2007年VOA标准英语-Visitors Enter Colorful Insect World in Butterf

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles, CA
05 July 2007
 

Butterflies, with their colorful wings and intricate patterns, may be the world's most popular insects.  At the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, visitors can see a close-up view of the flying creatures in a summertime exhibit that runs through early September.  VOA's Mike O'Sullivan stopped by to get a look at the museum's Pavilion of Wings.

In the enclosed natural space, you can see hundreds of butterflies, if you look closely.

Brent Karner is the associate manager of entomological exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

People call him the Bug¹ Guy.  Karner runs the butterfly exhibit. "It really capitalizes on the idea of using some of the prettier insects that aren't usually kept in small cages, giving them a lot of room to fly around in, but letting people come in and experience right with them.  So you're walking in the cage with them, and it's a very popular draw."

Brent Karner

He says butterflies may look good to humans, but they are still bugs². They are just pretty, flying members of the insect world.

"They end up being the spokesbugs for all the other bugs we have here, from beetles³ to cockroaches⁴ that people don't like as much.  But that's what makes this a special place.  People think butterflies are pretty, that they're gentle.  They associate them with things angelic, you name it, so butterflies are well received."

Inside the museum, visitors can see other creatures, from tarantulas to roaches, but Karner says they are all part of the same natural environment. 

He adds that because butterflies are more visible, they are good indicators⁵ of the environment's health.

"One of the comments I get from a lot of visitors coming to the museum is how come I don't see all the butterflies I used to see while I was a kid?  And one of the reasons is the same thing that's affecting all the other animals out there right now.  It's all this habitat destruction, getting rid of all these natural zones, getting rid of all the spaces and the plants and the other animals that they need to survive.  And the butterfly is going to be a good model for that because people care about the butterflies."

It is easy to see, in the display, how butterflies earned the nickname "flying flowers."  

More than 30 species of the colorful insect are on display at the museum's special pavilion. 

1 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

2 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

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 cockroaches   

n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At night, the cockroaches filled the house with their rustlings. 夜里，屋里尽是蟑螂窸窸瑟瑟的声音。 来自辞典例句
• It loves cockroaches, and can keep a house clear of these hated insects. 它们好食蟑螂，可以使住宅免除这些讨厌昆虫的骚扰。 来自百科语句

5 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。