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0The Bat and the Flower: A Dance of Symbiosis
BBC Earth｜Tropical World·The Green Planet
Today, 70% of all the world's rainforest plants grow within a mile of a road or a clearing that we have cut into the forest. And this is creating new battlefields in the tropical world. Alien armies of identical cultivated plants now stand where thousands of different species once grew. We have planted vast regiments of crops in order to provide ourselves with food and other commodities. And the ancient forest has been reduced to ever fewer isolated fragments.
今天，世界上70%的雨林植物生长在我们开辟的道路或空地的一英里范围内。这在热带雨林中形成了新的战场。原本生长着数千种不同物种的地方，现在被外来的、单一栽培植物的大军所占据。我们种植了大量的农作物，为自己提供食物和其他商品。古老森林已经缩减为越来越少的孤立片段。
All, however, is not lost. The fragments can still be sanctuaries, keeping alive the intimate relationships within them. Their size is nonetheless critical.
然而，并非一切都已失去。这些片段仍然可以成为庇护所，维系着它们内部的亲密关系。不过，它们的大小至关重要。
This is the seven-hour flower. This plant produces its flowers at night. They open about six o'clock, and each blossom only lasts that night. It opens for about seven hours and then it dies. But during that time, it provides food for one particular animal. A bat. And here it is!
这是灯蝠花。这种植物在夜晚开花。它们大约在六点钟开放，每朵花只持续一个夜晚。它开放大约七个小时，然后凋谢。但在这段时间里，它为一种特定的动物提供食物——蝙蝠。这就是了！
During the seven-hour flower's flowering season, Underwood's bat feeds almost exclusively on its nectar. It is the plant's primary pollinator.
在灯蝠花的花期内，科式长舌蝠几乎只以花蜜为食。它是这种植物的主要传粉者。
It might seem that this is a fairly evenly balanced relationship, but not so. The bat likes this nectar because it's sweet, but it's not very nourishing.
这看起来是一种相当平衡的关系，但并非如此。蝙蝠喜欢这种花蜜是因为它很甜，但它并不太有营养。
So the bat must visit hundreds of flowers a night, and it pollinates them as if feeds. But if a patch of forest becomes too small, with too few flowers, the bats will disappear, and without the bats, the flowers can't reproduce and will soon die out. The partnership is broken.
所以蝙蝠必须在一夜之间访问数百朵花，并且在它进食的同时进行传粉。但如果一片森林变得太小，花朵太少，蝙蝠就会消失，没有蝙蝠，这些花就无法繁殖，很快就会灭绝。这种伙伴关系就被打破了。
词汇表
symbiosis [ˌsɪmbɪˈəʊsɪs] 共生，共栖，合作关系
clearing [ˈklɪərɪŋ] （林中）空旷地，开垦地
battlefield [ˈbæt(ə)lfiːld] 战场
tropical [ˈtrɒpɪk(ə)l] 热带的；炎热的
alien [ˈeɪlɪən]（植物或动物种类）外来的
identical cultivated [ˈkʌltɪveɪtd] 单一栽培的
regiment ['redʒɪmənt] 团，大量，大群
commodity [kəˈmɒdəti] 商品，货物
isolated fragments [ˈaɪsəˌleɪtɪd]['fræɡmənt] 孤立的片段
sanctuary [ˈsæŋktʃuəri] 避难所，庇护所；圣殿
intimate [ˈɪntɪmət] 亲密的，密切的
nonetheless ['nʌnðə'les] 虽然如此，但是
seven-hour flower 灯蝠花（在下午6点左右绽放，持续约7个小时后便会凋谢）
blossom [ˈblɒs(ə)m] （树木的）花，花簇
flowering season 花期，开花季节
Underwood's bat ['ʌndəwʊd] 科式长舌蝠（小型食蜜蝙蝠）
exclusively [ɪkˈskluːsɪvli] 仅仅，专门地，排外地
feed on 以……为食
nectar [ˈnektə(r)] 花蜜，甘露
pollinator ['pɒlɪneɪtə] 传粉者，传粉昆虫
fairly evenly [ˈiːv(ə)nli] 相当均匀地
nourishing [ˈnʌrɪʃɪŋ] 滋养的，有营养的
pollinate [ˈpɔlɪneɪt] 授粉，传花粉给
a patch of [pætʃ] 一片，一块
reproduce [ˌriːprəˈdjuːs] 繁殖，生殖
die out 灭绝，逐渐消失
partnership [ˈpɑː(r)tnə(r)ʃɪp] 伙伴关系，合作关系
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