Anthropology: Gypsies
Listen to part of a lecture in a anthropology class.
大小写出错
专有名词
没有听清楚的
漏听的
听出但是拼写错的
拼对但是没有掌握的
Today I would like to discuss an interesting group of somewhat nomadic people called Gypsies.
A roaming cultural group called the Dom led their lives in India and nowadays has become known as the Gypsies. Through recording dating from as far back as the 16th century we know the Dom performed various specialized jobs, such as basket-making, metal making and fortune telling by traveling a circuit through several small villages each year. The word Gypsy can be found in several other languages such as German, French, Italian and Hungarian. Currently, the earliest recording of Gypsies in Europe dated 1068 were found in a monastery in Greece. These recording document events took place in Constantinople in the year 1050 for the next 200 years. The Gypsies wandered southwest into Arabia and North Africa, northwest into the Byzantine Empire and finally established themselves in the southern Balkan countries such as Serbia, Moldavia, Bulgaria and Hungary. Before 1300, after Kublai Khan's death in 1294 the Mongolian Empire began its decline and the borders began to move east thereby reducing pressure on Europe and allowing the Gypsies to expand more rapidly than the previous 200 years. They entered modern day Yugoslavia before 1362 and covered the Balkan by 1400. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries proved to be good times and full of happiness for the Gypsies. Before the conquet of the Ottoman Turks, the Gypsies lived in Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania.
These happy days would soon come to an end because the Turkish invasions, some Gypsies were forced into Venetian territories, such as Crete and Corfu. Fortunately their annual dues rose along with the increase in population in Corfu. With an increase in population and annual income came an independent area of land in 1470 ruled by a lord named Michael de Hugot who lasted until the 19th century. Unfortunately, the Gypsies in the Balkans were not quite as lucky. Although they had important jobs such as blacksmith, locksmith, tinsmiths, and were basically middle class, the government declare them slaves to prevent them from escaping. These Gypsies could be sold, exchanged or given away and any Romanian man or woman who married a Gypsies became a slave too. They were finally emancipated in the 19th century. Before the 15th century, Gypsies were known as quiet shy and not very organized. They also seemed hesitant to travel into western Europe. This all changed over a 20 year period beginning in 1417. During this time they began to move in a purposeful way toward western Europe and even began to call attention to themselves. Various Gypsies groups began to display some unity of action and connection with each other through tellin different stories.
Some say the Turkish invasion of the Balkan in the early 1400's led to this bizarre behavior. Once the invasion was over, the Gypsies themselves likely wouldn't have been affected in the long run under Turkish rule because the Turks believed in leaving civilian population free as long as they paid taxes to them. However the Gypsies may have moved toward western Europe because some of the Gypsies leaders could not serve under the Turks due to their great lose of power under Turkish rule. The reason behind the change is unclear, but the Gypsies began to move into central Europe in great numbers but not without causing some problems.
Some Gypsies falsely claimed to be Egyptian and some claimed that they were Christians left to roam the country side as a form of absolution for their sin of ignoring their religion. These lies allowed them to collect food, money and letters of protection from a city and then they would continue to the next town using the same lies. By 1427 the Gypsies had traveled through Germany, Brussels, Holland, Rome, Spain and Paris.
By this time, many of the leaders caught on to the Gypsies thefts and lies and began banning them. There are also recordings of Gypsies in the British, Isles, Norway, Finland and Siberia.
地名：
Constantinople 君士坦丁堡
Hungarian n. 匈牙利语 Hungary n. 匈牙利
Arabia n. 阿拉伯半岛
North Africa 北非
Byzantine Empire n. 拜占庭帝国
Balkan adj. 巴尔干半岛的
Serbia 塞尔维亚
Moldavia 摩尔达维亚
Bulgaria 保加利亚
Yugoslavia 南斯拉夫
Thrace 色雷斯
Macedonia 马其顿王国
Romania 罗马尼亚
Venetian adj. 威尼斯的
Ottoman Turks 土耳其帝国 adj. 土耳其的;土耳其人的;土耳其语的
Mongolian Empire 蒙古
Egyptian adj. 埃及的,埃及人的
Christians 基督教徒
Brussels 布鲁塞尔(比利时首都)
Holland 荷兰
Norway 挪威
Finland 芬兰
Siberia 西伯利亚
Isles 伊斯兰
其它：
somewhat adv. 稍微, 有点, 达到某种程度
nomadic adj. 游牧的;流浪的
anthropology n. 人类学
roam vt. & vi. 随便走, 漫步, 漫游
circuit n. 电路, 线路；环行, 环行道
monastery n.修道院
territory n. 领土, 版图
due n.税, 应付款
lord n. 领主, 君主, 贵族
locksmith n.锁匠
tinsmiths n. 洋铁匠
declare vt. 宣布, 宣告; 声明
emancipate vt. 解放某人(尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚)
hesitant adj. 犹豫的
display vt. 显示, 显露
bazarre adj. 奇形怪状的, 怪诞的
serve vt. & vi. (为…)服务; 任(职)
border n. 边, 边缘；边界, 边境
thereby adv. 由此; 因而
likely adj. 可能的; 有希望的
run n.时期; 一段时间
absolution n. 宽恕；赦罪
sin n. 违背宗教[道德原则]的恶行
ban vt. 取缔, 查封, 禁止
currently adv. 当前;目前;眼下
give away 抛弃
as long as 只要, 如果；既然, 由于
serve under 在手下任职
这篇实在是太难了，人文历史类满篇都是地名和专有名词，听起来全都是生词，于是整句话都听不懂了，以后要记一些常用的。另外年代也听错好几个，对数字不太敏感，结果就是对文章内容顺序一团混乱了~~~
9.22早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wo27.html9.23早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wpg9.html
Meteorology: Storms
Listen to a part of lecture in a meteorology class.
Now I have a list of names and I want you to tell me some information about the names: Here we go: Alex, Bonnie, Charley, Earl, Frances.
I know, I know! The list is in alphabetical order.
The names you are reading are in order of boy girl, boy girl, boy girl.
Excellent, now what if I told you we are going to talk about wheather systems. Now what's the connection?
Oh,I know, those are names of some famous meteorologists.
No, you've completely missed the boat. They are names given to Atlantic storms called hurricanes in the year 2004. Beginning in 1953, the Tropical Prediction Center produced two lists of names for hurricanes. One list is for Atlantic storm names and the other is for eastern Pacific storms. They are in alphabetical order and they do alternate from male and female names. Now we are going to concentrate on hurricanes and tornadoes. Can anyone tell me a bit of information on how tornadoes and hurricanes start?
Well, first of all, storms are called by different names in different parts of the world. For example, the name hurricane is given to storms that develop over the Atlantic or the eastern Pacific oceans. In the western North Pacific, including the Philippines, these systems are called typhoons and in the Indian and South Pacific ocean they are called cyclones. Tornadoes, on the other hand, occur mostly in America and happen when warm and cool airstreams collide.
That's almost perfect. Actually, there are more tornadoes in Britain. On average, Britain has 33 tornadoes annually in an area 38 times smaller than America. In a nutshell, you are twice as likely to see a tornado in Britain as in America. Tornadoes are formed when air within a low pressure front rises creating a strong upward stream of air like a vacuum cleaner. This stream of air sucks up warm air from the ground which causes it to spin faster and faster. What happens next is perhaps the most dangerous part, this strong air currents can create a vortex or spiraling funnel of wind that can reach speeds of 300 miles per hour. It's when the vortex touches the ground that it creates the most destruction because it can suck up cars and cows like tiny pieces of paper and even explode houses. Luckily, the vortex is usually not more than 250 meters in size.
Ma'am, how does the tornado explode a house?
Well the air pressure inside the votex is extremely low and the air pressure inside the building is normal. So when the tornado passes over the house the air inside the building gets bigger and creates an explosion. The wind speeds in tornado can vary from 72 to nearly 300 miles per hour. Fortunately it's only once in a blue moon that tornadoes have winds greater than 200 miles per hour.
So that's why tornadoes are so destructive, it's much clearer now.
Now moving on to hurricanes. Like our fellow classmate mentioned, hurricanes develop over the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. A hurricane is a strong rotating storm with a intense centre of low pressure. This centre is often called the eye of the storm. They cause high winds, huge waves and heavy flooding. I'm sure many of you remember seeing hurricane Gilbert on the News back in 1998. Gilbert produced 160 mile per hour winds and left 318 people dead in Jamaica. Now in order for a tropical storm to become hurricane, it must produce wind speeds above 73 miles per hour. Unfortunately, about 50 tropical storms become hurricanes each year. A hurricane is one of the most powerful of all weather systems and is powered by the heat energy released by the condensation of water vapor.
Professor, why don't more hurricanes develop?
Well the conditions have to be precise for a hurricance to form. The sea's surface temperature must be above 26.5 degree Celsius.
Meteorology n. 气象学 meteorologist n. 气象学家
alphabetical adj. 按字母(表)顺序的
hurricane n. 飓风, (尤指西印度群岛的)旋风
tropical adj. 热带的; 炎热的
prediction n. 预言,预测
alternate adj. 轮流的, 交替的
cyclone n. 气旋；旋风，飓风，暴风
collide vi. 相撞, 碰撞；冲突, 抵触, 不一致
vacuum n. 真空
cleaner n. 吸尘器
spin vt. & vi. 使…旋转
vortex n. (指水或风形成的)涡流;漩涡
spiral vi. 盘旋上升(或下降) adj. 螺旋形的
funnel n. 漏斗
clear adj.畅通的，无阻的
condensation n. 冷凝,凝聚
vapor n. 水汽,水蒸气 v. 自夸;(使)蒸发
what if 要是…又怎样
miss the boat 坐失良机
suck up 吸收
a blue moon 不可能的事
degree Celsius 摄氏度
9.24早听写
9.25早听写 http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wt1r.html
In order to really study the social history of the middle ages you have to understand the role of spices. Now this might sound a little spurring, even a little strange. But what seem like little things now were back then actually rather big things. So first let's define what a spice is? Technically speaking, a spice is part of an aromatic plant that is not a leaf or herb. Spices can come from tree bark like cinnamon, plant roots like ginger,flower buds like cloves. And in the middle ages, Europeans were familiar with lots of different spices, most important being pepper, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, maize and nutmeg. These spices literarily dominated the way Europeans lived for centuries how they trade it and even how they used their imaginations. So why this medieval fascination with spices? We can boil it down to three general ideas briefly. One was cost and rarity. Uh, two was exotic taste and fragrance. And third mysterious origins and kinds of mythical status. Now for cost and rarity, spices aren't native to Europo and they had to be imported, spices only grew in the East Indies and of course transportation costs for were incredibly valuable, even from the very beginning. Here is an example. In 408 AD the Gothic general who captured Rome demanded payment. He wanted 5000 pounds of gold among other things, but he also wanted 3000 pounds of pepper. Maybe that would give you an idea of exactly where pepper stood at the time. By the middle ages, spices were regarded as so important and expensive they were used in diplomacy as gifts by head of state and ambassadors. Now for the taste. The diet then was relatively bland compared to today's. There wasn't much variety. Especially the aristocracy who tended to eat a lot of meat, they were always looking for new ways to prepare it, new sources, new tastes and this is where spices came in. Now this is a good point to mention one of the biggest myths about spices. It's commonly said that the medieval Europeans wanted spices to cover up the taste is spoiled meat. But this isn't really ture. Anyone who had to worry about spoiled meat couldn't afford spices in the first place. If you could afford spices you could definitely afford fresh meat. We also have evidence that various medieval markets employed a kind of police to make sure that people did not sell spoiled food, and if you were caught doing it, you were subject to various fines, humiliating public punishments. So what actually was true was this, in order to have meat for the winter, people would preserve it in salt not a spice. Spices actually aren't very effective as preservatives. And throughout winter they would eat salted meat but the taste of the stuff could grow really boring and depressing after a while. So the cook started looking for new ways to improve the taste and spices were the answer which brings us to mysterious origins and mythical status. Now the ancient Romans had a thriving spice trade and they sent their ships to the east and back. But when Rome collapsed in the fifth century and the middle Ages began, direct trade stopped and so did that kind of hands on knowledge of travel and geography. Spices now came by way of the trade routes with lots of intermediaries between the producer and the consumer. So these spices took on an air of mystery. Their origins was shrouded in the exotic travels. They had the allure of the unknown of wild places. Myths grew up of fantasy lands, magical faraway places made entirely of food and spices. And to that, spices themselves had always been considered special or magical not just for eating, and this was already true in the ancient world where legends about spices were abundant. Spices inspired the medieval imagination. They were used as medicines to ward off diseases and mixed into perfumes incent. They were used in religious rituals for thousands of years. They took on a life of their own and they inspired the medieval imagination, spurred on the age of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. When famous explorers like Golumbus and DaGama and Magellan left Europe in their ships, they weren't looking for a new world, they were looking for spices. And we know what important historical repercussions some of those voyages had.
spices n.香味料
spurring adj.刺激的
aromatic adj. 芳香的；有香味的
cinnamon n. 桂皮；肉桂
ginger n. 姜, 生姜
cloves n.丁香
maize n.玉米
nutmeg n. 肉豆蔻,肉豆蔻种子中的核仁
literarily adv. 文学上地,学术上地
medieval adj. 中古的, 中世纪的
fascination n. 魅力;有魅力的东西
rarity n. 稀有, 罕见
exotic adj. 由外国引进的, 非本地的
mythical adj. (只)存在于神话中的;想像的;虚构的 myths n. 神话；杜撰出来的人[事物]
Gothic n. 哥特式
diplomacy n. 外交, 外交手腕, 外交术
aristocracy n. 贵族,统治阶级
humiliate vt. 使蒙羞, 羞辱, 使丢脸
preservative n. 防腐剂
stuff n.食物
intermediary n. 中间人;调解人
shroud vt. 覆盖, 遮蔽, 隐藏
allure n. 诱惑力, 魅力
incent vt. 刺激…采取行动，激励
perfume n. 香气, 芳香；香水
repercussion n. 后果, 反响
an air of sth．神态，气质，气氛，……的样子
boil down (把…)煮浓
in the first place 首先, 从一开始
subject to 使服从,使遭受
ward off 避开,挡住
take on 呈现
9.26早听写 http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wz4h.html
Professor:
So that's how elephants use infrasound. Now let's talk about the other end of acoustic spectrum, sound that is too high for humans to hear -ultrasound. Ultrasound is used by many animals that detect and some of them send out very high frequency sounds. So what's a good example? Yes, Carol?
Carol:
Well, bats, since the are all blind, bats have to use sound for you know to keep them from flying into things.
Professor:
That's echolocation. Echolocation is pretty self-explanatory: using echoes reflected sound waves to located things. As Carol said that's used for navigation and orientation. And what else? Mike?
Mike:
Well finding food is always important, and I guess not becoming food for other animals.
Professor:
Right, on both accounts. Avoiding other predators and locating prey, typically in sense of flying around it at night. Now, before I go on, let me just respond something Carol was saying, this idea that bats are blind. Actually, there're some species of bats, the ones that don't use echolocation that do rely on their vision for navigation, but it is true that for many bats their vision is too weak to count on. Ok, so quick summary how echolocation works. The bat emits the ultrasonic pulses very high pitch sound waves that we can't hear. And then they analyze the echoes how the waves bounce back. Here, um, let me finish the style diagram I started before the class. So the bat sends out the pulses very focused verses of sound, and echo bounce back. You know I don't think I need to draw the echoes, your reading assignment for the next class, it has a diagram shows this very clearly. Anyway as I was saying, by analyzing these echoes, the bat can determine, say, if there is a wall in a cave that needs to avoid and how far away it is. Another thing it uses the ultrasound to detect is the size and the shape of objects. For example, one echo they quickly identified is one way associated with moth, which is common prey for a bat, particularly a moth beating its wings. However, moth happened to have a major advantage over most other insects.
They can detect ultrasound, this means that when the bat approaches, the moth can detect about the bat's presence. So it has time to escape to safety, or else they can just remain motionless. Since when they stop beating their wings, they will be much harder for the bat to distinguish from oh... or a leave or some other object. Now we've tended to underestimate just how sophisticated the ability of animals that use ultrasound are. In fact, we kind of assume that they were filtering a lot out. Um, the ways are sophisticated radar on our system can ignore the echo on the stationary object on the ground. Radar does this to remove ground clutter, information about hills or buildings that it doesn't need. But bats we thought they were filtering out this kind of information because they simply couldn't analyze it, but it looks as we were wrong. Recently, there was this experiment with trees and a specific species of bat. A bat called the lesser spear-nosed bat. Now a tree should be a huge and acoustic challenge for a bat, right? I mean it's got all kinds of surfaces with different shapes and angles. So, well, the echoes from a tree are going to be massive and chaotic acoustic reflections right? Not like the echo from a moth. So we thought for a long time that the bats stop their valuation as simply "that's a tree". Yes, it turns out that the bats or at least this particular species cannot only tell that it's a tree, but can also distinguish between, say, a pine tree and a deciduous tree, like a maple or an oak tree just by their leaves. And when I say leaves I mean pine needles too. Any ideas on how we would know that?
Mike:
Well, like with the moth, could it be their shape?
Professor:
You are on the right track-it's actually the echo of all the leaves as a whole, that matters. Now, think, a pine trees with all those little densely packed needles. Those produced a large number of fain reflection in which what's called as: a smooth echo. The wave forms were even but an oak which has fewer but bigger leaves with stronger reflections produces a jagged wave form, or what we called a rough echo. And these bats can distinguish between the two and not just was trees , but with any echo come in smooth and rough shape.
infrasound n. 次声(风暴产生的低频音波)
ultrasound n. 超声; 超声波 ultrasonic adj. (声波)超声的
acoustic adj. 声音的, 听觉的
spectrum n. 光谱
echolocation n. 回声定位能力,回声定位法
self-explanatory adj. 不解自明的;明显的
orientation n. 方向, 目标
account n. （思想、理论、过程的）解释；说明；叙述
predator n. 食肉动物
prey n. 被捕食的动物, 猎物, 牺牲品
count on 依赖, 依靠;期望, 指望
verse n. 诗, 韵文；诗节, 歌曲的一段
echo n. 回声; 共鸣
moth n. 蛾
approach vt. & vi. 接近, 走近, 靠近
motionless adj. 不动的,静止的
underestimate vt. 对…估计不足, 低估
sophisticated adj. 老练的; 老于世故的
filter vt. & vi. 透过, 过滤
radar n. 雷达
clutter n. 杂物, 零乱的东西
spear n. 矛, 枪, 鱼叉 vt. 用矛刺, 用鱼叉捉
chaotic adj. 混沌的;一片混乱的;一团糟的
valuation n. 估价;估定的价格;定价
deciduous adj. (指树木)每年落叶的
maple n. 槭树, 枫树
oak n. 栎树, 橡树
track n. 踪迹, 痕迹, 足迹
densely adv.浓密地,稠密地;密集地
packed adj. 异常拥挤的;挤满人的 有大量…的;…极多的；紧密地压在一起
fain adj. 乐意,不得不,只得…
even adj.均匀的; 有规律的; 稳定的
jagged adj. (边缘)粗糙的,有缺口的;参差不齐的
kind of 〈口〉稍微, 有点儿, 有几分
9.27早听写 http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wz4n.html
A new study finds a link between aggressive breast cancer and stress. But the lead researcher suggests the findings raise as many questions as they answers.
The study included about 1000 breast cancer patients in Chicago-white, black and Latina.
Soon after diagnosis the women were interviewed to assess their of level of stress. The researchers, led by Garth H. Rauscher of the university of Illinois at Chicago, compared the stress scores with the race of the patients and the aggressiveness of their cancers. "black and Hispanic patients patients reported a greater level of stress than white did," Rauscher says. "And we also found that patients reporting greater stress were more likely to have more aggressive tumors."
Previous research had found that American black and latina women have, at the time they are diagnosed, more aggressive cancers than white women. But the reserchers can't decide if that's because minority women are somehow more susceptible to aggressive tumors or because for socioeconomic reasons, their cancers are more likely not diagnosed until the disease has advanced to a more aggressive stage.
So, is having the aggressive disease causing the stress or is stress causing the disease? Maybe some third factor is involved.
Rauscher admits he's still a long way from the answer. "And so it is a very complicated issue to tease out what this mean, other than to say that it suggested the possibility that there may be a biologic role of stress in the development of breast tumors that warrants further research."
The reserchers were only able to do the stress interview after women were diagnosed with breast cancer, so they had to assume that the level of stress faced by the patients was same before their dignosis than after. But Rauscher concedes that is a limitation of his study.
"Therefore it's possibly - even likely that the process of diagnosis and the process of being treated influenced what they told us about their level of stress."
Rauscher says more research is needed to better understand the relationship between stress and breast cancer. For a lot of reasons it's probably good to minimize stress in our lives. But he cautions that his research does not mean that people who have had a stressful experience are necessarily at a greater risk of a aggressive breast cancer.
diagnosis n. 〈医〉诊断法; 诊断结论
assess vt. 估价, 估计；评定, 核定
race n. 人种, 种族
minority n. 少数, 小部分
somehow adv. 以某种方式, 用某种方法
susceptible adj. 易受影响的; 易动感情的
socioeconomic adj. 社会经济学的
warrant vt. 使…显得合理; 成为…的根据；保证, 担保
concede vt. & vi. 承认
at the time 在那时, 在那段时间
tease out 哄取
9.28早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wz4p.html
Many air travelers in the United States gladly pay extra sometimes a lot extra to ride in first class rather than coach. Up front, they enjoy romier seats, faster boarding and free drinks. And now the pay to be pampered idea has come to America's interstate highways as well.
Many of these high-speed roads already have special, uncrowded HOV or high-occupancy-vehicle lanes. Only cars carrying two or more or sometimes three or more people can use them. The idea is that these less crowded HOV lanes will entice other drivers to join a car poll so that they, too, can enjoy life in the fast lane.
But experience has shown that most lone drivers just won't give up their cars. And they are getting angrier and angrier at the lucky drivers zipping alone in the HOV lanes. So to appease them, ease traffic congestion in the regular lanes and create a new revenue source, many states have embraced a concept called hot lanes.
HOT, stands for high occupancy toll and here is how it works:
As in HOV lanes, drivers of cars with multiple occupants pay little or nothing to zip alone in the hot lanes. But for a steep toll, drivers with no one else in their car can use them, too. Like first class airplane passengers, many lone drivers say they will happily pay the charge just to cut some time and hassles from their commutes.
Virginia, Georgia and California are among the states building hot lanes aloneside existing super highways. They argue that the extra money single drivers kick in for the access to the hot lanes will help pay for other transportation improvements, such as light-rail lines.
But what if so many lone drivers jump at this chance that hot lanes become just as jammed and slow moving as regular ones?
American capitalism has the answer. If single occupancy cars start plugging up the hot lanes, states plan to just keep raising their tolls. Then presumably, enough drivers will slink back to the equivalent of the coach section of the road enabling traffic in the hot lanes to move briskly again.
coach n. 长途客运汽车
boarding n.登机
pamper vt. 纵容;宠;娇养
interstate adj. 〈美〉洲与洲间的, 洲际的
uncrowded adj. 不拥挤的,宽敞的
lane n. 车道, 行车线
entice vt. 诱惑,怂恿
poll n. 民意调查, 民意调查的结果
zip vt. 用拉链拉上或扣上
congestion n. 拥挤;堵车
revenue n. 收入, 收益; 财政收入, 税收
toll n. 通行费
multiple adj. 多重的, 多种多样的
occupancy n. 占有, 使用, 居住 occupant n. (房屋等的)居住者, 占有人
steep adj. <非正>(要求或价格)过分; 过高
hassle n.困难的事情, 麻烦的事情；争论, 麻烦
capitalism n. 资本主义(制度)；资本(或财富)的拥有；资本(私人占有和生产盈利)的支配地位
presumably adv. 据推测, 大概, 可能
slink vi. 偷偷溜走
equivalent n. 相等物; 等价物; 等量物 adj. 相等的, 相当的
briskly adv. 轻快地;活泼地;伶俐地
first class 头等舱
plug up 堵塞
light-rail line 轻轨
9.29早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100wz4z.html
Biology: Sunshine
Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.
Good morning class, today I thought we would talk about something bright and cheerful - the sun. I know most of you got to school before the sun came up, but can anyone tell me how they feel when it's sunny compared to how they feel when it's cloudy.
I find that it's a lot easier to get up in the morning if it's sunny.
Good, how do you usually feel if it's cloudy?
Well, I don't mind. Because I enjoy staying in on a rainy day curled up in bed with a good book.
Well, what if I told you it would rain for weeks on end with no break.
Yeah, I can see your point, I don't think I would like that very much.
Most of the articles we read lately regarding the sun are discussing the negative effects of staying in the sun for too long, saying that ultraviolet radiation from the sun is a major cause of skin cancer.
Although these articles are factual, the sun does have some positive side effects as well. As a matter of fact, some scientists believe sunlight may reduce the risk of several types of cancer.
Excuse me, but many articles I've read blame the sun for causing cancer, stating that it can take as little as 30 minutes to get a sunburn.
Yes, and those articles are correct. However, in small doses the sun can be quite healthy for you. In fact recent studies have found that sunlight can actually help protect you from certain types of cancer, such as breast, colon, bladder and stomach. More importantly, the sun provides us with our main source of Vitamin D.
Well, I don't need to worry about vitamins because I take multi-vitamins everyday.
That's great, but wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to take them and you were able to get vitamins in a more natural way, such as food and the sun. Most people understand that nutrients strengthen our bones and muscles and heighten our immune systems to better fight diseases like the common cold. However, many people don't realize that the Ultraviolet or UV rays from the sun actually convert ergosterol which is found in our skin to Vitamin D. Vitamin D is needed for normal growth of teeth and bones, and has also been proven to prevent the development and increase of cancerous tumors.
Does that mean we should spend all day in the sun without any protection?
No, spending roughly 10 minutes per day in the sun should be enough to supply us with all the vitamin D that we need.
What happens if we don't get enough vitamin D?
Excellent question, I'm glad you to asked me that. Low vitamin D can cause many diseases, such as chronic fatigue, a softening of the bones, osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis. Getting back to our mood, some researchers have proven that sunshine can actually cheer you up. When I see the sun, I always feel happy, energetic and generally positive. But did you realize that the sun can change your mood chemically and might even prevent depression. There is a saying called spring fever, when many people feel the beginning of spring as a sign of the good days ahead. During winter, many of us are stuck indoors out of the sun. The lack of sun causes for many people a condition called sad or seasonal Affective disorder. Sad is caused by suppression of serotonin, which keeps our mood, emotions, sleep and appetite in check. When we don't get enough, we feel depressed and this is usually experienced by people who are deprived of sunlight during the dull winter months. So class, during your break, why don't you step outside and get a bit of vitamin D.
lately adv. 近来, 最近, 不久前
sunburn n. 晒伤;晒太阳过量而引起皮肤灼痛
dose n. (一次)剂量, 一剂, 一份 (复数）
colon n.〈解〉结肠
bladder n. 〈解〉膀胱
multi 前缀—许多
heighten vt. & vi. (使)变高, (使)增大，(使)提高
ergosterol n. 麦角固醇
cancerous adj. 癌的;像癌的;恶性肿瘤的
chemically adv. 化学地；化学上地；用化学, 以化学方法
stuck stick 的过去式及过去分词 adj. 不能动,不能继续做某事
serotonin n. <生>血清素
dull adj. 不鲜明的, 不清楚的, 晦暗的
ultraviolet radiation n. 紫外线
curl up (使)卷, 弯曲
on end 连续地
in check 在控制中;被阻止
9.30早听写 http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x0k5.html Windows
The Vikings
Listen to part of a lecture in an archeology class and answer the question.
Okay, let's discuss another ancient people called the Vikings. Many people think about horned helmeted raiders, farmers, and settlers when they discuss vikings. As a matter of fact, vikings were more than that, they also had religion, mainly Christianity. They valued family, were known as great warriers and traded with many countries. For the purpose of our discussion, we are going to concentrate on the trade aspect of the Vikings. The Vikings knew that piracy served a limited purpose by providing only an irregular income and at the same time realized that trade could provide a more regular means for providing wealth. This strong belief in trade led many of the Scandinavian vikings to trading goods rather than raiding villages and stealing what they wanted. They set up their trading spots in places like fishing camps or small trading stations, in both seasonal markets and densely settled towns. In some cases, these trading spots were the beginnings of larger towns which flourished during the viking age and were located in North-west, northern and eastern Europe, more commonly called Scandinavia. Believe it or not, some of these towns still exist today and in some cases have grown into cities. Some of the abandoned viking age towns and marketplaces have recently been excavated and numerous goods have been discovered. These discoveries include remains of glass and pottery and beads, possiblely from Asia. Some of what was left of the trade industries were also discovered, such as the remnants from the making of everyday and luxury objects of glass, bone, antler, wood, iron, bronze and precious metals.
Viking n. 海盗,北欧海盗
Christianity n. 基督教
Scandinavian n. 斯堪的纳维亚人
spot n. 地点, 场所
excavate vt. 挖掘, 开凿
bead n. (空心)小珠子；水珠；珠子项链
antler n. 鹿角
bronze n. 青铜；青铜色, 赤褐色；青铜艺术品, 铜牌
raider n. 进行袭击、抢劫或搜查的人
raid n. 突然袭击
piracy n. 海盗行为,海上掠夺
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x0m9.html
Listen to part of the lecture in an architecture class and answer the question.
Windows usually look like thay're all made of glass and wood. However, there is more to windows than meets the eye. Things that look like wood could be aluminum, vinyl or some other composite material. As people prefer things that are "low-maintenance", there has been an explosion in materials that look like wood being used for frames, they don't need sanding and painting and still look like high quality wood. Sometimes a layer of aluminum is used to coat the exterior surfaces of a window to provide a long-lasting and low-maintenance surface. It is called "cladding." I think I should write down the word on the board. It refers to the application of one material over another to provide a weather proof layer. For aluminum, there are fewer color options than with wood finishes and usually the thicker of the aluminum is the more durable it is. However, it doesn't have the insulating qualities of windows made of other materials so they're not widely used. Vinyl is another popular low-maintenance option. It can also be applied over other materials like wood or wood products. Like aluminum, the thicker the vinyl, the more durable it will be. Composite windows and vinyl windows are gaining popularity nowadays as non-wood, energy efficient and low-maintenance of alternatives which don't warp or rot like wood window can in extreme conditions.
composite adj. 混合成的, 综合成的
vinyl n. <化>乙烯基
explosion n. 爆炸; 爆发；激增, 扩大
sand vt. 用砂纸磨光；在某物上撒沙, 用沙覆盖
coat vt. 为某物涂抹
cladding n. 覆层
finish n.末道漆
insulating adj.绝缘的
warp vt. & vi. 弄弯, 变歪
rot vt. & vi. (使)腐烂, (使)腐朽
low-maintenance 维护费用低廉的
10.2早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x2yv.html
Civil Engineering: Suspension Bridge
listen to part of a lecture on civil engineering in a journalism class.
Good morning class, today I brought in a picture of a specific kind of bridge called a suspension bridge. That bridge looks familiar to me.
Is it the Clinfton suspension Bride in Bristol, England?
Yes, you are right, you are really on the ball today. Can anyone tell me who built it and what is unique about the suspension bridge?
Well, the Clinfton suspension bridge was designed in 1830 by a man named Brunel, but he died before the bridge was finished. As his memorial, the bridge was finally completed in 1864.
Excellent, you are really with it today. Now, who can tell me about suspension bridges? Or is this question over your heads?
I think I can answer that. According to some books I've read about suspension bridges. The road deck is hanging from cables that are strung across a river like the Avon gorge in the picture. What makes a suspension bridge unique is that there is no support in the centre and the road deck hangs below the supports rather than resting upon them like other bridges.
Excellent, let me fill you in on some other details. Some of the oldest suspension bridges used ropes instead of cables, that were loosely thrown across a gorge or river. This olny allowed for people to hang as they crawled across. Soon after, wooden footways were added between the ropes. Unfortunately, these bridges were not convenient or safe for taking donkeys or carts across because of the swinging of the ropes and the loads were just too heavy for the bridge to bear. The suspension bridges that we use today like the one in the picture were first developed way back in the early 1800's. Civil Energineers such as Telford and Brunel thought of the idea of using towers to lift up the cables and using a frame to support and stiffen the bridge called a truss. The towers allowed the bridge to stay perfectly flat, which would give horses and carriages a means to cross. In a nutshell, Brnuel designed the first non-moving bridge. Today, the design of the suspension bridge is the same, but we use steel cables instead of iron links like those found on a bicycle chain.
In fact, Brunel's famous bridge still has the iron chain links.
How do suspension bridges hold the heavy weight of cars and trucks? In the past they only used horses and carriages, so the bridges didn't carry as much weight as they do now.
Good point, all modern bridges that you see today use huge steel cables to hold the roadway. These cables are hung over two towers and held concrete blocks at both ends of the bridge. Vehicle, such as cars and trucks push down on the roadway, and because the roadway is held up by hangers from the steel cables they can transfer for all the weight onto the two towers. This means that the two towers are always compressed, which allows them to transfer the forces to the ground or concrete blocks where they absorb the tension from the steel cables. Steel is the preferred material used in long suspension bridges because it can handle extremely heavy weight. Steel is stronger than iron and is also light in weight. A famous example can be seen in the Brooklyn bridge in New York, USA.
Are there any problems with a suspension bridge?
I'm glad you asked me that question. There have been a couple of disasters in regard to syspension bridges. If the engineers design a bridge that is too light or too flexible, the bridges will not be strong enough. They will begin to move and rock back and forth even in light winds and will eventually collapse into the gorge or river below.
journalism n. 新闻业
memorial n. 纪念碑, 纪念物
hang vt. & vi. 悬, 挂, 垂下
deck n.a floor built across a ship over all or part of its length 甲板, 层面
cable n. (船只、桥梁等上的)巨缆, 钢索
strung (string的过去式与过去分词) vt. 装弦于, 上弦；用线串
gorge n. 山峡, 峡谷；咽喉
crawl vi. 爬, 爬行; 徐缓而行
footway n. 小路,人行道
cart n. 运货马车; 手推车
swing vt. & vi. (使)摇摆, (使)摇荡
stiffen vt. & vi. (使)变硬;(使)强硬
truss vt. 捆绑 n. (干草的)一捆,一束,构架
carriage n. 四轮马车; 车辆；车厢；举止, 仪态
hanger n. 衣架
compress vt. 压紧, 压缩
Steel n. 钢
rock vt. & vi. (使)来回摆动
on the ball 机警, 高明
way back 老早就,很久以前
push down 向下按, 推倒, 压倒
in regard to 关于…
10.3早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x3vn.html
Tattoo Samuel Adu-Poku
Listen to part of a lecture in a health class and answer the question.
Let's look at this interesting piece of news. Oh, first, do any of you have a tattoo?
I've got an eagle on my back.
Anybody else? No? Okay. Did you know that 16 percent of adult Americans have tattoos? Christina Aguilera and Beyonce have tattoos. Do you think they are safe? Did you know that absolutely no national regulations exist? When you get a tattoo, you put yourself at risk, allergies to the dyes, keloid scarring and infections including have a hepatitis, tetanus and even HIV. Now, isn't that scary?
If you still want one, and you have thought about what it will look like in 30 years, there are some tips you should follow.
Everything should be clean and sanitary even the appearance of the person doing the Tattooing. Take a good look at the sterilizing equipment. Does it have a recent testing certificate? If you can, try to watch someone else getting tattooed. The needles in sterilized packages of course should be opened in front of the customer. There should be a biohazard container for ones that have been used. Watch the artist to see if he or she changes gloves after touching things other than needles. There are no regulations governing tattooing, but there are state licensing regulations. Look for the certificate on the wall. If the artist belongs to Alliance of professional tattooists that's a sign of good reputation. Be patient, your tattoo will take 7 to 10 days to heal.
tattoo n. 文身；刺青；刺花 n. tattooist 文身的人
allergy n. (对食物、花粉、虫咬等的)过敏症
dyes n. 染料, 染色
keloid n.瘢痕疙瘩,瘢痕瘤
scar n. 伤痕, 伤疤; 精神上的创伤
hepatitis n.肝炎
tetanus n. 破伤风
sanitary adj. 清洁的, 卫生的, 保健的
sterilize vt. 消毒;使无菌 sterilizing adj.无菌的 sterilized adj. 已灭菌的
biohazard n. (尤指带有微生物的生物工作所引起的)生物危害
artist n. 能手
alliance n. 结盟, 联盟
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x3xp.html
Listen to part of a lecture in an education class and answer the question.
Recently, we discussed the research of Samuel Adu-Poku, an African Canadian. He considered the curriculum in the average North American School under the perspective of regarding Africa as being the cradle of civilization. He discussed how North American education disadvantages students of African descent by not recognizing Africa as being the source of many discoveries and knowledge. He explained how North American writers incorrectly attribute many discoveries and early knowledge to European sources.
Adu-Poku, recommended the reorganization of some North American art courses to provide a multicultural viewpoint that acknowledges African discoveries and to encourage African children to learn the traditions of their Afican ancestors. In total, Adu-Poku's research helped to expose our assumptions as readers and show us where we are positioned. For North American readers, this relative position would be different from that of Asian readers and both would be different from that of Adu-Poku. As a North American, I was made aware of my historical view relative to Great Britain and Europe. His writing made me aware of my position. Did any of you experience a shift in your viewpoint? Adu-Poku's research confronted me also with some of my assumptions. It certainly showed me how education can instill prejudicial attitudes that can mark learners for life and limit one's experience and views of others. I would like to think some more about this today. Specifically, I would like to examine other ways in which education is not an advantage.
perspective n.观点, 想法
cradle n. 摇篮
descent n.血统, 出身, 门第
multicultural adj. 多种文化的；反映多种文化的；适合于多种文化的
expose vt. 曝光; 暴露; 显露
assumption n. 假定, 臆断
instill vt. <美>逐渐使某人获得(某种可取的品质);逐步灌输
prejudicial adj. 引起偏见的;有损害的
10.4早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x5cd.html
Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.
Professor:
OK, now I want to talk about an animal that has a fascinating set of defense mechanisms and that's the octopus. One of the unusual creatures that live in the sea. The octopus is prey to many species including humans, so how does it escape its predators? Well, let me back up here a second. Anyone ever heard of Proteus?
Proteus was god in Greek mythology who could change form. He could make himself look like a lion or a stone or a tree, anything you wanted, and he could go through a whole series of changes very quickly. Well, the octopus is the real world version of Proteus. Just like Proteus, the octopus can go through all kinds of incredible transformations. And it does this in three ways by changing color, by changing its texture and by changing its size and shape.
For me, the most fascinating transformation is when it changes its color. Its normal skin color, the one it generally presents is either red or brown or even grey and it's speckled with dark spots. But when it wants to blend in with its environment to hide from its enemies. It can take on the color of the its immediate surroundings, the ocean floor, a rock, a piece of coral, whatever. Charles?
Male Student:
Do we know how that works? I mean how they change colors?
Professor:
Well, we know that the reaction that takes place is not chemical in nature. The color changes are executed by two different kinds of cells in the octopus' skin, mainly by color cells on the skin surface called chromatophores.
Chromatophores consist of tiny sacks filled with color dye. There might be a couple hundred of these color sacks per square millimeter of the octopus skin and depending on the species they can come in as many as five different colors. Each one of these sacks is controlled by muscles. If the muscles are relaxed, the sack shrinks and all you see is a little white point. But if the muscles contract, then the sack expands and you can see the colors. And by expanding different combinations of these color sacks to different degrees, the octopus can create all sorts of colors. Yes, Elizabeth?
Female Student:
And just with various combinations of those five colors, they can recreate any color in their environment?
Professor:
Well, they can no doubt create a lot with just those five color, but you are tight, maybe they can't mimic every color around them, so that's where the second kind of cell comes in. Just below the chromatophores is a layer of cells that reflect light from the environment and these cells help the octopus create a precise match with the colors that surround them. The colors from the color sacks are supplemented with colors that are reflected from the environment and that's how they are able to mimic colors with such precision. So that's how octopuses mimic colors. But they don't just mimic the colors in their environment, they can also mimic the texture of objects in their environment. They have these litte projections on their skin that allow them to resemble various textures. The projections are called papillae.
If octopus was to have a rough texture it raises the papillae. If it wants to have a smooth texture flattens, it flattens out the papillae so it can acquire a smooth texture to blend in with the sandy bottom of the sea. So the octopus has the ability to mimic both the color and the texture of its environment. And it's truly amazing how well it can blend in with its surroundings. You can easily swim within a few feet of an octopus and never see it.
Male Student:
I read that they often hide from predators by squirting out a cloud of ink, or something like that.
Professor:
Yes, the octopus can release a cloud of ink if it feels threatened. But it doesn't hide behind it, as it generally believed. Um, the ink cloud is ... it serves to distract a predator while the octopus makes its escape. Now there is a third way that octopuses can transform themselves to blend in with or mimic their environment, and that's by changing their shape and size, well, at least their apparent size. The muscular system of the octopus enables it to be very flexible to assume all sorts of shapes and postures. So it can contract into the shape of a little round stone and sit perfectly still on the sea floor. Or it can nestle up in the middle of a plant and take the shape of one of the leaves. Even Proteus would be impressed I think.
octopus n. 章鱼 octopuses复数
Proteus n. 希腊海神,多变的人
version n. 版本, 形式
spot n. 斑点, 污点
immediate adj.最接近的
execute vt. 执行, 实现; 使生效
chromatophore n. 色素胞,色素体
sack n. 麻袋, 包
shrink vt. & vi. 收缩; 退缩
expand vt. & vi. 使…变大, 扩大, 扩张 expend vt. 花费, 使用(钱等)做某事
mimic vt. (尤指为了逗乐而)模仿；酷似
match n. 相似之物, 相配之物
projection n. 投掷,发射,喷射；投影,投影图；预测；推断；设想
resemble vt. 像…, 类似于
papillae n. <拉>乳头
squirt vt. & vi. (指液体或粉末) 喷出,喷射
muscular adj. (有关)肌(肉)的 muscle n.
assume vt.呈现
nestle vt. & vi. 舒适而温暖地安定下来
back up 支持
a second 又一个;一秒钟
go through 完成, 做完
blend in (使)(与…)和谐或协调
take on 呈现
takes place 發生
in nature 实际上, 性质上, 究竟
flatten out 变平,转为水平飞行
nestle up 依偎;紧靠着
10.5早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x6zv.html
Scientists investigating a popular herbal treatment for enlarge prostate have concluded that saw palmetto is no more effective than a placebo.
That conclusion comes from a study including hundreds of men in their forties and older. As men age, the prostate gland often gets larger. The prostate surrounds the urethra, which carries urine from the bladder to the penis. An enlarged prostate can impede the flow of urine, causing a variety of symptoms.
There are prescription drugs which can ease symptoms, but many men prefer the "natural" alternative, an extract from the saw palmetto tree, native to the American Southeast.
"It's actually a very complex extract? It has quite a number of different chemicals and molecules within it, several of which are plausible agents to affect the way a man urinates, to even shrink the prostate." Dr Gerald L. Andreiole of Washington university medical school in St. Louis, is one of co-authored a paper describing a new study on the effecitiveness of saw palmetto.
The men in the study were randomly assigned to two groups, one got progressively larger doses of saw palmetto, the other group got a placebo - a dummy pill. It was a double blind study, neither the participants nor staff knew who was getting which.
They filled out a standard questionnaire used by urologists to assess prostate enlargement. "How many times did you need to get up at night, how often did you experience frequency, urgency, the sense of incomplete bladder emptying. This is a standard symptom score that has been used for close to 20 years. "
By the end of the study after about 16 months, Andriole says the symptom scores improved for both groups of men. "But there was no difference in the magnitude of symptom score improvement between placebo and saw palmetto."
And increasing the dose of saw palmetto didn't make any difference. Some critics found fault with a previous study, that found no benefit from saw palmetto, saying the dosages were too low.
Saw palmetto is safe and thanks to the so called "placebo effect," it does improve symptoms, but Andriole says it doesn't address more serious prostate conditions. "Such as urinary tract infections, complete inability to urinate, or even the need to have surgery. The drugs we have significantly reduce a man's chance of ever experiencing those, in addition to improving his symptoms." Andriole says.
Since saw palmetto does not require a prescription, patients who use the herbal supplements might not see a doctor. That raises the risk that much more serious problems, like the early stages of prostate cancer might go undiagnosed.
prostate n. (雄性哺乳动物的)前列腺
saw n. 锯
palmetto n. 美洲蒲葵(棕榈科植物)
placebo n. 安慰剂；安慰物, 宽心话
gland n. 〈解〉腺
urethra n. 尿道
urine n. 尿
urinary adj. 尿的;尿样的；泌尿的;泌尿器的
urinate vi. 排尿;撒尿
urologist n. 泌尿科医师
bladder n. 〈解〉膀胱
penis n. 阴茎
extract n. 提炼物, 浓缩物
molecule n. 分子
plausible adj. (声明、争论等)似乎是真的
agent n. 原动力, 动因; 作用剂
affect vt. 影响 effect vt. 实现, 使生效, 引起
urinate vi. 排尿;撒尿
co-author n. 合著者
randomly adv. 随便地,未加计划地
assign vt. 指派, 选派
dummy n. 仿制品
magnitude n. 巨大; 重要性
critic n. 批评家, 评论家
dosage n. (按剂量的)给药
infection n. 〈医〉传染, 感染
tract n. 〈解〉道, 束
saw palmetto 锯棕榈(可改善前列腺肥大)
in addition to 除……之外
10.6早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x8zp.html
Pro:
So, are there any questions?
Stu:
Yes, Professor Harrison. You were saying that the periodic table is predictive? What exactly does that mean? I mean I understand how it organizes the elements but where's the prediction?
Pro:
Ok, let's look at our periodic table again. Ok, it groups elements into categories that share certain properties right?
Stu:
Um~huh~
Pro:
And it's ranged according to increasing atomic number, which is...?
Stu:
the number of protons in each atom of an element.
Pro:
Right, well early versions of the periodic table had gaps, missing elements. Every time you had one more proton, you had another element. And then oops, there have been atomic number for which there's no known element. And the prediction was that the element with that atomic number existed somewhere, but it just hadn't been found yet. And its location in the table would tell you what properties it should have. It was really pretty exciting for scientists at that time to find these missing elements and confirm their predictive properties. Um, actually that reminds me of a very good example of all these element 43. See on the table, the symbols for element 42 and 44. Well, in early versions of the table there was no symbol for element 43 protons, because no element with 43 protons had been discovered yet. So the periodic table had a gap between elements 42 and 44, and then in 1925 a team of chemists led by a scientist named Ida Tack claimed that they had found element 43. They had been using a relatively new technology called X-ray spectroscopy, and they were using this to examine an ore sample and they claimed that they'd found an element with 43 protons and they named it Masuria.
Stu:
Um, Proferssor Harrison, then how come in my periodic table here? Element 43 is TC, that's Technetium, right?
Pro:
Ok, let me add that. Actually, um, that's the point I'm coming to. Hardly anyone believed that Tack has discovered the new element. X-ray spectroscopy was a new method at that time. And they were never able to isolate enough Masuria to have available sample to convince everyone of the discovery. So they were discredited. But then 12 years later, in 1937, a differnt team became the first to synthesize the element using a cyclotron. And that element had...
Stu:
43 protons?
Pro:
That's right.
But they named it Technetium to emphasize that it was artificially created for technology and people thought that synthesizing this element, making it artificially was the only way to get it. We still haven't found it currently in nature. Now, element 43 what they called Masuria or Technetium is radioactive. Why is that matter? What's true of the radioactive element?
Stu:
It decays? it turns into other elements? Oh, so does that explain why it was missing in the periodic table?
Pro:
Exactly, because of its radioactive decay, element 43 doesn't last very long and therefore if it ever had been present on earth, it would have decayed ages ago. So, the Masuria people were obviously wrong and the Technetium people were right. Right? Well, that was then. Now we know that element 43 does occur naturally. It can be naturally generated from Uranium atom that has spontaneously split. And guess what, the ore sample the Masurium group was working with had plenty of Uranium in it, enough to split into measurable amounts of Masurium. So Tack's team might very well have found in small amounts of Masurium in the ore sample just that once it was generated from the Uranium, it decayed very quickly. And you know, here's an incredible irony. Ida Tack, the chemist led the Masurium team, when she was the first to suggest that Uranium could break up into smaller pieces, but she didn't know that that was the defense of her own discovery of element 43.
Stu:
So it's my version of the periodic table wrong should element 43 really be called Masurium?
Pro:
Maybe, but you know it's hard to tell for sure after all this time if Ida Tack's group didn't discovery element 43, they didn't, um publish enough detail on their methods or instruments for us to know for sure, but I'd like to think element 43 was discovered twice. As Masurium, it was the firsrt element discovered that occurs in nature only from spontaneous fission. And as Technetium, it was the firsrt element discovered in laboratory, and of course, it was an element the periodic table let us to expect existed before anyone had found it or made it.
proton n. 质子
spectroscopy n. 光谱学,波谱学,分光镜使用
technetium n. 锝
synthesize vt. 综合, 使合成
cyclotron n. 回旋加速器
radioactive adj. 放射性的
Uranium n.铀
spontaneously adv. 自然地;自发地;不由自主地
split vt. & vi. (使)裂开; (使)破裂
measurable adj. 可量度的, 可测量的, 可衡量的；明显的;重大的
fission n. <物>(原子的)分裂, 裂变
that was then 错误的曾经
10.7早听写
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_86290bae0100x9pr.html
listen to part of a lecture in an animal behavior class.
Pro:
Ok, well last time we talked about passive habitats selection like plants for example, they don't make active choices about where to grow. They are dispersed by some other agent like the wind and if the seeds land in a suitable habitat, they do well and reproduce. With active habitat selection, an organism is able to physically select where to live and breed. And because the animal's breeding habitate is so important, we expect animal species to develop preferences for particular types of habitats, places where their offspring has the best chance of survival. So let's look at the effect these preference can have by looking at some examples. But first let's recap. What do we mean by habitat? Frank?
Stu:
Well, it's basically the place or environment where an organism normally lives and grows.
Pro:
Right. And as we've discussed there're some key elements that habitats must contain, food obviously, water, and it's got to have the right climitate and its basis for physical protection. And we saw how important habitats selection is when we looked at habitats where some of these factors are removed. Perhaps, through habitats destruction. Um...I a just read about a short bird, the plover. The plover lives by the ocean and feeds on small shellfish, insects and plants. It blends in with the sands, so it's well camouflaged from predator birds above. But it lays its eggs in shallow depressions in the sand with very little protection around them. So if there're people or dogs on the beach, the eggs and fledglings(fledge) in the nest are really vulnerable. Outing California weather's been a lot of human development by the ocean. The plovers are now a threatened the species, so conservationists tried to create a new habitat for them. They made artificial beaches and sandbars in areas inaccessible to people and dogs, and the plover population is up quite a bit in those places.
Ok, that's an incidence where a habitat is made less suitable. But now, what about cases where an animal exhibits a clear choice between two suitable habitats in cases like that. Does the preference matter? Well let's look at the blue warbler.
The blue warbler is a songbird that lives in North America. They clearly prefer hardwood forests with dense shrubs, bushes underneath the trees. They actually nest in the shrubs, not the trees. So they are pretty close to the ground. But these warblers also nest in forests that have low shrub density. It's usually the younger warblers that nest in these areas because the preferred spots where there are a lot of shrubs are taken by the older, more dominant bird.
And the choice of habitats seems to affect the reproductive success, because the older, more experienced birds who nest in the high density shrub areas have significantly more offspring than those in low density areas, which suggest that the choice of where to nest does have impact on the number of chicks they have. But a preferred environment doesn't always seem to correlate with a greater reproductive success. For example, in Europe, studies have been done on blackcap warblers. We just call them blackcaps.
The blackcaps can be found in two different environments. Their preferred habitat is forests near the edges of streams. However, blackcaps also live in pine woods away from water. Studies have been done on the reproductive success rate for the birds in both areas and the result showed surprisingly that the reproductive success was essentially the same in both areas, the preferred the second choice habitat, well... why?
It turned out that there were actually 4 hour times as many bird pairs or couples living in the stream edge habitat compared to the area away from the stream, so this stream edge area had a much denser population, which meant more members of the same species competing for resources, wanting to feed on the same thing or build their nest in the same places, which lower the suitability of the prime habitat even though it's their preferred habitat. So the results of the study suggest that when the number of competitors in the prime habitat reaches a certain point, the second rank habitat becomes just as successful as the prime habitat, just because there are fewer members of the same species living there. So it looks like competition for resources is another important factor in determining if a particular habitat is suitable.
disperse vt. & vi. (使)散开, 驱散
organism n. 有机物, 有机体; 生物
breed vt. & vi. 生育; 繁殖
survival n. 幸存, 生存
recap vt. & vi. 扼要重述;概括
camouflage vt. & vi. 隐蔽；隐藏；掩藏；掩盖
depression n. 凹陷, 洼地
vulnerable adj. 易受伤的, 脆弱的, 敏感的
fledgling n. (刚学会飞的)幼鸟 fledge vi. (鸟)长羽毛
conservationist n. 自然资源保护者,生态环境保护者
sandbar n. 沙洲
inaccessible adj. 达不到的, 不可及的
incidence n. 发生率, 影响范围
hardwood n. 硬(木)材;硬木树;阔叶树
shrub n. 灌木
underneath prep. 在…下面; 在…底下
correlate vt. & vi. 有相关性
essentially adv. 本质上;根本上
dense adj. 密集的, 稠密的, 浓密的
preferred adj. 首选的
chick n. 小鸡,小鸟,幼雏
warbler n. 鸣鸟,用颤音歌唱的人
plover n. 珩,珩科鸟(如凤头麦鸡)
blackcap n. (欧洲产的)莺类,白颊鸟类
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