纪录片《我们的地球》 第104期 奇幻沙漠(21)

An adult locust¹ eats its entire body weight every day.

成虫每天的进食量相当于自己的体重

And a whole swarm² can consume literally³ hundreds of tonnes of vegetation.

而整团蝗虫云能消耗掉数百吨植物

They have to keep on moving. The swarm travels with the wind.

它们必须不停地迁徙。沙漠蝗御风而行。

It's the most energy-saving way of flying.

这是最省力的飞行方式

Following the flow of wind means that they're always heading toward areas of low pressure.

随着风向迁徙，意味着它们总是飞向低压地区

Places where wind meets rain and vegetation starts to grow.

那里正是风雨交加的地方，植物定能生长

As they fly, swarms⁴ join up with other swarms to form gigantic plagues

在飞行过程中，一团蝗虫云也会和其它蝗虫云汇合，从而形成巨大的灾害，

several billion strong and as much as 40 miles wide.

无数“瘟神”组成的大军绵延长达40英里

They will consume every edible⁵ thing that lies in their path.

它们将把一路上能吃的东西全部吃得精光

This is one of planet Earth's greatest spectacles.

这是地球上最壮观的景象之一

It's rarely seen on this scale and it won't last long.

很少能看见如此大的规模，而且也不会持续多久。

Once the food has gone, the steady roar of a billion beating locust wings

待到食物耗尽之时，无数蝗虫拍打翅膀时的喧哗将不复存在，

will once again be replaced by nothing more than the sound of the desert wind.

再次取代它的只是沙漠中呼啸的风声。

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 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

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 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。