Light pollution dampens urban robins' song 城市光污染抑制知更鸟的鸣唱
Play audio file 文字稿 英国人最钟爱的鸟类 — 知更鸟正受到城市灯光和噪声污染的影响。英国南安普顿大学的一项研究得出了这一结论，该研究展现了夜间照明和噪声对居住在城市公园内的知更鸟习性的影响。科学家们测量了灯火明亮的道路距离知更鸟所属领地的远近是怎样影响其居住环境的特性的。
Robins are up and about earlier than most other songbirds, and they are in almost every city park in the UK, making them ideal for this urban study.
The scientists used a stuffed robin and a recording of the bird’s song, setting up this fake avian intruder in different areas. They then measured each bird’s response, recording how much it sang and displayed to defend its territory. This helped them construct a dominance hierarchy of the park’s resident robins. Birds that lived closest to street-lit paths and to busy roads were much lower in this hierarchy. They were less vocal and aggressive.
The researchers now want to establish if night-time light and man-made noise affects birds’ abilities to forage or breed. They hope the findings might be built into urban planning to make city parks spaces designed for wildlife as well as for people.
词汇表
robins 知更鸟
up and about 开始四处活动
songbirds 鸣禽，鸣鸟
stuffed 塞满填充物的
avian 鸟类的
intruder 闯入者，侵入者
hierarchy 等级
vocal （爱）发声的，（喜）鸣叫的
establish 证实，弄清楚
forage 觅食
测验 请听报道并回答下列问题。
1. Why are robins ideal for this urban study?
2. What do the researchers want to discover next, according to the text?
3. True or false? Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were more vocal and
aggressive.
4. Which word in the text means ‘created by humans rather than occurring naturally’?
答案 1. Why are robins ideal for this urban study?
Robins are ideal for this urban study because they are active earlier than most other songbirds and are in almost every city park in the UK.
2. What do the researchers want to discover next, according to the text?
According to the text, the researchers now want to establish if night-time light and man-made noise affect birds’ abilities to forage or breed.
3. True or false? Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were more vocal and
aggressive.
False. Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were less vocal and
aggressive.
4. Which word in the text means ‘created by humans rather than occurring naturally’?
Man-made.