【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
In what way does echo-location in bats play an utilitarian role?
Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity ofa wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.
It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles -- or locate flying insects on which they feed. This echo-location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.
MAURICE BURTON Curiosities of animal life
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語】
bat n. 蝙蝠
strictly adv. 明確地
utilitarian adj. 實用的
appreciation n. 理解
obstruction n. 障礙物
elapse v. 消逝
hull n. 船體
interval n. 間隔
receipt n. 收到
apparatus n. 儀器
shoal n. 魚群
herring n. 鯡魚
cod n. 鱈魚
squeak n. 尖叫聲
【課文注釋】
1.Not all sounds made by animals serve as language，動物發(fā)出的聲音不全是作語言交際。此句采用了部分否定，即不是否定所有的動物，而只是一部分。
serve as，作……之用。
例句：May this punishment serve as a warning to you.
你要以此為鑒戒。
serve the purpose，起作用、 能解決問題。
例句1：It's not exactly what I wanted but it will serve my purpose.
這個跟我想要的不太一樣，但也算可以。
例句2：Theories serve a dual purpose.
理論有雙重效果。
2.play a role/part in，在……方面起作用。
例句：Parents play significant roles in educating a child.
父母在教育孩子方面有著舉足輕重的作用。
take part/role in，參加，參與。
例句：We all had to take part in the training run, with nobody excepted.
我們大家都得參加跑步訓練，無人例外。3.in the vicinity of，在……附近。
這是比較正式、書面的表達法，和near是同一個意思。
例句：All the ships in the vicinity of the crash joined in the search for survivors.
撞船事故發(fā)生地區(qū)的所有船只都參加了搜尋幸存者的工作。
另外，vicinity也可以表達大約、大概。
例句：This city has a population in the vicinity of 100000.
這座城市有10萬左右的人口。
4.So was born the echo-sounding apparatus，這樣就誕生了回聲探測儀。這是一個倒裝句，主要是為了避免因主語過長而使全句失去平衡，同時也為了使apparatus的定語now in general use in ships緊挨著名詞。
in general use，普遍使用。
generally speaking，通常說來。
in general terms，總的說來。
5.vary，變化。
vary with sth，隨……變化而變化。
例句：Prices vary with the seasons.
物價隨季節(jié)而變動。
名詞：variety，種類。
形容詞①：variable，可變的，多變的。
形容詞②：various，各種各樣的。
6.steer clear of，避開
If you steer clear of someone or something, you deliberately avoid them.
例句：Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.
從那時起，他們總想方設法避開有爭議的問題。
【參考譯文】
動物發(fā)出的聲音不都是用作語言交際。我們只要看一看蝙蝠回聲定位這一極不尋常的發(fā)現(xiàn)，就可以探究一下聲音在什么情況下有絕對的實用價值。
要透徹理解這句話的意義，我們應先回顧一下人類近的幾項發(fā)明。大家都知道，在墻壁或山腰附近發(fā)出的喊聲，就會聽到回聲。固體障礙物越遠?；芈暦祷厮脮r間就越長。敲打船體所發(fā)了的聲音會從海底傳回來，測出回聲間隔的時間，便可算出該處海洋的深度。這樣就產(chǎn)生了目前各種船舶上普遍應用的回聲探測儀。任何固體者反射聲音，反射的聲音因物體的大小和性質(zhì)的不同而不同。魚群也反射聲音。從測定海深到測定魚群，這一進展比較容易。根據(jù)經(jīng)驗和改進了的儀器，不僅能夠確定魚群的位置，而且可以根據(jù)魚群回聲的特點分辨出是鯡魚、鱈魚，這是人們所熟悉的其他魚。
人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，某些蝙蝠能發(fā)出尖叫聲，并能通過回聲來確定并躲開障礙物，或找到它們賴以為生的昆蟲。蝙蝠這種回聲定位常常可與雷達相比較，其原理是相似的。
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
In what way does echo-location in bats play an utilitarian role?
Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity ofa wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.
It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles -- or locate flying insects on which they feed. This echo-location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.
MAURICE BURTON Curiosities of animal life
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語】
bat n. 蝙蝠
strictly adv. 明確地
utilitarian adj. 實用的
appreciation n. 理解
obstruction n. 障礙物
elapse v. 消逝
hull n. 船體
interval n. 間隔
receipt n. 收到
apparatus n. 儀器
shoal n. 魚群
herring n. 鯡魚
cod n. 鱈魚
squeak n. 尖叫聲
【課文注釋】
1.Not all sounds made by animals serve as language，動物發(fā)出的聲音不全是作語言交際。此句采用了部分否定，即不是否定所有的動物，而只是一部分。
serve as，作……之用。
例句：May this punishment serve as a warning to you.
你要以此為鑒戒。
serve the purpose，起作用、 能解決問題。
例句1：It's not exactly what I wanted but it will serve my purpose.
這個跟我想要的不太一樣，但也算可以。
例句2：Theories serve a dual purpose.
理論有雙重效果。
2.play a role/part in，在……方面起作用。
例句：Parents play significant roles in educating a child.
父母在教育孩子方面有著舉足輕重的作用。
take part/role in，參加，參與。
例句：We all had to take part in the training run, with nobody excepted.
我們大家都得參加跑步訓練，無人例外。3.in the vicinity of，在……附近。
這是比較正式、書面的表達法，和near是同一個意思。
例句：All the ships in the vicinity of the crash joined in the search for survivors.
撞船事故發(fā)生地區(qū)的所有船只都參加了搜尋幸存者的工作。
另外，vicinity也可以表達大約、大概。
例句：This city has a population in the vicinity of 100000.
這座城市有10萬左右的人口。
4.So was born the echo-sounding apparatus，這樣就誕生了回聲探測儀。這是一個倒裝句，主要是為了避免因主語過長而使全句失去平衡，同時也為了使apparatus的定語now in general use in ships緊挨著名詞。
in general use，普遍使用。
generally speaking，通常說來。
in general terms，總的說來。
5.vary，變化。
vary with sth，隨……變化而變化。
例句：Prices vary with the seasons.
物價隨季節(jié)而變動。
名詞：variety，種類。
形容詞①：variable，可變的，多變的。
形容詞②：various，各種各樣的。
6.steer clear of，避開
If you steer clear of someone or something, you deliberately avoid them.
例句：Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.
從那時起，他們總想方設法避開有爭議的問題。
【參考譯文】
動物發(fā)出的聲音不都是用作語言交際。我們只要看一看蝙蝠回聲定位這一極不尋常的發(fā)現(xiàn)，就可以探究一下聲音在什么情況下有絕對的實用價值。
要透徹理解這句話的意義，我們應先回顧一下人類近的幾項發(fā)明。大家都知道，在墻壁或山腰附近發(fā)出的喊聲，就會聽到回聲。固體障礙物越遠?；芈暦祷厮脮r間就越長。敲打船體所發(fā)了的聲音會從海底傳回來，測出回聲間隔的時間，便可算出該處海洋的深度。這樣就產(chǎn)生了目前各種船舶上普遍應用的回聲探測儀。任何固體者反射聲音，反射的聲音因物體的大小和性質(zhì)的不同而不同。魚群也反射聲音。從測定海深到測定魚群，這一進展比較容易。根據(jù)經(jīng)驗和改進了的儀器，不僅能夠確定魚群的位置，而且可以根據(jù)魚群回聲的特點分辨出是鯡魚、鱈魚，這是人們所熟悉的其他魚。
人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，某些蝙蝠能發(fā)出尖叫聲，并能通過回聲來確定并躲開障礙物，或找到它們賴以為生的昆蟲。蝙蝠這種回聲定位常常可與雷達相比較，其原理是相似的。