英语听力：2013-06-02 完美捕食 Perfect Predators —14

 propel this creature weighing as much as a grizzly¹ bear, from a dead stop to a launch speed of 50 kilometers per hour all in a fraction of a second.

 

I think that seeing a pterosaur like Quetzalcoatlus actually take off would have to be one of the most impressive sights in the animal kingdom. And to see something that’s 20 feet tall suddenly spring into the air and fly away is outside the bounds of human experience. 

 

For a giant like Quetzalcoatlus, flight control is everything. This flying reptile² has one of the most advanced autopilot systems in natural history. 

 

Imagine just for a moment that you’re an animal with the wingspan of a small sailplane and you are turning yourself 90 degrees. That’s not an easy maneuver³ to pull. Human pilots, for example, rely on instruments in their cockpit in order to do things like that. Quetzalcoatlus has to have those instruments built in. 

 

A Quetzalcoatlus wing is covered with millions of tiny hairlike sensors⁴. These microscopically⁵ small biomemory devices collect information, then send signals to the brain. 

 

Their wing wasn’t just an aerodynamic organ. It was also a gigantic sensory⁶ organ capturing all kinds of aerodynamically relevant information about things like air speed, tension in particular parts of the wing. 

 

This data travels from the wing to the brain. Then in a split second, a Quetzalcoatlus makes minute adjustments to its wing shape and body position. Proof of this advanced biotechnology is found in the flocculus, the area of the brain devoted⁷ to flight control. It’s three times larger than in any bird today. 

 

There’s a huge amount of math going on in the brain as it’s making these subconscious⁸ calculations. And what’s key is that’s happening all the time. It can never stop.

 

1 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

2 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

3 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

4 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

5 microscopically   

显微镜下

参考例句：

• Microscopically the ores are medium grained to amorphous. 显微镜下，矿石为中粒至非晶质。 来自辞典例句
• He studied microscopically the statistics of trade. 他极仔细地研究了贸易统计数字。 来自辞典例句

6 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。