时差N小时 瞪大眼睛和旋转脖子

Staring Eyes and Swiveling Necks

瞪大眼睛和旋转脖子

Ask any gradeschooler to imitate an owl¹ and you'll probably get one of two responses: the giant, staring eyes or that amazingly swivel-prone neck. As it turns out, these two characteristic features are related; they are part of an overall system owls² have for catching³ prey⁴.

让任何小学生模仿猫头鹰，他们大概都会有这两种反应：瞪大眼镜，拼命地旋转脖子。事实证明，这两种动作是有联系的；都是猫头鹰完整捕猎系统中一部分。

To understand the connection, remember that owls are nocturnal birds: they hunt for food at twilight⁵ and even in the dark. Food for an owl may be something as large as a rabbit or as small and hard to see as a field mouse. Not only is this kind of meal difficult to spot, it also has a tendency to bolt away quickly at the slightest sound.

要弄懂这种联系，须知道猫头鹰是夜行动物。他们在黄昏甚至是黑夜里寻找食物。猫头鹰有时捕食像兔子一样大的猎物，有时捕食如地鼠一般又小又难看见的猎物。这些猎物不仅很难被发现，而且听到一点风吹草动就会迅速消失得无影无踪。

The owl overcomes these difficulties by having evolved a visual system that works even at great distances and in low light. This is partly the result of having large eyes that are set on a relatively⁶ flat face, thus increasing binocular vision. However, those big eyes don't move much in their sockets⁷, and the owl's total visual field is therefore reduced. At any given time, it only sees about one third as much as birds with eyes on either side of their heads.

猫头鹰视觉系统不断进化，使它在很远或者很黑的情况下看清物体，这样就克服了那些困难。由于猫头鹰面部相对扁平，再嵌上一双大眼睛，这样就增强了双眼视力。然而大眼睛不易在眼窝里转动，因此猫头鹰的整个视野范围受到限制。它的视野只有其它眼睛长在头两边的鸟类的三分之一。

That means the only thing to do is to be able to turn those staring eyes in any direction, without the noise that would be caused by actually getting up and moving. And now you can see how the staring eyes and swiveling neck work together: the owl's super-flexible spine⁸ allows it to remain silent while it scans 180 degrees on either side. Yes indeed -- from a forward-facing position, an owl can look entirely⁹ backwards¹⁰.

这意味着猫头鹰唯一能做的就是，将瞪大的眼睛转向各个方向，并避免因跳上跳下，来回走动而发出声响。现在你明白瞪大的眼镜和旋转的脖子是怎样合作的：猫头鹰的脊梁超级灵活，可以两边180度角地快速侦查环境而不发出任何声响。虽然眼睛长在前方，但猫头鹰确实可以看清后面。

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 sockets   

n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴

参考例句：

• All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
• Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

8 spine   

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。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。