科學家解釋為什麼你無法消滅蟑螂：英語精讀講義

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

半夜裡，你發現自己需要起床去洗手間。

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. 慣用語

你半夢半醒地解完手，然後離開馬桶去洗手台洗手。

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

由於帶著眼屎，你的視線有些模糊，

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

但有什麼東西引起了你對鏡子裡畫面的注意。

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

你看到身後的牆上似乎有個黑點。

You wipe your eyes to see more clearly,

你揉了揉眼睛想看個清楚，

horrified,

頓時嚇壞了，

when you realize that the speck is a cockroach.

因為你意識到那個黑點是一隻蟑螂。

At once,

那一刻，

you're startled by the sight of it,

你被眼前的景象嚇了一跳，

grossed out and disgusted. 片語動詞

感到反胃和噁心。

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

牠既猥瑣又足以讓你渾身起雞皮疙瘩。

For most of us,

對我們大多數人來說，

bugs,

蟲子，

especially cockroaches,

尤其是蟑螂，

are just plain nasty to have around the house. 用詞

出現在家裡簡直太讓人倒胃口了。

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.

你可能會覺得迫切需要用殺蟲劑毒死牠們。

Scientists have recently reported,

科學家最近報告指出，

however,

然而，

that this approach will not work because,

這種方法並不會奏效，因為，

like it or not, 慣用語

不管你喜不喜歡，

roaches are highly adept at survival. 片語搭配

蟑螂都非常擅長生存。

How are they able to survive so well?

牠們怎麼能生存得這麼好？

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

有沒有什麼有效的辦法除掉牠們？

In any given population of roaches,

在任何特定的蟑螂群體中，

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

可能有一兩隻或更多對某種殺蟲劑免疫。

So,

所以，

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

假設你用毒素噴殺牠們之中的一群，

and all but a few of them drop dead. 文法

除了少數幾隻外，其餘的都倒地死亡了。

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

那些死掉的是對化學物質敏感的，沒能活下來傳遞基因。

The survivors,

那些倖存者，

however,

然而，

are free to continue living,

可以自由地繼續活著，

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

並且把牠們抗殺蟲劑的基因傳給牠們的後代。

So,

所以，

the next time you use insecticide on them,

下一次你對牠們使用殺蟲劑時，

only a few unlucky susceptible roaches actually die from it.

只有少數倒楣的敏感蟑螂真正因此而死。

This is because the population has become impervious,

這是因為整個群體已經變得刀槍不入，

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

多虧了那些在最初處理中活下來的頑強倖存者，

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

牠們繼續繁衍出了更多免疫的蟑螂。

Before you know it, 慣用語

不知不覺間，

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

你就面臨著一場殺蟲劑無法幫你解決的氾濫。

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

蟑螂作為一個物種，是有著三億年歷史的昆蟲。

They've been around for a very, 片語動詞

牠們已經存在了非常、

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

非常長的時間，而且不太可能在短時間內消失。

They may even inherit the Earth following a nuclear disaster.

牠們甚至可能在核災難之後繼承地球。

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

1945年美國在廣島和長崎投下原子彈後，

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

有人提到蟑螂是這些日本城市中僅存的倖存者之一。

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

這些極其頑強的小生物就是不肯輕易屈服。

So,

所以，

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

也許你現在在想，還不如放棄除掉牠們的念頭。

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

也許下一次看到蟑螂時，與其向牠噴毒藥，

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

不如給牠起個名字，給牠買個鑲鑽的項圈，

with a leash to take it out on walks.

加上牽引繩帶牠去散步。

After all,

畢竟，

if you can't get rid of them,

如果你無法擺脫牠們，

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

倒不如從這種處境中獲得某種陪伴，

right?

對吧？

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

遛你的寵物蟑螂，會是你和街上路過的任何人之間有趣的搭訕話題。

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

也許你甚至可以用牠作為破冰的藉口，幫你和暗戀的人說上話。

But be warned that in all likelihood, 片語搭配

但請注意，十之八九，

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

她更有可能會被你的小傢伙嚇得毛骨悚然，而不是對牠印象深刻。

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

在你決定需要回家餵你的新寵物蟑螂之前，

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

你可能要考慮一下，牠們不僅看起來噁心，

they're also bad for your health.

對你的健康也有害。

As disgusting as it sounds, 表達脈絡

雖然聽起來很噁心，

roaches shed tiny bits of dust from their bodies,

但蟑螂身上會掉落微小的粉塵，

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

而這種粉塵是一種過敏原，會引發或加重氣喘症狀。

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

牠們還攜帶沙門氏菌和大腸桿菌等病原體。

So,

所以，

unlike with a dog or cat,

和狗或貓不同，

when your pet cockroach sheds,

當你的寵物蟑螂掉皮屑時，

it has the added risk of making you sick.

還有讓你生病的額外風險。

With this in mind, 表達脈絡

考慮到這一點，

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

我們可以相當肯定地說，讓這些令人毛骨悚然的爬蟲留在身邊絕不是好事。

So,

那麼，

then how do you get rid of them?

到底該如何除掉牠們呢？

Is the situation as hopeless as it may seem?

情況真的像看起來那麼絕望嗎？

Maybe not.

也許不是。

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

與其選擇毒藥作為消滅這些害蟲的首選方法，

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

物理清除可能會為你提供一個更好的長期解決方案。

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

這包括使用特殊的吸塵器來吸走這些小怪物。

You can also lay down sticky traps to capture them.

你也可以鋪下黏性陷阱來捕捉牠們。

To further combat against having roaches in your home,

為了進一步防止家裡出現蟑螂，

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

你還應該確保不要把任何可能引誘牠們留下來的東西敞放著。

For instance,

比如，

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

確保每天倒一次垃圾。

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

放在外面沒收拾的昨晚或前晚剩下的披薩外賣盒，

might create a Disney World for the roaches, 慣用語

可能會為蟑螂創造一個迪士尼樂園，

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

誘使牠們把你的房子看作牠們自己的私人天堂。

So,

所以，

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

務必保持乾淨整潔，不要給牠們創造便利。

Also,

另外，

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

建議不要把任何寵物食品放在外面太久。

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

我們指的是普通寵物食品，比如給你家狗或貓吃的，

not for your pet roach.

不是給你的寵物蟑螂吃的。

Though,

不過，

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

憑藉一定的常識，我們會認為蟑螂的食物，

whatever that might look like, 語氣意圖

無論它長什麼樣，

would also prompt them to stay.

也會促使牠們留下來。

So,

因此，

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

為了不讓這些小生物靠近，

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

不要把任何能吃的東西在家裡放太久。

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

如果你做了所有這些，似乎依然無法擺脫牠們，

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

情況可能並不像看起來那樣完全無望。

Though they are quick at developing resistance to insecticides, 用詞

儘管牠們產生殺蟲劑抗藥性的速度很快，

they may also be quick to develop susceptibility to them.

但牠們恢復對殺蟲劑敏感性的速度可能也很快。

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

因為蟑螂只能活100天左右，而且有很多後代，

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

牠們可能只需要幾代的時間就能重新演化出對殺蟲劑的敏感性。

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

這意味著，如果你停用一段時間，

the chemicals may become effective at killing them once again.

這些化學物質可能又會有效地殺死牠們。

So,

所以，

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

你沒必要完全放棄使用殺蟲劑。

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

只需要做好功課，並注意你使用它的時間和頻率。

In order to test the true levels of their resiliency,

為了測試牠們真正的韌性水準，

a study was conducted on German cockroaches, 片語搭配

一項在德國小蠊身上進行的研究，

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

讓牠們暴露於不同水準的放射性金屬鈷-60中。

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

這項實驗旨在測試這些昆蟲在任何未來潛在的核戰爭中所能承受的極限。

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

結果證實，這些小動物確實在核爆炸中存活，

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

但牠們並不像我們之前想像的那樣不受影響。

Yes,

是的，

they can survive a nuclear explosion,

牠們能在核爆炸中倖存下來，

but only to a certain extent. 片語搭配

但也只在一定程度之內。

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

儘管有高達10%的蟑螂能夠承受每立方公尺37萬貝克勒的鈷-60暴露，

none survived exposure to 3.7 million becquerels per meters cubed.

但沒有一隻能在每立方公尺370萬貝克勒的輻射下存活。

To put this into a better perspective,

為了更好地理解這個概念，

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

每立方公尺3700貝克勒的鈷-60足以在10分鐘內致人死亡。

So,

那麼，

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

這些小蟲子是如何設法在這樣的條件下比我們活得更久的呢？

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

科學家將蟑螂的生存能力歸結於牠們簡單的身體構造。

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

牠們的細胞週期也比人類慢，

making them less sensitive to radiation. 文法

使得牠們對輻射不那麼敏感。

So,

所以，

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

儘管蟑螂有可能在核毀滅後佔領地球，

even these ancient insects are not entirely invincible. 文法

但即使是這些古老的昆蟲也並非完全無敵。

If an explosion were powerful enough, 文法

如果爆炸威力足夠大，

they wouldn't be able to continue on.

牠們將無法繼續存活。

So,

那麼，

what do you think of this?

你對此有什麼想法？

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

面對與蟑螂共處的情況，你感覺是好些了還是更糟了？

Let us know in the comments.

在評論區告訴我們吧。

Also,

另外，

be sure to check out our other video,

記得去看我們的另一個影片，

The Only Man to Survive Two Nuclear Bombs.

《唯一一個在兩次核爆中倖存的人》。

Thanks for watching,

感謝觀看，

and as always,

一如往常，

don't forget to like,

不要忘記按讚、

share,

分享，

and subscribe.

和訂閱。

See you next time.

我們下次見。