字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Frogs Signal Visually in Noisy Environments / 環境太吵？手語當道

洪欣老師推薦：托福聽力最好的課外教材：60-Second Science

康康精選托福會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://yiwen.cdstm.cn/attach/resource/201606/…/215060EWZ.mp3

只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

中英文稿：
Ask anyone what sound a frog makes and they'll probably say "ribbit." But there’s only one frog that makes that sound: the Pacific chorus frog. It may have become the go-to frog call because it just happens to live near sound artists in Hollywood.
每個人都知道青蛙會發出“呱呱”的聲音。然而只有一種稱為太平洋擬蝗蛙的物種會發出這樣的叫聲。這種叫聲之所以總所周知，可能僅僅是因為住在好萊塢的聲音藝術家住在這種青蛙的棲息地附近。

Herpetologists have long known that frog calls are more diverse than just ribbit. But their communications are more diverse than just calls—they also signal each other by sight.
兩棲動物學家早已得知蛙類會發出比“呱呱”更為複雜的叫聲。但是，它們之間的溝通遠比喊叫複雜——它們還會使用視覺資訊。

Say you’re a male of a species called the Brazilian torrent frog. And you live alongside a fast-flowing stream in the Amazon jungle. You happily chirp away, advertising your availability to whatever female torrent frogs are around. But when another male comes too close, your chirps give way to peeps and squeals.
試想一下你睡醒了，變成了一種叫巴西湍蛙的雄性個體。你生活在亞馬遜叢林中快速流淌的溪流沿岸。你高興的尖生大叫，以此想雌性們宣告你的存在，展現你的能力。但當其他雄性與你過於接近時，你的叫聲無異於在尖叫中耳語。

So you wave your red and brown arm in front of your cream-colored face. The ensuing color contrast turns your body into a warning light. The intruder gets the hint and hops away to bother someone else.
Brazilian zoologist Fábio P. de Sá witnessed Brazilian torrent frogs using eighteen different visual displays, five of which had never been seen before in other frogs. He and colleagues published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE. [Fábio P. de Sá, Juliana Zina and Célio F. B. Haddad,Sophisticated Communication in the Brazilian Torrent Frog Hylodes japi]
因此你在自己米色的臉前揮動那紅棕色的手臂。隨後顏色的對比使你的身體變成警告色。入侵者懂得你啥意思，並識相地跳走去打擾其他的湍蛙。巴西的動物學家法比奧•P•德薩 (Fábio P. de Sá) 觀察到巴西湍蛙使用過18種不同的視覺表達方式，其中5種沒有在其他蛙類物種身上觀察到。他和他的同事將研究結果發表在《公共科學圖書館期刊》上。

The frog semaphore system probably developed because streams are noisy places. Instead of shouting over the sound of rushing water, these frogs communicate by jumping, head bobbing, arm waving or even wagging their toes.
蛙類演化出這種手語系統或許是因為溪流是一個嘈雜的地方。與其發出易被溪流雜訊所掩蓋的聲音，不如使用跳躍、點頭、擺手甚至是搖手指等肢體語言。

The set of signals is the most sophisticated ever documented for a frog, but de Sá thinks that other frogs could have similarly complex repertoires, if only researchers would take the time to look. One thing is certain: it’s not easy being green, but it’s simple to be seen.
這種信號體系是有記錄的蛙類溝通中最為複雜的，但德薩認為如果研究人員有足夠的耐心去研究其他蛙類，也會發現它們有同樣複雜的體系。然而有一樣東西是能夠確認的：做青蛙很難，但被看到不算難。