2020英语教学资源：时文阅读|雌性哺乳动物更为长寿的秘密

时文阅读|雌性哺乳动物更为长寿的秘密

在人类社会，女性的平均寿命普遍要比男性长，一种说法是因为男性的新陈代谢速度要比女性快。如今，科学家们在野生哺乳动物身上也发现了相同的现象，即雌性动物的寿命普遍比雄性动物长，这又是因为什么呢？

阅读短文并回答问题

An international team of scientists studying lifespans（寿命）of wild mammals have found that, just like humans, females tend to live significantly longer than their male counterparts.

The researchers looked at the lifespans of 101 different species, from sheep to elephants, and found that females lived an average of 18% longer than males for more than 60% of the species studies. In humans, females tend to live around 7.8% longer.

The study, led by scientists at University Lyon 1 and published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found this was not due to the sexes aging at different rates but that females had an average lower risk of mortality（死亡率）in adulthood than males. It was unclear from the data as to why females survive longer than males, however, the authors suggest that it could be due to complex interactions between the local environmental conditions and sex-specific costs of reproduction.

Professor Tamás Székely, from the University of Bath, was one of the authors of the study. He said, “We’ve known for a long time that women generally live longer than men, but were surprised to find that the differences in lifespan between the sexes was even more pronounced in wild mammals than in humans. This could be either because females are naturally able to live longer, or that female mortality drops compared with males.”

For example, lionesses live at least 50% longer in the wild than male lions. Female lions live together in a pride, where sisters, mothers and daughters hunt together and look after each other, while adult male lions often live alone or with their brother and therefore don’t have the same support network.

Another possible explanation for the sex difference is that female survival increases when males provide some or all of the parental care. This is also true in birds. Giving birth and caring for young becomes a significant health cost for females and so this cost is reduced if both parents work together to bring up their offspring（后代）.

1.What do the numbers in paragraph 2 show?

A. The result of the study.                       B. The impact of the study.   

C. The process of the study.                     D. The purpose of the study.

2. What makes females live longer according to the study?

  A. Males are not born to live longer.

B. Males have higher risk of mortality.

  C. Females age more slowly than males.

D. Females are easier to adapt to environment.

3. Why do male lions live shorter than females?

  A. Male lions are not welcomed by their family.

B. Female lions don’t need to feed their children.

C. Male lions have to look after the whole family.

D. Female lions get more support from their family.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A. The explanation of parental care.

C. The breeding ways of birds.  

B. The significance of sex difference.

D. The health cost of females.   

【参考答案】ABDC

 

单词学习

1. counterpart  n. 对应的人或物

  The Foreign Minister held talks with his Chinese counterpart.  外交部长与中国外交部长举行了会谈。

2. lioness  n. 母狮

3. parental care  亲代抚育

4. bring up  养育

  She was brought up in a small village.  她在一个小村庄被抚养大。

 

     长难句分析

Another possible explanation for the sex difference is that female survival increases when males provide some or all of the parental care.

【分析】“that female survival increases when males provide some or all of the parental care”为表语从句，其中“when males provide some or all of the parental care”为时间状语从句。

【翻译】性别差异另一个可能的解释是，当男性提供部分或全部的亲代抚育时，女性的存活率就会增加。

 

   知识拓展

1. University Lyon 1  里昂第一大学，即里昂克罗德·贝尔那大学，是法国东南部大城市里昂的最大高等学府。这所以自然科学、技术科学和保健科学为主的综合性国立大学是法国最重要的大学之一。

2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  《美国国家科学院院刊》，通常简称为PNAS，是美国国家科学院的官方科学周刊杂志，创刊于1915年。院刊出版前沿研究报告、述评、综述、前瞻、论文等，覆盖了生物学、物理学、数学和社会科学领域，与《自然》和《科学》一样，是世界上最负盛名的基础科学领域的学术杂志之一。

3. University of Bath  巴斯大学，成立于1966年，位于英国英格兰埃文郡小城巴斯，是一所以科研为导向的英国著名公立研究型大学，学术实力被评定为世界领先。

声明：

原文选自ScienceDaily，试题与内容讲解由天学网教学研究中心编写