It's a sight and sound that will make your skin crawl. Billions of periodical cicadas emerging out of the earth and overtaking the eastern United States. The rare spectacle has Americans in awe1.

　　此景此聲會讓你毛骨悚然。數(shù)十億只周期蟬破土而出，席卷美國東部。這番罕見的景象讓美國人目瞪口呆。

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　　Rosemarie Grant, Witness

　　And it was deafening2, really deafening.

　　羅斯瑪麗·格蘭特 蟬群目擊者

　　“蟬鳴聲震耳欲聾，真的是震耳欲聾�！�

　　The Grants have lived here for decades, and like clockwork, the Brood X cicadas have arrived at the same time every seventeen years to mate. It can get so loud that some of their friends have mistaken the male insects' droning song for a police siren.

　　格蘭特夫婦在這里生活了幾十年，每17年，周期蟬10號群就會為了交配而同一時間如約而至。蟬鳴聲十分響亮，以至于他們的一些朋友將雄蟬嗡嗡作響的歌聲誤認(rèn)成了警笛聲。

　　Peter Grant, Witness

　　Because of my hearing disadvantages, I don't put my hearing aids [in] when I come out in the garden, otherwise I get the whole sound magnified.

　　彼得·格蘭特 蟬群目擊者

　　“因?yàn)槲矣新犃φ系K，所以走到花園里的時候我不戴助聽器，不然整個蟬鳴聲會被放大�！�

　　The mass emergence3 and its timing4 is all part of a clever survival strategy to evade5 predators6. Then the metamorphosis from nymph to adult happens relatively7 quickly.

　　蟬的大批出現(xiàn)和破土?xí)r機(jī)都是它們躲避捕食者的一種精明的生存策略。破土后，從若蟲到成蟲的蛻變發(fā)生得相對較快。

　　Nada Tawfik, BBC Correspondant

　　So here we have a fully8 grown female that's now ready to mate and lay her eggs. She'll only live four to six weeks, though, after being underground for 17 years.

　　納達(dá)·陶菲克 BBC通訊員

　　“這是一只完全成熟的雌蟬，現(xiàn)已準(zhǔn)備好交配和產(chǎn)卵。盡管之前在地下蟄伏了17年，它只能活四到六周�！�

　　Because this is when they are most vulnerable – right here, because their body is so soft…

　　因?yàn)檫@是它們最脆弱的時候。就在這里，因?yàn)樗鼈兊纳眢w非常軟。

　　It's a magical time for entomologist Dr Jessica Weir9, whose 16-year-old daughter wasn't even alive the last time she saw these insects. The world was a very different place back then. George Bush was president, and Facebook was just launched.

　　對昆蟲學(xué)家杰西卡·威爾博士來說，這是一個奇妙的時刻，在她上次看到這些昆蟲時，她現(xiàn)年16歲的女兒甚至還沒出生。那時的世界非常不同。喬治·沃克·布什是美國總統(tǒng)，臉書(Facebook)才剛剛問世。

　　Dr. Jessica Weir, Entomologist, American Natural History Museum

　　You know, a lot of people for centuries have been calling these things locusts10, but they are the opposite of locusts, because they're not actually a plague -– they're not destroying crops. They're actually living their life completely in exclusion11 of humans and they are great nutrition.

　　杰西卡·威爾博士 美國自然歷史博物館昆蟲學(xué)家

　　“幾個世紀(jì)以來，很多人都把這種昆蟲叫作蝗蟲，但它們與蝗蟲正相反，因?yàn)樗鼈兤鋵?shí)不會造成災(zāi)害，也不會摧毀莊稼。事實(shí)上，它們的生活是完全與人類隔絕的，而且它們很有營養(yǎng)�！�

　　Yes, you heard that right. These critters are a culinary delicacy12.

　　是的，你沒聽錯。這些小動物是美味佳肴。

　　Joseph Yoon, Chef, Brooklyn Bugs14

　　The cicadas are a flavour bomb. They have so much flavour and add a sense of umami to the dish.

　　約瑟夫·尹 Brooklyn Bugs 廚師

　　“蟬是一種 ‘風(fēng)味炸彈’。它們味道豐富，能為菜肴提鮮。”

　　Chef Joseph has been cooking with the star ingredient to encourage Americans to re-imagine bugs as a protein-rich sustainable food source.

　　大廚約瑟夫一直在用這種特色食材烹飪，以鼓勵美國人把蟲子重新想象為富含蛋白質(zhì)的可持續(xù)食物來源。

　　“I think I am ready – may I?”

　　“我準(zhǔn)備好開吃了，可以嗎?”

　　“Yes, please.”

　　“好的，請便。”

　　“OK, I am going to go with this one here. Bug13 appetite! A burst of springtime in your mouth.”

　　“好，我就拿這一塊吧�！�蟬' 死我啦!仿佛嘴里涌入了春天的氣息�！�

　　For others, the noisy critters are just downright disruptive. It's safe to say Shakespeare is not in love with the cicada. This theatre company has had to cut its outdoor season short.

　　對其他人來說，這些吵鬧的小動物只會引起混亂�？梢钥隙ǖ卣f，莎士比亞并不喜歡這些蟬。這家莎士比亞劇團(tuán)不得不縮短戶外演出季。

　　Bonnie Monte, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey15

　　The last time I directed a show out here, I sat over there with two huge badminton rackets and just screamed as they came at me and swatted them away.

　　邦妮·蒙特 新澤西莎士比亞劇院

　　“上次我在這里執(zhí)導(dǎo)一場演出時，我坐在那里，手里拿著兩個巨大的羽毛球拍，當(dāng)它們向我飛過來的時候，我尖叫了起來，把它們打跑了。”

　　The takeover may be dramatic, but it is temporary. Soon the larvae16 of the new generation will burrow17 their way into the ground resetting18 the 17-year cycle.

　　雖然蟬鋪天蓋地出現(xiàn)的場面充滿戲劇性，但這只是暫時的。很快，新一代的幼蟲將鉆入地下，開始新一輪的17年周期。

　　口譯： 翻譯資格考試二級口譯模擬題

　　筆譯： 翻譯資格考試二級筆譯模擬題

　　資料來源考試網(wǎng)校老師主講教材精講班課程，完整講義下載進(jìn)入個人中心>>