字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Color-Changing Skin Aids Climate Control and Communication / 改變顏色來溝通

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://online1.tingclass.net/voaspe/…/20160922sa_science.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：
Various animals evolved coloration that keeps them hidden. A jaguar's patterns help it slink undetected across the sun-dappled rainforest floor. The mottled pigmentation on the wings of some let them rest on tree bark undisturbed. And then there are animals that can quickly change their appearance—for example, the Central Bearded Dragon.
很多動物進化自身的保護色。美洲豹的顏色可以讓它在太陽照射下斑駁的雨林地帶潛行。一些動物翅膀上的斑駁沉著色素可以讓動物們在樹上休息，同時不被打擾。同時，還有動物可以快速改變它們的外表，如鬃獅蜥。

This two-foot-long lizard lives in the more arid parts of Australia.
這兩英尺長蜥蜴生活在澳大利亞的乾旱地區。

"They can change color really quickly, just in a matter of seconds or minutes.”
它們可以非常迅速地改變自身的顏色，僅僅只需要數秒鐘或者數分鐘的時間。

University of Melbourne biologist Katie Smith.
凱蒂•史密斯是來自墨爾本大學的生物學家。

“And they do this by moving pigments within specialized skin cells called chromatophores."
這些動物是通過轉移特定皮膚內細胞內的色素來實現的。

Bearded dragons modify their colors for camouflage, or to maintain their body temperature, or to communicate with other dragons. Smith wanted to know how they meet all those needs with the same tool kit.
鬃獅蜥改變自身的偽裝色，或者保持體溫恒定，或者和其他鬃獅蜥進行溝通。史密斯希望瞭解這些鬃獅蜥們擁有同樣的保護偽裝，是如何來滿足上述的要求的。

So she and her team rounded up twelve bearded dragons and put them through a series of tests before releasing them back into the wild. They found that when the dragons want to communicate with other members of their species, they change the colors on their neck.
所以，她和自己的團隊圍捕了十二個鬃獅蜥，並在將其放生之前，對它們進行了一系列的測試。測試發現，當鬃獅蜥想要和本物種的其他成員進行交流時，它們會改變自己頸部的顏色。

"This is actually one of the reasons they're called bearded dragons—because they look like they have a really serious five o'clock shadow."
這其實是他們叫做鬃獅蜥的一種原因—因為它們看起來非常的像下午5點鐘的影子。

Changes to their backs were for temperature regulation. Shifting to yellow lets them to cool off during extreme heat, while darker greys allow them to soak up more heat during cooler weather.
而鬃獅蜥背部改變顏色是為了調節溫度。在酷熱的情況下，顏色調成黃色，可以讓它們自身涼爽，而變成深灰色可以讓鬃獅蜥在寒冷的天氣吸收更多的熱量。

"They actually save about, on average, 22 minutes a day at the darker colors than the lighter colors. That's about 85 hours throughout the whole year."
實際上他們是背部是深顏色的時間要比淺顏色的時間長22分鐘。那麼一年也就長達85個小時。

Eighty-five hours a year NOT spent out in the open and exposed to potential predators. The results were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: B.
這也就意味著一年有85小時的時間沒有在戶外，並不會接觸到可能的捕食者。該研究結果發表在《皇家學會學報B》上。

The lizards can clearly control each part of their body separately, resulting in an efficient system. Temperature regulation involves the back, which is facing the sun. Social signaling uses the neck, easily visible to another lizard they’re faced off with.
由於高效的系統，鬃獅蜥可以明確地控制自身各個部分。在有陽光時，可以調節背部的顏色。社交的時候調節頸部的顏色，因為對面的鬃獅蜥非常容易看到對方頸部的顏色。

The researchers' next task is to see what happens when the lizards have to deal with simultaneous but conflicting coloration requirements—situations that could give a bearded dragon a close shave.
研究者下一個任務是觀察當鬃獅蜥同時處理衝突以及顏色要求時會有什麼情況發生——或許那時候就應該給它們剃剃毛啦。