我们先来听一下原声音频片段(英音),建议大家在听第一遍的时候先别看文本,这样磨耳朵,听力水平才会慢慢提升哦: Sexual selection 来自我爱背单词 00:00 00:31
There are two possible explanations. One is that if the sexes look different, it tends to be the male who has the splendid feathers or showy antlers, and thus attracts the hunter's attention. Similarly, if one sex is larger than the other it is almost always the male. The other explanation is that males, being generally more aggressive, more likely to wander from where they were born, more curious and less fearful of novelty, are more likely to put themselves in the line of fire. 有两种可能的解释。一个是,如果雄性和雌性看起来不一样,那么往往是雄性拥有华丽的羽毛或艳丽的鹿角,因而吸引了猎人的注意。同样,如果一个性别比另一个性别大,那么几乎总是男性。另一种解释是,男性通常更具攻击性,更容易离开出生的地方,更好奇,对新鲜事物的恐惧也更少,更容易让自己撞到枪口上。
CET 6丨IELTS丨TOEFL
单词novelty里的nov部分来源于拉丁语novus,表示“新的”,而el和ty是两个常见的名词后缀,所以,nov+el+lty=新的东西→新奇的事物。另外,在英语单词里,包含nov的很多单词都跟“新的”相关,例如:
novel /ˈnɒvl/ a.新奇的;n.小说
novice /ˈnɒvɪs/ n.新手
innovation /ˌɪnəˈveɪʃn/ n.创新
renovation /ˌrenəˈveɪʃn/ n.更新
在美剧《生活大爆炸》第2季第17集中,Sheldon想让Penny帮忙找U盘,可是一连串啰嗦的描述让Penny实在不耐烦,不过听到novelty这个词,她还是果断地“出脚”了!-Hang on. sheldon, do you have any emotional attachment to this box?
-No, it's a novelty I ordered off the internet.-等下,谢尔顿,你对这个盒子有什么情结吗?
-不,在网上买的便宜新奇货而已