SSS 2012-08-16_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

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This is scientific American sixty seconds science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute?

Lots of animals build homes for protection. Think Beaver¹ lodges² and termite³ mounds⁴. Hermit⁵ crabs⁶, on the other hand, inhibit⁷ hand-me-down homes. But they remodel⁸ them first, carving⁹ out shells to make them lighter¹⁰ and twice spacious¹¹ as the originals. Those creature comforts come at cost though- because hollowed- out shells can be more easily crashed in the jaws¹² of predator¹³.

Researchers wanted to find out if hermit crabs take that crucial detail into consideration. So they gave over a thousand new sea snail¹⁴ shells to hermit crabs in Costa Rica. A year later they recovered the used ones. Then they crushed them.

As expected, remodeled shells broke twice as easily as new ones. But the strength it took to smash them was still just a bit more than local raccoons can master, meaning crabs may remodel with their predator's bite in mind. The results are in the Journal of Royal Society Interface¹⁵.

The benefits of the fixer-upper larger home are many. Females lay more eggs, males grow burlier and crabs can avoid nasty squabbles with competitor for a real estate upgrade. And they don't even have to shell out much.

Thanks for the minute for scientific American sixty seconds science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

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1 beaver
n.海狸，河狸
参考例句：
The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。 A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 lodges
v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属
参考例句：
But I forget, if I ever heard, where he lodges in Liverpool. 可是我记不得有没有听他说过他在利物浦的住址。来自辞典例句 My friend lodges in my uncle's house. 我朋友寄居在我叔叔家。来自辞典例句

3 termite
n.白蚁
参考例句：
The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。 Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

4 mounds
土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )；一大堆
参考例句：
We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。 Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

5 hermit
n.隐士，修道者；隐居
参考例句：
He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。 Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

6 crabs
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。来自《简明英汉词典》 The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。来自《简明英汉词典》

7 inhibit
vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制
参考例句：
Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。 They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

8 remodel
v.改造，改型，改变
参考例句：
Workmen were hired to remodel and enlarge the farm buildings.雇用了工人来改造和扩建农场建筑。 I'll remodel the downstairs bedroom first.我先要装修楼下那间房间。

9 carving
n.雕刻品，雕花
参考例句：
All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。 He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

10 lighter
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。 The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 spacious
adj.广阔的，宽敞的
参考例句：
Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。 The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

12 jaws
n.口部；嘴
参考例句：
The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

13 predator
n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者
参考例句：
The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。 Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

14 snail
n.蜗牛
参考例句：
Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。 Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

15 interface
n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系
参考例句：
My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。 This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。