奇怪但天才的毛毛虫加速技巧 - Smarter Every Day 93：英语精读讲义

Hey, it's me, Destin.

嘿，是我，Destin。

Welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

欢迎回到 Smarter Every Day。

I'm in Caleb's room.

我现在在 Caleb 的房间里。

Caleb is a science fair winner. 文化背景

Caleb 是科学竞赛的获胜者。

So, he is legit. 用詞

所以，他很有实力。

And uh you dropped the cat in the cat drop video, right? 語氣意圖

呃，在扔猫视频里扔猫的是你，对吧？

Yes.

是的。

And uh we had a deal, right? 短語搭配

呃，我们有笔交易，对吧？

I paid you with something. 短語搭配

我付了你报酬。

What did I pay you with?

我用什么付给你的？

These LEGO motors.

这些 LEGO 马达。

That's pretty cool.

那挺酷的。

But I called you and I said, "I want you to build something for me for a video." 語法

但我给你打过电话说，“我想让你帮我为视频做一个东西。”

What is it?

是什么？

This LEGO inchworm.

这只 LEGO 尺蠖。

Yeah?

是吗？

This battery pack allows the motor to turn. 語法

这个电池盒让马达转动。

Uh-huh.

嗯哼。

Powers the axle,

驱动转轴，

the worm wheel,

涡轮，

the cam, which drives the whole thing.

以及驱动整个装置的凸轮。

Yeah?

是吗？

And this ratchet,

还有这个棘轮，

uh-huh,

嗯哼，

it allows the worm to move in one spot so it doesn't do this.

它能让尺蠖在原地移动，才不会变成这样。

That's awesome.

真棒。

Oh, when you take the ratchet off, it doesn't work. 短語動詞

哦，当你取下棘轮时，它就不工作了。

So, you have to put the ratchet back on?

所以你必须把棘轮装回去？

So, it pushes against itself.

这样它才能自己推着前进。

That's awesome.

太酷了。

So, I have been fascinated as long as I can remember 語法

所以，从我记事起，我就一直对

with locomotion. That's why Caleb got these motors.

移动方式很着迷。这就是 Caleb 得到这些马达的原因。

So, today on Smarter Every Day,

那么，在今天的 Smarter Every Day 里，

we're gonna look at caterpillar locomotion.

我们要来看看毛毛虫的移动方式。

But we have to go back to the Amazon rainforest to see it.

但我们得回到亚马逊雨林去看看。

It's a group of caterpillars doing something really strange.

那是一群毛毛虫在做一些非常奇怪的事情。

Let's get smarter every day.

让我们每天都变得更聪明。

Caterpillar.

毛毛虫。

So, check this out. 短語動詞

那么，快看这个。

Gordon found a big caterpillar

Gordon 发现了一条很大的毛毛虫，

that's basically a macro organism of a bunch of little caterpillars.

它实际上是由一堆小毛毛虫组成的宏观生物体。

And they're all moving as one. 短語搭配

它们作为一个整体在移动。

That's weird.

真奇怪。

They all stop and think at the same time, too.

它们甚至同时停下来思考。

See that?

看到了吗？

Gerson, do you know a word for this?

Gerson，你知道怎么形容这个吗？

No.

不知道。

See they all stop at the same time.

看，它们都在同一时间停下来了。

Oh, that's weird.

哦，太怪了。

That's crazy.

太不可思议了。

If you look, like for a school of fish or birds,

如果你看，就像鱼群或鸟群，

it's usually the bird or the fish in front that dictates where the whole group goes. 用詞

通常是前面的鸟或鱼决定了整个群体去哪里。

But if you look at the caterpillars when they're stopping,

但如果你看这些毛毛虫停下来的时候，

they're doing this little stop and think little technique,

它们在做这种停下来思考的小动作，

you'll notice that it propagates from the back to the front sometimes. 用詞

你会注意到，这种动作有时是从后面传到前面的。

That's really strange.

这真的很奇怪。

I wonder what kind of clock or rhythm is dictating this. 語法

我想知道是什么时钟或节奏在决定着这个。

I don't know.

我不知道。

Look at it.

看着它。

Really weird.

真的很奇怪。

You never seen that? 語法

你从没见过吗？

Cool.

酷。

Alright note to self, 短語搭配

好了，备忘一下，

go back and look at the video of the caterpillars

回去看看毛毛虫的视频，

and see if the ones on top are moving twice as fast as the ones on bottom 語法

看看上面的毛毛虫是不是比下面的移动快两倍，

or depending on how many layers up they are,

或者根据它们在第几层，

if they're moving like three times as fast.

看看它们是不是移动得快三倍。

So, it wasn't until I got here and started playing with LEGOs 語法

所以，直到我来到这里开始玩 LEGO 时，

that I realized it's not only the second and third level of caterpillars that's moving faster,

我才意识到，不仅是第二层和第三层的毛毛虫移动得更快，

it's the entire group as a whole. 短語搭配

而是整个群体作为一个整体在加快。

Okay, to demonstrate this,

好的，为了演示这个，

we're gonna have a LEGO drag race.

我们要来一场 LEGO 直线竞速赛。

You can see I've got a single caterpillar on this side

你可以看到我这边有一只单只的毛毛虫，

and I have a whole group of caterpillars on this side.

而我这边有一整群毛毛虫。

At each frame,

在每一帧，

I'm gonna move the single caterpillar one click,

我要把单只的毛毛虫移动一格，

and I'm gonna move the ones on bottom one click

也要把底下的那些移动一格，

as well as the ones rolling across the top one click. 短語搭配

同时上面滚动的那些也移动一格。

Keep your eyes on the blue caterpillars. 習語

眼睛盯紧蓝色的毛毛虫。

Ready? 文化背景

准备？

Set?

预备？

wiggle.

蠕动。

So, you can see from our little race here

所以，你可以从我们的小型比赛中看到，

that the caterpillar that was by himself

自己单独行动的那只毛毛虫

is a lot slower than the caterpillar that was in the group. 語法

比群体里的毛毛虫慢得多。

Now, we had two levels.

现在，我们有两层。

So, does that mean that this moved twice as fast?

那么，这是否意味着它移动得快了两倍？

No, it doesn't.

不，不是的。

Do the math for me by looking at these grids 講解

看着这些网格帮我算算数学，

and let me know in the comments how much faster.

然后在评论里告诉我它快了多少。

But think about this.

但是想想这个。

What if we had three levels 語法

如果我们有三层呢？

or even more?

甚至更多呢？

How much efficiency do the real caterpillars add

真正的毛毛虫每增加一层，

every time they add a level?

能增加多少效率？

I think the coolest part 語法

我认为最酷的部分

is that they all stop at the same time.

是它们都在同一时间停下来。

Look at that.

看看那个。

Yeah.

是啊。

Then they start back up. 短語動詞

然后它们又重新开始。

Tactile communication, right? 用詞

触觉交流，对吧？

So, thank you for learning about caterpillars with us.

那么，感谢你们和我们一起学习关于毛毛虫的知识。

And uh thank you to you, Caleb,

呃，也要谢谢你，Caleb，

for playing Legos with me.

陪我一起玩 LEGO。

And now, I will earn your subscription

现在，我要通过

by walking across LEGOs barefoot.

光脚走过 LEGO 来换取你们的订阅。

Hope that goes well.

希望一切顺利。

I don't owe you anything, 語法

我不欠你什么，

do I?

对吧？

We're good? 語氣意圖

我们扯平了？

We're square? 習語

我们两清了？

We're good.

我们扯平了。

We're square.

我们两清了。

Okay.

好的。

Have a good one. 語氣意圖

祝你好运。

Get smarter every day.

每天变得更聪明。

So, I vote we call this a brood 用詞

那么，我提议我们把这叫作一簇 (brood)

of caterpillars.

毛毛虫。

A brood.

一簇。

What are you gonna call it, Gordon?

Gordon，你要怎么叫它？

A slather.

一坨 (slather)。

Yes.

是的。

Pretty dumb.

挺蠢的。

You see more crazy stuff in like 10 minutes out here 用詞

你在这里十分钟内看到的疯狂事物

than you do in a whole year back home. 語法

比你回家一整年看到的还要多。

That's it?

没了吗？

That's cool.

这太酷了。

Let's go another 20 ft

让我们再走 20 英尺，

and find something else in the rainforest.

在雨林里找点别的东西。