雅思阅读词汇详解：生物学相关词汇

　　1. habitat n. the natural home of a plant or animal 栖息地或产地: I prefer to see animals in their natural habitat, rather than in zoos.

　　相关语汇

　　habitation: The dilapidated hut is unfit for human habitation.

　　habitable: Their damp house is scarcely habitable.

　　uninhabitable: The planet Jupiter is uninhabitable.

　　inhabit: Woodpeckers inhabit hollow trees.

　　2. infest v. to be present in large numbers or to a great degree 出没于; 侵扰; 骚扰: It would be crazy to swim in these shark-infested waters.

　　近义语汇

　　swarm: The place was swarming with tourists.

　　teem: This river teems with all kinds of fish in summer.

　　overrun: The stables are overrun with rats.

　　beset: The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.

　　3. lifespan n. the average length of life of a sort of animal or plant or the time for which a material object will last 平均寿命; 使用年限: Men have a short lifespan than women.

　　相关语汇

　　life expectancy or expectation of life 预期寿命; 平均寿命:

　　Life expectancy for men is about 78 years in Japan.

　　解构分析

　　span n. 指一段时间或跨度/全长: attention span; memory span;

　　an unbroken span of concentration; The bridge crosses the river in a single span.

　　span v. 跨越/横跨; 延伸/贯穿: His interests spanned a wide range of

　　subjects. The game has a history spanning three centuries.故lifespan的直意为生命的跨度

　　4. metabolism n. the system of chemical activities by which a living thing gains power, esp. from food 新陈代谢: The metabolism is slowed down by extreme cold.

　　同源语汇

　　metabolic: People who have inherited a low metabolic rate will gain weight.

　　metabolize: Diabetics cannot metabolize glucose properly.

　　5. torpid a. having lost the power of feeling or moving; lazy or inactive; moving or thinking slowly 失去活动能力的; 处于蛰伏状态的: The heat and humidity made us feel torpid.

　　近义语汇

　　lethargic: The weather made her listless and lethargic.

　　sluggish: sluggish traffic; a sluggish economy

　　dormant: During the winter the seeds lie dormant in the soil.

　　latent: These children have a huge reserve of latent talent.