VOA常速英语2019--蝴蝶仙境

Butterfly Wonderland

It’s a bright and sunny morning in Scottsdale, Arizona here at Butterfly Wonderland.

这是一个晴朗的早晨，我们在亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔的蝴蝶仙境。 

So butterfly wonderland conservatory¹ is 10,000 square feet of tropical paradise in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.

蝴蝶仙境展览温室在索诺兰沙漠中部的一块热带天堂，占地10,000平方英尺。 

We always have at least 70 different species of butterflies from all over the world.

我们这里有至少70种来自世界各地的蝴蝶。 

They come from tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and South America.

它们有的来自热带非洲，有的来自东南亚，还有的来自中美洲和南美洲。 

And we get the North American butterflies from Florida.

我们这里北美的蝴蝶来自于佛罗里达州。 

I appreciate even the smallest of creatures and their role in the ecosystem² overall.

即便是最小的生物，我也很喜欢它们，它们在生态系统中扮演着很重要的角色。 

When you watch butterflies in action, they just always look like they’re having so much fun with not a care in the world.

当你看着蝴蝶飞舞，它们看上去十分开心，无忧无虑。 

And really they don’t, because their brains, well, are very small.

事实上它们真的没有忧虑，因为它们的大脑很小。 

And they say the average lifespan for a butterfly is two weeks.

他们说蝴蝶的平均寿命是两周。 

The lifespan in here is extended because the conditions are perfect.

我们这里的蝴蝶寿命更长一些，这是因为这里的条件很棒。 

There’s plenty of sunshine.The weather’s always good.

这里阳光充足，天气也总是很好。 

There’s lots of food and no predators³.

这里还有很多食物，也没有天敌。 

The UV light that we get here is so intense, and it really drives the activity of the butterflies, and it supports all of the plants.

这里紫外线十分强烈，这样蝴蝶会更愿意出来活动，植物也生长得更好。 

And what it does is it creates an environment that is so inspiring and so beautiful that people are literally⁴ awestruck when they first come in here.

这里创造的良好环境十分吸引人，也很漂亮。人们第一次来这时都会为之惊叹。 

But then it makes them very receptive to learning about this ecosystem and how it kind of represents areas of our tropical world.

这样大家会更加愿意去了解这个生态系统，以及它是如何展现我们的热带世界的。 

Good morning ladies!

蝴蝶小姐早上好呀！ 

So those butterflies are actually feeding on a very special concoction⁵ we call "banana brew⁶".

这些蝴蝶吃的是一种很特殊的混合物，我们把它叫做“香蕉啤酒”。 

And we make it here out of overripe bananas, and dark beer and sugar.

这种食物是用过熟的香蕉、黑啤、还有糖做成的。 

That’s a real butterfly party.

这是一场蝴蝶盛宴。 

And we do also have two chickens.

我们还有两只鸡。 

They’re really important for pest control inside the conservatory.

它们对控制这里的害虫起到了至关重要的作用。 

Well, butterflies are pollinators.They are now studying the structure of the scales on the wings.

蝴蝶属于传粉昆虫。他们现在正在研究蝴蝶翅膀上鳞片的结构。 

So without any scales at all, a butterfly’s wings are transparent⁷, totally clear.

如果没有鳞片，蝴蝶翅膀就是透明的了，并且是完全透明的。 

The way the light hits it and is reflected, is what gives them their color.

阳光照在它们身上，反射出来，它们身上就有了颜色。 

So, those blue butterflies that just flew past here are not really blue at all.

所以，刚刚从这里飞过的蓝色蝴蝶并不是真正蓝色的。 

There’s some fun behavior.I don’t know if you can get that.When you get a number of them together, that swirling⁸ around and chasing each other, that’s actually two males.

这还有一些有趣的现象。我不知道你们是否会注意到。当一堆蝴蝶在一起时，它们旋转着，追逐着。那是两只雄蝴蝶。

So, it kind of looks like a courtship dance, but it’s really more of a territorial⁹ display.

这看起来就像一支求爱之舞，但是它更像是一场地盘争夺战。 

To maintain a conservatory like this in the middle of the desert takes a lot of monitoring.

要在沙漠中央运作这样一个温室需要花很多时间去监管。 

I spend a lot of my day making sure that the temperature is right,

我每天都会花很多时间确保温度正常， 

the humidity is right, the evaporative coolers are working, the mist system is coming on when it should.

湿度适宜，蒸发式冷却器和水雾系统是在工作着的。 

Every day that I come into work is a pleasure for me.

每天我来上班都很开心。 

I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world, and people mention this every day.

我感觉自己是世界上最幸运的一个人，人们每天都这样说。 

They say, ’oh you have such a great job’.

大家对我说：“你的工作太棒了！”。 

And I say, ’ yeah I really do,’ because I do I’m so lucky.

然后我会回复他们：“是的，的确，因为我真的太幸运了”。 

1 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

2 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

3 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 concoction   

n.调配(物)；谎言

参考例句：

• She enjoyed the concoction of foreign dishes.她喜欢调制外国菜。
• His story was a sheer concoction.他的故事实在是一纯属捏造之事。

6 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。