时差N小时 最早的农民 南非切叶蚁

Who were the first farmers on Earth? You might think it was the Babylonians or another group in the Middle East. But humans are newcomers when it comes to the fine art of raising food. Leafcutter ants of arid¹ and tropical regions of South, Central and North America have been farming for fifty million years, long before modern humans existed.

谁是地球上的第一代农民？你可能会想到古巴比伦人或是中东的另一族群。但是谈到种植作物的艺术，人类还只是菜鸟而已。切叶蚁在美洲南部，中部和北部干旱的热带地区发展农业已有五千万年的历史，比人类的进化的历史还长。

Leafcutter ants have large jaws² to cut through plant and tree leaves, but they do not eat leaves. Instead, they carry leaf pieces back to their five million or so nest mates. Here is where the farming begins. Foraging³ ants hand their leaves over to smaller ants who rush them off to one of many football sized chambers⁴. The leaves are then chewed into smaller and smaller fragments until they can be added to a fungus⁵ culture garden.

切叶蚁用大下巴切碎植物和树叶，但它们并不吃树叶。相反，它们把碎树叶拖回容纳着500万同胞的巢穴。这就是农业的起源。外出觅食的蚂蚁将树叶交接给更小的蚂蚁，它们则将树叶碾到足球般大小的隔间里。然后将树叶咀嚼成更细的碎片，直到可以将其添洒到真菌花园里。

Fungi⁶ feed off the leaves and grow bodies called gongylidia which are then distributed around the colony, especially to growing larvae⁷. Fungus may not sound too appetizing, but the white fluffy⁸ growths are much more nutritious⁹ than leaves. We use a similar process with cows. They are fed grasses which we can't digest to create milk and meat. The leafcutters not only grow crops, they also protect them. While we use man-made pesticides¹⁰, leafcutters use antibiotics¹¹ made by their skin bacteria to ward¹² off invasive mold. They also physically¹³ remove foreign fungi growing in their gardens. Their system of agriculture is one to be admired. It certainly has passed the test of time.

真菌以树叶为食，长出躯干来（叫做结节丝），随后四处蔓延，分散在茁壮成长的幼虫的“殖民地”里。也许菌类听起来并不让人垂涎三尺，但是那白绒绒的幼虫比树叶营养价值高得多。我们养牛的过程与此类似。我们喂牛吃草，草不能产奶但牛可以。切叶蚁不仅种植作物，还悉心料理它们。我们用人造杀虫剂来保护农作物，而切叶蚁则用自身皮肤上的细菌分泌的抗生素来阻止霉菌入侵。它们也会除掉长在花园里的异类真菌。它们的农业系统令人惊叹，当然也经得起时间的考验。

1 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

2 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

3 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

6 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

7 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

8 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

9 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

10 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

12 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

13 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。