美国有线新闻 CNN 非洲东部遭遇25年来最严重的沙漠蝗虫入侵

What animal would you find in the family acrididae? Aphid, marmot, sea horse or locust¹. In the family acrididae you'll find grasshoppers² and locusts³.

下列哪个动物属于蝗科？蚜虫、旱獭、海马还是蝗虫？蚱蜢和蝗虫属于蝗科。

Imagine seeing an approaching cloud that's massive, 37 miles long and 25 miles wide and instead of water or dust it's a cloud of locusts. That's the size of just one of the swarms⁴ that's descended⁵ this year on eastern Africa. Specifically these are desert locusts. The most destructive type of locusts that eats food and that's terrible news in a region that's food insecure, meaning there are already problems with people getting enough to eat. The United Nations says this is the worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years. What might have made it so bad was a cyclone⁶, a major storm that hit parts of Somalia and Ethiopia last December. That brought a lot of rain to the region and that creates the best conditions for these pests to breed. The United Nations wants the world to contribute more than $75 million so pesticides⁷ can be sprayed to kill the insects.

想象一下一大片云不断靠近的场景，那片云有37英里长、25英里宽，但它不是水也不是灰尘，而是蝗虫云。这一规模只是今年侵袭非洲东部的其中一个蜂群。尤其是沙漠蝗虫。这是最具破坏性的蝗虫，它们会吃食物，这对缺乏粮食保障的地区来说是个可怕的消息，因为那里的人们本就面临着食物不足的问题。联合国表示，这是25年来最严重的沙漠蝗虫入侵。而气旋可能令情况更加糟糕，这是去年12月袭击索马里和埃塞俄比亚部分地区的一场大风暴。其为该地区带来了大量降水，并为这些害虫的繁殖创造了最佳条件。联合国呼吁全世界捐款7500余万美元，以便喷洒杀虫剂消灭这些昆虫。

1 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

2 grasshoppers   

n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的

参考例句：

• Grasshoppers die in fall. 蚱蜢在秋天死去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are usually a lot of grasshoppers in the rice fields. 稻田里通常有许多蚱蜢。 来自辞典例句

3 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

5 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

6 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

7 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》