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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Heavy rains in Dallas-Fort Worth area have led to an inchworm outbreak
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Caterpillars3 are creeping their way across North Texas, feasting on foliage4 and leaving yards covered in silk. Member station KERA's Jacob Wells reports.
JACOB WELLS, BYLINE5: Dallas-Fort Worth residents are facing an infestation6 of tiny, green cankerworms and hackberry leafrollers. They're about half an inch to an inch long and have segmented bodies. One is kind of cute, but hundreds, like there are in Steven Horvath's yard, are kind of gross.
STEVEN HORVATH: I thought it was kind of neat and fun at first.
WELLS: Horvath lives in Fort Worth. He first spotted7 the caterpillars two weeks ago. They dangled8 from his back door frame and the trees in his backyard. They've devoured9 the leaves and blanketed his patio10 furniture, his shed and even a stepladder with shimmering11 worm web. And then, they moved inside.
HORVATH: My son said that he found one in his lunchbox. You know, my wife doesn't like them in the house. So they do drop - you know, you have to be careful when you're cooking that they're not dropping down from the ceiling into your food.
WELLS: These caterpillars normally come out in the spring. But Wizzie Brown, a pest expert with Texas A&M, says recent heavy rains after a dry summer may have sent the signal for these springtime bugs12 to hatch again.
WIZZIE BROWN: Environmental conditions have just kind of made it where they're hatching out now and kind of doing their thing and trying to get their life cycle in before, you know, winter comes.
WELLS: This outbreak is a nuisance to Dallas-Fort Worth residents who are left to clean up the webbing that's covered their trees, backyards and outdoor decorations. Brown says while it's frustrating13, people don't need to worry about long-term damage to their trees.
BROWN: Most of the reports I've been getting is that they are feeding on pecan trees and hackberry trees, both of which are going to drop their leaves in the coming months anyway.
WELLS: Some people are buying pesticides14 to try to combat the infestation. But Horvath, who teaches middle school science, decided15 against it.
HORVATH: The research I did said, like, you know, any kind of pesticides you're going to use would harm a bunch of the other beneficial insects, and it wouldn't even be effective 'cause there is so many.
WELLS: While many residents think the caterpillar2 infestation and the cleanup is for the birds, Brown says it really is. They're a feast for birds now migrating through Texas.
For NPR News, I'm Jacob Wells.
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 caterpillar | |
n.毛虫,蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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3 caterpillars | |
n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 );履带 | |
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4 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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5 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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6 infestation | |
n.侵扰,蔓延 | |
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7 spotted | |
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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8 dangled | |
悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 ); 摆动不定; 用某事物诱惑…; 吊胃口 | |
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9 devoured | |
吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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10 patio | |
n.庭院,平台 | |
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11 shimmering | |
v.闪闪发光,发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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12 bugs | |
adj.疯狂的,发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 );病菌;虫子;[计算机](制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的)错误 | |
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13 frustrating | |
adj.产生挫折的,使人沮丧的,令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧 | |
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14 pesticides | |
n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 );除害药物 | |
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15 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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