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国家地理:Octopus Loses Arm 章鱼逃命大法

时间：2007-08-01 01:55:22

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（单词翻译）

Here in the Timor Sea off northern Australia, take a look at a creature that seems to have the soul of a riverboat gambler. It moves through turf dominated by large hungry predators1, and it fights these predators in a way that will astound2 you.

This is ameloctopus -- it's not a baby. It's one of the smallest octopi in the world, stretching only a tiny 10 inches from tentacle4 tip to tentacle tip. Ameloctopus scoots across the sea bottom, its limbs hunting almost blindly for small invertebrates6 like miniscule crabs8 it can gobble with ease.

Speaking of gobbling with ease, there are plenty of creatures down here who would love to wolf down this soft little guy. This blue crab7 is much more crustacean9 than any ameloctopus can handle.
The crab eyes its quarry10 then pounces11, going for all eight arms and the body. But the crafty12 ameloctopus scrams out of there. The crab seems to gloat over its big moment as a master hunter. And then it examines what it's got ---- an arm, one crummy arm, I mean, what the heck?

Ameloctopus can afford to gamble because of its ability to drop an arm when it gets in a jam. It won't be disabled for long. The arm will grow back.

The crab gobbles down the arm while ameloctopus finds a convenient hiding hole to begin the regeneration process. If you scour13 the sea bottom where this critter lives, you may come upon a still squirming limb. Throughout its life, ameloctopus will lose one limb after another, but will continue to survive.

Words

turf : Turf is short, thick, even grass. 草皮,草根土
invertebrate5 : An invertebrate is a creature that does not have a spine14, for example an insect, a worm, or an octopus3. 无脊椎动物
crustacean : A crustacean is an animal with a hard shell and several pairs of legs, which usually lives in water. Crabs, lobsters15, and shrimps16 are crustaceans17. 甲壳纲动物
quarry : A person's or animal's quarry is the person or animal that they are hunting. 猎物
gloat over : If someone is gloating, they are showing pleasure at their own success or at other people's failure in an arrogant18 and unpleasant way. 贪婪地或幸灾乐祸地看(或想)
critter : A critter is a living creature. 生物
wolf down: If someone wolfs (down) their food, they eat it all very quickly and greedily. 狼吞虎咽地吃

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1 predators 48b965855934a5395e409c1112d94f63     
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）
参考例句：
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 astound 1vqzS     
v.使震惊，使大吃一惊
参考例句：
  • His practical grasp of affairs and his energy still astound me.他对事物的实际掌握和他充沛的精力实在使我惊异。
  • He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance.过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
3 octopus f5EzQ     
n.章鱼
参考例句：
  • He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
  • One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。
4 tentacle nIrz9     
n.触角，触须，触手
参考例句：
  • Each tentacle is about two millimeters long.每一个触手大约两毫米长。
  • It looked like a big eyeball with a long tentacle thing.它看上去像一个有着长触角的巨大眼球。
5 invertebrate 9a8zt     
n.无脊椎动物
参考例句：
  • Half of all invertebrate species live in tropical rain forests.一半的无脊椎动物物种生活在热带雨林中。
  • Worms are an example of invertebrate animals.蠕虫是无脊椎动物的一个例子。
6 invertebrates 7e45dc289993d00de9b9f14a70e51319     
n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
  • In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句
7 crab xoozE     
n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气
参考例句：
  • I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
  • The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。
8 crabs a26cc3db05581d7cfc36d59943c77523     
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 crustacean Mnrzu     
n.甲壳动物；adj.甲壳纲的
参考例句：
  • Seafood is a valuable lobster crustacean section.名贵海珍品龙虾属甲壳科。
  • The illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was a crustacean.大名鼎鼎的居维叶也未看出藤壶是一种甲壳动物。
10 quarry ASbzF     
n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找
参考例句：
  • Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
  • This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。
11 pounces 1c31b96a619c33a776721f5cb9501060     
v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）
参考例句：
  • The attacker thinks it's still part of the lizard and pounces on it. 攻击者认为那仍然是蜥蜴身体的一部分，向它猛扑过去。 来自互联网
12 crafty qzWxC     
adj.狡猾的，诡诈的
参考例句：
  • He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
  • He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
13 scour oDvzj     
v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷
参考例句：
  • Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
  • We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。
14 spine lFQzT     
n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊
参考例句：
  • He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
  • His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。
15 lobsters 67c1952945bc98558012e9740c2ba11b     
龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉
参考例句：
  • I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
  • She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。
16 shrimps 08429aec6f0990db8c831a2a57fc760c     
n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人
参考例句：
  • Shrimps are a popular type of seafood. 小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I'm going to have shrimps for my tea. 傍晚的便餐我要吃点虾。 来自辞典例句
17 crustaceans 37ad1a9eb8e9867969edd084ce8032d5     
n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句
18 arrogant Jvwz5     
adj.傲慢的，自大的
参考例句：
  • You've got to get rid of your arrogant ways.你这骄傲劲儿得好好改改。
  • People are waking up that he is arrogant.人们开始认识到他很傲慢。

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