新概念英语第四册+Lesson+7+Bats+讲义.docxVIP

Lesson7

Bats

蝙蝠

Inwhatwaydoesecho-locationinbatsplayanutilitarian1role?

Notallsoundsmadebyanimalsserveaslanguage,andwehaveonlytoturntothatextraordinarydiscoveryofecho-locationinbatstoseeacaseinwhichthevoiceplaysastrictly2utilitarianrole.

Togetafullappreciation3ofwhatthismeanswemustturnfirsttosomerecenthumaninventions.Everyoneknowsthatifheshoutsinthevicinityofawalloramountainside,anechowillcomeback.Thefurtheroffthissolidobstruction4,thelongertimewillelapseforthereturnoftheecho.Asoundmadebytappingonthehull5ofashipwillbereflectedfromtheseabottom,andbymeasuringthetimeinterval6betweenthetapsandthereceiptoftheechoes,thedepthoftheseaatthatpointcanbecalculated.Sowasborntheecho-soundingapparatus7,nowingeneraluseinships.Everysolidobjectwillreflectasound,varyingaccordingtothesizeandnatureoftheobject.Ashoaloffishwilldothis.Soitisacomparativelysimplestepfromlocatingtheseabottomtolocatingashoaloffish.Withexperience,andwithimprovedapparatus,itisnowpossiblenotonlytolocateashoalbuttotellifitisherring,cod8,orotherwell-knownfish,bythepatternofitsecho.

Ithasbeenfoundthatcertainbatsemitsqueaks10andbyreceivingtheechoes,theycanlocateandsteer11clearofobstacles--orlocateflyinginsectsonwhichtheyfeed.Thisecho-locationinbatsisoftencomparedwithradar12,theprincipleofwhichissimilar.

MAURICEBURTONCuriositiesofanimallife

Newwordsandexpressions生词和短语

bat

n.蝙蝠

strictly

adv.明确地

utilitarian

adj.实用的

appreciation

n.理解

elapse

v.障碍物

hull

n.消逝

interval

n.船体

receipt

n.间隔

apparatus

n.收到

shoal

n.仪器

herring

n.鱼群

cod

n.鳕鱼

squeak9

n.尖叫声

参考译文

动物发出的声音不都是用作语言交际。我们只要看一看蝙蝠回声定位这一极不寻常的发现，就可以探究一下声音在什么情况下有绝对的实用价值。

要透彻理解这句话的意义，我们应先回顾一下人类最近的几项发明。大家都知道，在墙壁或山腰附近发出的喊声，就会听到回声。固体障碍物越远。回声返回所用时间就越长。敲打船体所发了的声音会从海底传回来，测出回声间隔的时间，便可算出该处海洋的深度。这