新托福听写训练 第5期

We've all heard the proverb “beauty is only skin-deep” meaning that the outward appearance is not a valuable way to judge a person's worth. But researchers studying why animals they are attracted to each other had found the opposite may be truth for animals. For them, a beautiful face and body are reasonably reliable indicators¹ of underline quality and the experiments had shown that many species² appear to look for at least one classic characteristic of beauty mainly symmetry³. Now, according to this theory, a more selective partner in the pair usually the female seeks the maximum possible balance the left and right half of a potential male's body. For example, certain female birds first check to see if the male's left wing is the same length and shape of the right to get clues about the bird's health and strength. Now what other evidence do we have

of this kind of behavior? Well, in one experiment researchers put color bands on the legs of male finches. The female by farprefers males with same color on both legs over those that have a different color on each leg. Another experiment involving male elks⁴ indicates the importance of symmetry in the antlers. Asymmetric⁵ antlers of course often indicate that the male has lost a fight to another male antlers and he is therefore not the strongest.

1 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

2 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

3 symmetry   

n.对称（性），匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The butterfly is an example of symmetry.蝴蝶是结构完全对称的一个例子。
• The human body has a symmetry that is basic to our sense of beauty.人体的对称性构成我们审美观的基础。

4 elks   

n.麋鹿( elk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• So I arranged for a gathering at the local Elks Club on January 25. 1月25日我安排在当地慈善互助会见面。 来自互联网

5 asymmetric   

a.不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetric. 大多数人的脸不对称。
• We have made no reference to asymmetric carbon atoms. 我们未曾涉及不对称碳原子。