科学家解释为什么你无法消灭蟑螂：英语精读讲义

It's the middle of the night and you find yourself needing to get up out of bed and go to the bathroom. 語法

半夜里，你发现自己需要起床去洗手间。

You're still half asleep as you do your business and then finish on the toilet and go to wash your hands in the sink. 習語

你半梦半醒地解完手，然后离开马桶去洗手池洗手。

Your view is slightly blurry through your sleep-crusted eyes,

由于带着眼屎，你的视线有些模糊，

but something alerts your attention to the reflection in the mirror.

但有什么东西引起了你对镜子里画面的注意。

You see what looks like a speck on the wall behind you. 語法

你看到身后的墙上似乎有个黑点。

You wipe your eyes to see more clearly,

你揉了揉眼睛想看个清楚，

horrified,

顿时吓坏了，

when you realize that the speck is a cockroach.

因为你意识到那个黑点是一只蟑螂。

At once,

那一刻，

you're startled by the sight of it,

你被眼前的景象吓了一跳，

grossed out and disgusted. 短語動詞

感到反胃和恶心。

It's obscene and enough to make your skin crawl. 習語

它既猥琐又足以让你浑身起鸡皮疙瘩。

For most of us,

对我们大多数人来说，

bugs,

虫子，

especially cockroaches,

尤其是蟑螂，

are just plain nasty to have around the house. 用詞

出现在家里简直太让人倒胃口了。

If you live with cockroaches,

如果你和蟑螂住在一起，

you may feel the immediate need to use insecticide to poison them.

你可能会觉得迫切需要用杀虫剂毒死它们。

Scientists have recently reported,

科学家最近报告指出，

however,

然而，

that this approach will not work because,

这种方法并不会奏效，因为，

like it or not, 習語

不管你喜不喜欢，

roaches are highly adept at survival. 短語搭配

蟑螂都非常擅长生存。

How are they able to survive so well?

它们怎么能生存得这么好？

And is there any effective way to get rid of them? 短語動詞

有没有什么有效的办法除掉它们？

In any given population of roaches,

在任何特定的蟑螂群体中，

there may be one or two or more that possess an immunity to an insecticide. 短語搭配

可能有一两只或更多对某种杀虫剂免疫。

So,

所以，

let's say you go and spray a group of them with the toxins 表達脈絡

假设你用毒素喷杀它们中的一群，

and all but a few of them drop dead. 語法

除了少数几只外，其余的都倒地死亡了。

The ones that died were susceptible to the chemicals and did not live to pass on their genes. 講解

那些死掉的是对化学物质敏感的，没能活下来传递基因。

The survivors,

那些幸存者，

however,

然而，

are free to continue living,

可以自由地继续活着，

and they pass on their insecticide-resistant genes to their offspring.

并且把它们抗杀虫剂的基因传给它们的后代。

So,

所以，

the next time you use insecticide on them,

下一次你对它们使用杀虫剂时，

only a few unlucky susceptible roaches actually die from it.

只有少数倒霉的敏感蟑螂真正因此而死。

This is because the population has become impervious,

这是因为整个群体已经变得刀枪不入，

thanks to those hardy survivors from the initial treatment, 短語搭配

多亏了那些在最初处理中活下来的顽强幸存者，

who went on to create more immune roaches. 短語動詞

它们继续繁衍出了更多免疫的蟑螂。

Before you know it, 習語

不知不觉间，

you have an epidemic on your hands that insecticide won't help you with. 習語

你就面临着一场杀虫剂无法帮你解决的泛滥。

Cockroaches as a species are 300 million-year-old insects.

蟑螂作为一个物种，是有着三亿年历史的昆虫。

They've been around for a very, 短語動詞

它们已经存在了非常、

very long time and are not likely to disappear anytime soon. 短語搭配

非常长的时间，而且不太可能在短时间内消失。

They may even inherit the Earth following a nuclear disaster.

它们甚至可能在核灾难之后继承地球。

After the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945,

1945年美国在广岛和长崎投下原子弹后，

it was mentioned that cockroaches were among the Japanese cities' only survivors.

有人提到蟑螂是这些日本城市中仅存的幸存者之一。

These incredibly tough little creatures simply refused to go down without a fight. 習語

这些极其顽强的小生物就是不肯轻易屈服。

So,

所以，

perhaps you're thinking now that you might as well give up on trying to get rid of them. 語法

也许你现在在想，还不如放弃除掉它们的念头。

Maybe instead of fighting that next roach by spraying poison on it,

也许下一次看到蟑螂时，与其向它喷毒药，

you should give it a name and buy it a diamond-studded collar

不如给它起个名字，给它买个镶钻的项圈，

with a leash to take it out on walks.

加上牵引绳带它去散步。

After all,

毕竟，

if you can't get rid of them,

如果你无法摆脱它们，

you might as well derive some sort of companionship out of the situation,

倒不如从这种处境中获得某种陪伴，

right?

对吧？

Walking your pet roach would be an interesting conversation starter with anyone that you pass along the street. 短語搭配

遛你的宠物蟑螂，会是你和街上路过的任何人之间有趣的搭讪话题。

Perhaps you could even use it as an icebreaker to help you speak with your crush. 短語搭配

也许你甚至可以用它作为破冰的借口，帮你和暗恋的人说上话。

But be warned that in all likelihood, 短語搭配

但请注意，十有八九，

she might be more creeped out than impressed by your little friend. 語法

她更有可能会被你的小家伙吓得毛骨悚然，而不是对它印象深刻。

Before you decide you need to go home and feed your new pet cockroach,

在你决定需要回家喂你的新宠物蟑螂之前，

you may want to consider that not only are they gross to look at, 語法

你可能要考虑一下，它们不仅看起来恶心，

they're also bad for your health.

对你的健康也有害。

As disgusting as it sounds, 表達脈絡

虽然听起来很恶心，

roaches shed tiny bits of dust from their bodies,

但蟑螂身上会掉落微小的粉尘，

and this dust is an allergen that can provoke or worsen symptoms of asthma. 短語搭配

而这种粉尘是一种过敏原，会引发或加重哮喘症状。

They also carry pathogens like salmonella and E.coli. 短語搭配

它们还携带沙门氏菌和大肠杆菌等病原体。

So,

所以，

unlike with a dog or cat,

和狗或猫不同，

when your pet cockroach sheds,

当你的宠物蟑螂掉皮屑时，

it has the added risk of making you sick.

还有让你生病的额外风险。

With this in mind, 表達脈絡

考虑到这一点，

it can be stated with a certain degree of confidence that these creepy crawlers are not good to have around. 短語搭配

我们可以相当肯定地说，让这些令人毛骨悚然的爬虫留在身边绝不是好事。

So,

那么，

then how do you get rid of them?

到底该如何除掉它们呢？

Is the situation as hopeless as it may seem?

情况真的像看起来那么绝望吗？

Maybe not.

也许不是。

Rather than using poison as your method of choice for eliminating these pests, 講解

与其选择毒药作为消灭这些害虫的首选方法，

physically removing them may provide you with a better long-term solution.

物理清除可能会为你提供一个更好的长期解决方案。

This includes using special vacuums to suck up the little monsters. 短語動詞

这包括使用特殊的真空吸尘器来吸走这些小怪物。

You can also lay down sticky traps to capture them.

你也可以铺下粘性陷阱来捕捉它们。

To further combat against having roaches in your home,

为了进一步防止家里出现蟑螂，

you should also make sure that you don't leave anything out that may be tempting them to stick around. 短語動詞

你还应该确保不要把任何可能引诱它们留下来的东西敞放着。

For instance,

比如，

make sure you take out your trash once a day. 短語動詞

确保每天倒一次垃圾。

Leaving out your leftover pizza delivery boxes from last night or two nights ago

放在外面没收拾的昨晚或前晚剩下的披萨外卖盒，

might create a Disney World for the roaches, 習語

可能会为蟑螂创造一个迪士尼乐园，

enticing them to view your house as their own personal paradise. 語法

诱使它们把你的房子看作它们自己的私人天堂。

So,

所以，

make sure to be clean and tidy so as not to make it easier for them. 語法

务必保持干净整洁，不要给它们创造便利。

Also,

另外，

it's advisable not to leave out any pet food for too long. 語法

建议不要把任何宠物食品放在外面太久。

We mean regular pet food like for your dog or cat,

我们指的是普通宠物食品，比如给你家狗或猫吃的，

not for your pet roach.

不是给你的宠物蟑螂吃的。

Though,

不过，

we'd assume with a certain level of common sense that roach food,

凭借一定的常识，我们会认为蟑螂的食物，

whatever that might look like, 語氣意圖

无论它长什么样，

would also prompt them to stay.

也会促使它们留下来。

So,

因此，

for the sake of keeping the little creatures away, 短語搭配

为了不让这些小生物靠近，

don't leave anything edible lying around the house for too long. 短語動詞

不要把任何能吃的东西在家里放太久。

If you do all of these things and you still can't seem to get rid of them, 語法

如果你做了所有这些，似乎依然无法摆脱它们，

the situation might not be as completely hopeless as it seems.

情况可能并不像看起来那样完全无望。

Though they are quick at developing resistance to insecticides, 用詞

尽管它们产生杀虫剂抗药性的速度很快，

they may also be quick to develop susceptibility to them.

但它们恢复对杀虫剂敏感性的速度可能也很快。

Since roaches only live for about 100 days and have many offspring,

因为蟑螂只能活100天左右，而且有很多后代，

it may only take a few generations for them to re-evolve susceptibility to insecticide.

它们可能只需要几代的时间就能重新演化出对杀虫剂的敏感性。

This means that if you take a break from using it for a while, 短語搭配

这意味着，如果你停用一段时间，

the chemicals may become effective at killing them once again.

这些化学物质可能又会有效地杀死它们。

So,

所以，

you may not necessarily have to give up those use of insecticides entirely. 語法

你没必要完全放弃使用杀虫剂。

Just do your homework and be mindful about when and how often you use it. 講解

只需要做好功课，并注意你使用它的时间和频率。

In order to test the true levels of their resiliency,

为了测试它们真正的韧性水平，

a study was conducted on German cockroaches, 短語搭配

一项在德国小蠊身上进行的研究，

whereby they were subjected to different levels of radioactive metal cobalt-60. 語法

让它们暴露于不同水平的放射性金属钴-60中。

This experiment was meant to test these insects' limit as applied to any potential future nuclear war. 語法

这项实验旨在测试这些昆虫在任何未来潜在的核战争中所能承受的极限。

The results confirmed that these critters can indeed survive a nuclear explosion,

结果证实，这些小动物确实能在核爆炸中存活，

but that they're not as impervious as we might have previously imagined. 語法

但它们并不像我们之前想象的那样不受影响。

Yes,

是的，

they can survive a nuclear explosion,

它们能在核爆炸中幸存下来，

but only to a certain extent. 短語搭配

但也只在一定程度之内。

Though a whopping 10% of cockroaches were able to survive exposure to 370,000 becquerels per meter cubed of cobalt-60, 用詞

尽管有高达10%的蟑螂能够承受每立方米37万贝克勒尔的钴-60暴露，

none survived exposure to 3.7 million becquerels per meters cubed.

但没有一只能在每立方米370万贝克勒尔的辐射下存活。

To put this into a better perspective,

为了更好地理解这个概念，

3,700 becquerels per meters cubed of cobalt-60 is enough to kill a person in 10 minutes.

每立方米3700贝克勒尔的钴-60足以在10分钟内致人死亡。

So,

那么，

how do these tiny bugs manage to outlive us in such conditions? 語法

这些小虫子是如何设法在这样的条件下比我们活得更久的呢？

Scientists attribute the cockroach's survivability to their simple bodies. 短語搭配

科学家将蟑螂的生存能力归结于它们简单的身体构造。

Their cell cycles are also slower than a human's,

它们的细胞周期也比人类慢，

making them less sensitive to radiation. 語法

使得它们对辐射不那么敏感。

So,

所以，

although it is possible that cockroaches would take over the planet upon nuclear devastation, 短語動詞

尽管蟑螂有可能在核毁灭后占领地球，

even these ancient insects are not entirely invincible. 語法

但即使是这些古老的昆虫也并非完全无敌。

If an explosion were powerful enough, 語法

如果爆炸威力足够大，

they wouldn't be able to continue on.

它们将无法继续存活。

So,

那么，

what do you think of this?

你对此有什么想法？

Do you feel better or worse about your situation with cockroaches?

面对与蟑螂共处的情况，你感觉是好些了还是更糟了？

Let us know in the comments.

在评论区告诉我们吧。

Also,

另外，

be sure to check out our other video,

记得去看我们的另一个视频，

The Only Man to Survive Two Nuclear Bombs.

《唯一一个在两次核爆中幸存的人》。

Thanks for watching,

感谢观看，

and as always,

一如既往，

don't forget to like,

不要忘记点赞、

share,

分享，

and subscribe.

和订阅。

See you next time.

我们下次见。