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(单词翻译)
This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Adam Hinterthuer. Got a minute?
You’ve probably heard about mercury contamination in fish. But a new study says that the toxin1 has climbed out of the water. Researchers from the College of William & Mary say landlubbing insects near the Shenandoah River have elevated levels of mercury in their blood, and so do the birds that eat them. The report appears in the April 18th issue of the journal Science. The scientists tested mercury in 13 insect-eating bird/ species and found that 12 had dangerously higher levels. They then examined the birds’ food supply-literally snatching spiders, moths2 and grasshoppers3 out of the mouths of babies in their nests. These tasty morsels4 all contained mercury. And spiders which sit higher up the insect food chain had even more mercury than fish collected from the river. The news is alarming since mercury can cause reproductive failure and even death at low concentrations. The researchers now want to know how a problem thought to be confined to a single ecosystem5 is spreading. They speculate that contaminated aquatic6 insects or maybe polluted floodwaters are helping7 mercury creep out of the river and take to the wing.
Thanks for the minute for Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Adam Hinterthuer.
1 toxin | |
n.毒素,毒质 | |
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2 moths | |
n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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3 grasshoppers | |
n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 );蝗虫;蚂蚱;(孩子)矮小的 | |
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4 morsels | |
n.一口( morsel的名词复数 );(尤指食物)小块,碎屑 | |
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5 ecosystem | |
n.生态系统 | |
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6 aquatic | |
adj.水生的,水栖的 | |
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7 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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