Octopus托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Octopus托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Octopus托福听力原文：

Narrator:Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.

Female Professor:Okay,now I want to talk about an animal that has a fascinating set of defense mechanisms,and that’s the octopus...one of the unusual creatures that live in the sea.The octopus is prey to many species,including humans,so how does it escape its predators?

Well,let me back up here a second…anyone ever hear of um Proteus?Proteus was a god in Greek mythology who could change form.He could make himself look like a lion,or a stone,or a tree,anything he wanted,and he could go through a whole series of changes very quickly.

Well,the octopus is the real-world version of Proteus;just like Proteus,the octopus can go through all kinds of incredible transformations...And it does this in three ways:By changing color,by changing its texture,and by changing its size and shape.Its“normal”skin color--the one it generally presents--is,uh,either red or brown,or even gray,and it's speckled with dark spots.But when it wants to blend in with its environment,to hide from its enemies,it can take on the color of its immediate surroundings--the ocean floor,a rock,a piece of coral,whatever.Charles?

Male Student:Do we know how that works,I mean,how they change colors?Female Professor:Well,we know that the reaction that takes place is not chemical in nature.The color changes are executed by two different kinds of cells in the octopus's skin,mainly by color cells on the skin’s surface,called chromatophores.

Chromatophores consist of tiny sacs filled with colored dye.There might be a couple hundred of these color sacs per square millimeter of the octopus's skin,and,depending on the species,they can come in as many as five different colors.Each one of these sacs is controlled by muscles.If the muscles are relaxed,the sac shrinks,and all you see is a little white point.But if the muscles contract,then the sac expands,and you can see the colors.And by expanding different combinations of these color sacs to different degrees,the octopus can create all sorts of colors.Ah yes,Elizabeth?Female Student:And just with various combinations of those five colors,they can recreate any color in their environment?Female Professor:Well they can no doubt create a lot with just those five colors,but you're right,maybe they can’t mimic every color around them.So that’s where the second kind of cell comes in.

Just below the chromatophores is a layer of cells that reflect light from the environment,and these cells help the octopus create a precise match with the colors that surround them.The colors from the color sacs are supplemented with colors that are reflected from the environment,and that’s how they’re able to mimic colors with such precision.So that’s how octopuses mimic colors.

But they don’t just mimic the colors in their environment;they can also mimic the texture of objects in their environment.They have these little projections on their skin that allow them to resemble various textures.The projections are called papillae.If the octopus wants to have a rough texture,it raises the papillae;if it wants to have a smooth texture,it flattens out the papillae...So it can acquire a smooth texture to blend in with the sandy bottom of the sea.So the octopus has the ability to mimic both the color and the texture of its environment,and it's truly amazing how well it can blend in with its surroundings.You can easily swim within a few feet of an octopus and never see it.

Male Student:I read that they often hide from predators by squirting out a cloud of ink or something like that?

Female Professor:Yes,the octopus can release a cloud of ink if it feels threatened,ah but it doesn't hide behind it,as is generally believed.Um the ink cloud is...it serves to distract a predator while the octopus makes its escape.Um now there's a third way that octopuses can transform themselves to blend in with or mimic their environment,and that's by changing their shape and size,at least,their apparent size.

The muscular system of the octopus enables it to be very flexible,to assume all sorts of shapes and postures.So it can contract into the shape of a little round stone,and sit perfectly still on the sea floor...or it can nestle up in the middle of a plant and take the shape of one of the leaves--even Proteus would be impressed,I think.

二、Octopus托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在生物课上听一节课的一部分。

女教授：好的，现在我想谈谈一种有着迷人的防御机制的动物，那就是章鱼。。。生活在海洋中的一种不寻常的生物。章鱼是包括人类在内的许多物种的猎物，那么它如何逃离捕食者呢？

好吧，让我再回到这里……有人听说过变形杆菌吗？在希腊神话中，普罗特斯是一位可以改变形状的神。他可以让自己看起来像一头狮子，或一块石头，或一棵树，任何他想要的东西，他可以很快经历一系列的变化。

好吧，章鱼是Proteus的真实版本；就像变形神一样，章鱼可以经历各种不可思议的变化。。。它通过三种方式做到这一点：改变颜色，改变纹理，改变大小和形状。它的“正常”皮肤颜色——通常呈现的颜色——是，呃，红色或棕色，甚至灰色，并且有斑点。但是，当它想要融入环境中，躲避敌人时，它可以采用周围环境的颜色——海底、岩石、珊瑚等等。查尔斯？

男学生：我们知道这是怎么回事吗，我的意思是，它们是如何改变颜色的？女教授：嗯，我们知道发生的反应本质上不是化学反应。这种颜色变化是由章鱼皮肤中的两种不同细胞引起的，主要是皮肤表面的颜色细胞，称为色素细胞。

色素细胞由充满有色染料的小囊组成。每平方毫米的章鱼皮肤上可能有几百个这样的色囊，根据物种的不同，它们可以有多达五种不同的颜色。这些囊中的每一个都由肌肉控制。如果肌肉放松，囊就会收缩，你看到的只是一个小小的白点。但如果肌肉收缩，则囊扩张，你可以看到颜色。通过不同程度地扩展这些颜色囊的不同组合，章鱼可以创造各种颜色。啊，是吗，伊丽莎白？女学生：仅仅通过这五种颜色的各种组合，他们就可以在他们的环境中重现任何颜色？女教授：毫无疑问，他们可以用这五种颜色创造很多东西，但你是对的，也许他们不能模仿周围的每种颜色。这就是第二种细胞的来源。

在色素细胞下方是一层细胞，可以反射环境中的光线，这些细胞可以帮助章鱼与周围的颜色精确匹配。来自色囊的颜色补充了从环境反射的颜色，这就是他们能够如此精确地模拟颜色的方式。这就是章鱼模仿颜色的方式。

但它们不仅仅是模仿环境中的颜色；它们还可以模拟其环境中对象的纹理。它们的皮肤上有这些小突起，使它们看起来像各种纹理。这些突起被称为乳头。如果章鱼想要有粗糙的质地，它会抬高乳头；如果它想要有一个平滑的纹理，它会使乳头变平。。。因此，它可以获得平滑的纹理，以融入沙质海底。因此，章鱼能够模仿其环境的颜色和纹理，它能很好地融入周围环境，这真是令人惊讶。你可以很容易地在章鱼几英尺以内游泳，却永远看不到它。

男学生：我读到他们经常喷出一团墨水之类的东西来躲避捕食者？

女教授：是的，如果章鱼感到受到威胁，它可以释放出一团墨水，但它并不像人们通常认为的那样躲在它的后面。嗯，墨云是。。。当章鱼逃跑时，它可以分散捕食者的注意力。嗯，现在有第三种方法，章鱼可以通过改变形状和大小，至少是外观大小来改变自己，以融入或模仿环境。

章鱼的肌肉系统使其非常灵活，可以呈现各种形状和姿势。因此，它可以收缩成一个小圆石的形状，并完美地静止在海底。。。或者它可以依偎在植物的中间，形成一片叶子的形状——我认为，即使是变形杆菌也会留下深刻的印象。

三、Octopus托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.Different kinds of color vision in sea animals

B.Differences in appearance between various species of octopus

C.Ways that octopuses attract their prey

D.Ways that octopuses protect themselves from predators

Q2:2.Why does the professor first mention Proteus?

A.To explain how the octopus got its scientific name

B.To introduce the octopus'exceptional abilities

C.To point out that the octopus played an important role in Greek mythology

D.To provide an example of a mythological character that was part animal and part human

Q3:3.How does an octopus change color to match the colors in its environment?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.By raising its papillae

B.By releasing colored ink

C.By reflecting light from its environment

D.By contracting the muscles around its chromatophores

Q4:4.What does the professor say about the function of the papillae?

A.They produce dye in different colors.

B.They propel the octopus through the water.

C.They change the texture of the octopus’skin.

D.They help the octopus contract into a smaller shape.

Q5:5.What two examples does the professor mention to describe the octopus ability to change its shape?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.A small round stone

B.The leaves of a plant

C.A cloud of ink

D.A piece of coral

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this?

A.To point out an error.

B.To illustrate a point.

C.To propose an explanation.

D.To correct a misunderstanding.

四、Octopus托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：D

A2:正确答案：B

A3:正确答案：CD

A4:正确答案：C

A5:正确答案：AB

A6:正确答案：B