听力文摘：带紫外线的鱼儿

Ultraviolet Fish

带紫外线的鱼儿

So you want to attract a mate. After all, passing on your genes¹ is what evolution is all about. To do that you need offspring, and to get a lot of those you need to be attractive. The flashier the better. Hey, look over here! Sexy me.

那么你是想吸引配偶喽！（译者注：此处“你”指动物）毕竟传递基因才是进化的意义之所在嘛！要传递基因就得有后代，要有后代你就必须得有足够的吸引力，而且越光鲜闪亮越好。嘿！看这儿！我是不是很有吸引力呀?

Ah, but there’s the problem. The flashier you are, the more likely you are to attract predators³. Hey, look over there–that guy really stands out. I’ll eat him.

嗯，这逻辑没错，但是有个问题。你越光鲜闪亮，被捕食者发现的可能性就越大。嘿！看那儿——那家伙真显眼，我就吃它啦!

This is a pickle⁴. How can you be flashy in the eyes of mates but subdued⁵ in the eyes of predators?

这就让人为难了——怎样才能既在异性眼中光鲜闪亮，又在天敌面前得以藏身呢？

New studies show that swordtail fish have evolved a clever solution: use ultraviolet light. These innocuous little critters actually shine brightly in stripes that run along their flanks-but only if you look in the UV wavelength⁶.

新的研究表明剑尾鱼已经在进化中找寻到了这个两全之策，那便是使用紫外线。这些不起眼的小家伙事实上可以沿着两侧的鱼鳍发出条纹状的亮光——但是只能在波长与紫外线的波长相等时才能看见这种光。

Researcher Molly Cummings and her coworkers at the University of Texas at Austin placed a female swordtail in a tank with two males visible at either end. One of the males, however, was surrounded by filtering glass that blocks UV light. They found that the female was twice as likely to demonstrate interest in the male whose UV flashers were visible to her. Twice as likely! That’s a big finding.

来自德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的研究员莫莉·卡明斯和她的同事们做了一个有趣的实验。他们将一条雌性剑尾鱼放入一个水槽中，并在其两侧分别放入一条雄性剑尾鱼。但是，不同的是，他们把其中一条雄性剑尾鱼用滤光玻璃给围起来，而紫外线是无法穿透这种玻璃的。这样便形成了一组对比：其中一条雄性剑尾鱼的紫外线是可以被雌性剑尾鱼看到的，而另外一条雄性剑尾鱼由于被滤光玻璃阻隔，发出的紫外线便无法被看到。结果，他们发现，这条雌性剑尾鱼对那条紫外线可见的雄性剑尾鱼的兴趣是另一条的两倍。两倍呀！这可是一个不小的发现！

Put a Mexican tetra in the middle tank–that’s a predator² who snacks on swordtails–and you get a different result. The tetra shows equal interest in getting at both swordtails. Like humans, tetras are unable to register UV light.

之后，他们把墨西哥脂鲤（这种鱼会捕食剑尾鱼）取代雌鱼放入中间的水槽，结果截然不同。脂鲤对两条鱼表现出同等的兴趣，因为它和人类一样，是无法用眼睛感知紫外线的。

Interpretation⁷? Male swordtails have developed a subtle way of advertising⁸ sexual readiness to females of their own species-while avoiding courting disaster.

再解释一遍？简单说来，就是雄性剑尾鱼已经找到了一种精细的方法，在吸引同类雌性的同时避免招致被吃的厄运。

1 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

2 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 predators   

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》

4 pickle   

n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡

参考例句：

• Mother used to pickle onions.妈妈过去常腌制洋葱。
• Meat can be preserved in pickle.肉可以保存在卤水里。

5 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

6 wavelength   

n.波长

参考例句：

• The authorities were unable to jam this wavelength.当局无法干扰这一波长。
• Radio One has broadcast on this wavelength for years.广播1台已经用这个波长广播多年了。

7 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。