【英语时差8，16】自然直升机

 Don: [TO SELF] Number 9...osprey.

Yael: Hey Don. What's up?

D: I'm making a top ten list of the best animals of all time.

Y: What's on the list?

D: Dingo, aardvark, python, tapir, rhesus monkey, black widow, bullfrog, owl¹, osprey.

Y: That's only nine. What's the tenth?

D: I'm not sure yet . . .

Y: What about the hummingbird²?

D: Hmm...tell me more.

Y: Well, hummingbirds³ are really amazing. For one thing, they can hover⁴ in mid⁵ air.

D: That is impressive. How do they do it?

Y: Most birds flap their wings up and down, but hummingbirds move their wings in a figure-eight pattern. With each flap they twist their wings one-hundred-eighty degrees so that they create a downward thrust on both the forward and backward strokes. If each loop of the wings is of the same strength, they hover. They can go forward, backwards⁶, or sideways by tilting⁷ their wings in the direction they want to go.

D: Kind of like a helicopter.

Y: Exactly. In order to hover hummingbirds have to be really strong. Their wing muscles are thirty percent of their total weight. When a small hummingbird hovers⁸ it flaps its wings about eighty times per second.

D: That sounds tiring.

Y: It is. Hummingbirds have to eat close to fifty percent of their weight in food everyday to keep up their strength. They eat things that are packed with calories and produce lots of reusable energy, like seeds, nuts, nectar, and fruit.

D: So that's why in those nature programs you always see hummingbirds hovering⁹ near a flower and sticking its beak¹⁰ inside.

Y: That's right. It's drinking nectar.

D: All right, you've convinced me. Number ten, hummingbird.

Y: Number ten?

D: All right. Hummingbird is number one.   

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 hummingbird   

n.蜂鸟

参考例句：

• The hummingbird perches on a twig of the hawthorn.小蜂鸟栖在山楂树枝上。
• The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backward.蜂鸟是唯一能倒退向后飞的鸟。

3 hummingbirds   

n.蜂鸟( hummingbird的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious. 蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？

4 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

5 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

6 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

7 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。

8 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

9 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

10 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。