英语听力：自然百科 生命之树

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

 

This is the story of one of those trees.

 

Our African queen is a mature sycomore fig¹. She started life as a seed one hundred years ago.

 

She provides for many animals. To some, she is a hunting ground; to others, she is home. She feeds a greater variety than any tree in Africa. All rely on her tiny fig wasp³ partner that only a few even notice.

 

Every few months, the queen produces up to a ton of fruit. To reproduce, she must transfer pollen⁴ to make seeds and then disperse⁵ them inside the figs. The last crop fell only days ago. But up above, she is starting again.

 

Over the next two weeks, the tiny buds swell⁶ to become young figs.

 

Hidden inside each are the queen’s tiny flowers. At this stage a fig is not a fruit, but a secret garden whose delicate perfume attracts a flock of fig wasps⁷. Their arrival will trigger a sequence of events that will resonate out through the bush.

 

分享到：