字神帝國英語天地

 今日主題：Decoy Mating Call Battles Citrus Pest  雌性叫聲做誘餌滅柑橘蟲害

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 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/…/20151120sa_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：
Ten years ago, a bacterial disease began to eat away at the Florida citrus crop. It's called huanglongbing, or citrus greening, and it causes misshapen, bitter green fruits and, eventually, dead trees. Since 2005, the infection is estimated to have caused billions of dollars in damage.
10年前，一場細菌疾病開始侵蝕佛羅裡達州的柑橘作物。這種細菌疾病被稱之為柑橘黃龍病或青果病，可導致綠色果實畸形、苦澀，最終導致柑橘樹木死亡。據估計，自2005年起，此疾病已造成的損失已達數十億美元。

And the microbe did all that damage with the unwitting help of a tiny winged insect, the citrus psyllid, which spreads the bacterium as it feeds. But now researchers at the USDA and the University of Florida have come up with a pesticide-free way to battle the insect: by disrupting its ability to find a mate.
柑橘木蝨，為一種小翅膀昆蟲。細菌正是在柑橘木蝨無意的幫助下，對柑橘作物造成了傷害。因為柑橘木蝨以柑橘為食，而傳播了細菌。但是，現在美國農業部和佛羅裡達大學的研究者們提出了一種不用殺蟲劑就能將柑橘木蝨殺死的方法：破壞其尋找配偶的能力。

When male psyllids are looking for love, they beat their wings, sending vibrations along a tree's branches. Nearby females pick up that signal and send back one of their own, which tells males to come hither.
雄性木蝨在尋找配偶時，會怕打翅膀，沿著樹枝發出振動。附近的雌性木蝨接收到信號後，就會發出信號，通知雄性配偶過來。

The researchers eavesdropped on that duet with a microphone, rigged to an electronic microcontroller. And when the controller identified a male's call, it sent out a decoy female response --more quickly than real females could respond. That imposter's call actually lured males to the device, where instead of a mate they found flypaper. The researchers presented the results at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, in Jacksonville, Florida.
研究人員通過佩戴，由電子微控制器操縱的耳機，竊聽了這首二重奏。控制器在識別了雄性配偶的信號後，就會發出假的雌性木蝨信號——該信號的發出速度快於真實雌性木蝨的反應速度。實際上騙子信號將雄性木蝨引誘到設備處，它們會發現，這裡沒有雌性配偶，而只有捕蠅紙。在佛羅裡達州，傑克遜維爾召開的美國聲學學會的會議上，研究人員展示了該研究結果。

The technique isn't ready for the limelight just yet. For one, though the decoy call does fool the bugs, they're still adept at avoiding the flypaper. But the researchers say this sort of "signal jamming" interference might be able to disrupt the insects' ability to find a mate, cutting overall numbers of the pest. A similar technique has worked in vineyards--and if it works in orange groves, it could help citrus growers get out of this squeeze.
這項技術尚未引起人們的關注。一方面原因是，儘管信號誘惑了這些傻瓜，但是雄性木蝨仍擅長躲避捕蠅紙。但研究人員稱，這種“信號幹擾”可能會破壞其尋找配偶的能力，這樣柑橘木蝨的數量就會大大較少。類似的方法已經在葡萄園奏效，如果該種方法對於柑橘也起作用，那麼，就會幫助柑橘種植者們擺脫經濟拮据的局面。