     
adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的
参考例句：
  • Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
  • These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
7 corpse JYiz4     
n.尸体，死尸
参考例句：
  • What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
  • The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

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