高中英语外刊时文阅读训练
专题31
如何预防蚊子叮咬
Ⅰ.文章话题导入
Ⅱ.外刊原文阅读
Ш.阅读理解专项针对性练习
Ⅳ.话题高频词汇强化训练
Ⅴ.参考译文赏析
【话题·导语】
耶鲁大学的一项研究发现，人类汗液的特定味道会吸引或排斥蚊子，影响它们的叮咬和进食行为。了
解这些味觉机制可以帮助开发新的方法来预防蚊子叮咬，因为登革热等疾病继续在全球传播。
【原文·外刊阅读】
Yale Scientists Reveal What Drives mosquito's Biting Choices
（文章来源：Scitech daily）
As mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever
continue to spread worldwide, researchers believe that
one way to prevent these diseases is by stopping
mosquitoes from biting people in the first place. While
scientists have long understood how odor and heat
guide mosquitoes to humans, the role of taste once
they land has been less clear.
In a new study, Yale researchers have uncovered how mosquitoes’ neurons encode different tastes
and how these tastes affect their biting, feeding, and egg-laying behaviors. The study also identified
compounds in human sweat that increase mosquitoes’ biting tendencies and bitter compounds that can
reduce feeding and egg-laying. This research offers new insights into why some people may be more
attractive to mosquitoes than others.
These findings could pave the way for new methods to reduce or prevent mosquito bites in the
future.
Identifying Mosquito Preferences
The study, published on October 16 in Nature, focused on the Asian tiger mosquito, a species once
limited to Southeast Asia but now found across six continents.
“This mosquito is capable of spreading many diseases, including dengue and chikungunya,” said
senior author John Carlson, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental
Biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “And it’s outcompeting other mosquito species, so it
could be an even greater problem in our future.”
The Power of Taste in Mosquitoes
To better understand the species’ taste abilities, the researchers first took 46 different taste
compounds — including sugars, salts, bitter compounds, and amino acids — and observed how neurons in
the mosquito’s taste organ responded to them. They found that some compounds, like sugars, excited
many of the neurons. But surprisingly, some compounds actually inhibited neuronal activity.
“We’ve done a lot of research on taste in the fruit fly, and we haven’t seen this kind of
widespread inhibition before in flies,” said Carlson. “Having these two different responses — excitation
and inhibition — gives mosquitoes an expanded ability to encode taste, meaning they can likely
differentiate a wide variety of tastes.”
After they also examined how different taste compounds affected mosquitoes’ biting, feeding, and
egg-laying behaviors, the researchers found that different tastes promoted or suppressed different behaviors.
Impact of Bitter Compounds and Taste Combinations
For instance, some bitter compounds reduced mosquitoes’ feeding behavior but had no effect on
egg-laying. And while salt and some amino acids typically found in human sweat had no effect on biting
when presented separately, they promoted an increase in biting when combined.
“And that nuance makes sense to us,” said lead author Lisa Baik, a postdoctoral associate in
Carlson’s lab who led the work. “There are a lot of places in nature that have salt and a lot of places
that have amino acids, but humans have both together on our skin. So maybe the mosquito is able to
identify the combination and recognize our skin as a good place to bite.”
The Connection Between Human Sweat and Mosquito Bites
Additionally, when the researchers offered mosquitoes human sweat samples, they found that the
mosquitoes showed strong biting preferences for some samples over others.
“We think this could be part of the reason why some of us get bitten by mosquitoes a lot more
than others,” said Carlson. “Some people may just taste better to mosquitoes.”
Together, the findings help describe how mosquitoes that have landed decide whether to bite or fly
away. That information, the researchers say, may help identify compounds that can sway mosquitoes to
leave rather than bite.
“Our study may be helpful in identifying compounds that protect us from mosquito bites in a new
way,” said Carlson. “Such compounds could be extremely useful, especially as climate change expands
the range of mosquitoes and the diseases they spread.”
【原创·阅读理解】
1.What do researchers believe is one way to prevent mosquito-borne illnesses?
A. Increasing mosquito populations.
B. Stopping mosquitoes from biting people.
C. Reducing human outdoor activities.
D. Enhancing the taste of human sweat.
2.What did the study published in Nature focus on regarding mosquitoes?
A. Their flight patterns.
B. The role of taste.
C. Their mating rituals.
D. Their breeding habitats.
3.How did some taste compounds affect the neurons in mosquitoes?
A. They exclusively excited neuronal activity.
B. They had no effect on neuronal activity.
C. They could inhibit neuronal activity.
D. They only inhibited feeding behavior.
4.What effect did a combination of salt and amino acids have on mosquito behavior?
A. Decreased biting behavior.
B. Increased feeding behavior.
C. Promoted biting behavior.
D. Had no effect on behavior.
【高频词汇训练】
1．The little girl (bite) by the family dog the other day.
2．Through the Internet we can make friends from different countries, beyond space (limit). (所给词
的适当形式填空)
3．The school uses a (combine) of modern and traditional methods for teaching reading. (所给词的适当
形式填空)
4． (addition), certain websites may allow you to ask scientists questions directly.(所给词的适当形式填
空)
5．Generally a compound word, (由……组成) two or more characters, provides
the whole meaning.
6．as 引导时间状语从句
教材原句：Hopefully, as technology improves, we may have more options for managing this balance.
仿写：随着越来越多的森林被砍伐，一些物种正在灭绝。
, some species are dying out.
7．专业的知识加上热情、投入和好奇心能保证我在职业生涯中有一个光明的未来。
Professional knowledge combined with enthusiasm, devotion and curiosity can .
8．除英语外，她还会说法语和日语。(addition)
She can speak French and Japanese .
9．Visitors a range of cultural activities during the festival.
参观者很可能在节日期间体验到一系列的文化活动。
10．I was about to go home and just at that time the telephone rang.
→ (be about to do...when)
【参考译文】
耶鲁大学科学家揭示了蚊子选择叮咬的原因
随着登革热等蚊媒疾病在全球范围内继续传播，研究人员认为，预防这些疾病的一种方法是首先阻止
蚊子叮咬人类。虽然科学家们早就知道气味和热量是如何引导蚊子进入人类的，但蚊子落地后味道的作用
尚不清楚。
在一项新的研究中，耶鲁大学的研究人员发现了蚊子的神经元如何编码不同的味道，以及这些味道如
何影响它们的叮咬、进食和产卵行为。该研究还发现了人类汗液中增加蚊子叮咬倾向的化合物，以及可以
减少进食和产卵的苦味化合物。这项研究为为什么有些人可能比其他人对蚊子更有吸引力提供了新的见
解。
这些发现可能为未来减少或预防蚊虫叮咬的新方法铺平了道路。
识别蚊子偏好
这项研究于10 月16 日发表在《自然》杂志上，重点研究了亚洲虎蚊，这种蚊子曾经仅限于东南亚，
但现在遍布六大洲。
“这种蚊子能够传播许多疾病，包括登革热和基孔肯雅热，”资深作者、耶鲁大学文理学院尤金·希金
斯分子、细胞和发育生物学教授约翰·卡尔森说。“而且它比其他蚊子种类更具竞争力，所以在未来，这可
能是一个更大的问题。”
蚊子味觉的力量
为了更好地了解该物种的味觉能力，研究人员首先采集了46 种不同的味觉化合物，包括糖、盐、苦味
化合物和氨基酸，并观察了蚊子味觉器官中的神经元对它们的反应。他们发现，一些化合物，比如糖，激
发了许多神经元。但令人惊讶的是，一些化合物实际上抑制了神经元活动。
卡尔森说：“我们对果蝇的味道做了很多研究，以前从未在果蝇身上看到过这种广泛的抑制作用。”
“具有这两种不同的反应——兴奋和抑制——使蚊子具有更大的味觉编码能力，这意味着它们可能会区分
各种各样的味觉。”
在研究了不同味道的化合物如何影响蚊子的叮咬、进食和产卵行为后，研究人员发现不同的味道促进
或抑制了不同的行为。
苦味化合物和味道组合的影响
例如，一些苦味化合物减少了蚊子的进食行为，但对产卵没有影响。虽然盐和人体汗液中常见的一些
氨基酸单独存在时对叮咬没有影响，但当它们结合在一起时，会促进叮咬的增加。
“这种细微差别对我们来说是有意义的，”卡尔森实验室的博士后助理Lisa Baik 说，她领导了这项
工作。“自然界中有很多地方有盐，很多地方有氨基酸，但人类皮肤上两者都有。所以也许蚊子能够识别
出这种组合，并将我们的皮肤视为一个很好的叮咬场所。”
人体汗液与蚊虫叮咬的关系
此外，当研究人员向蚊子提供人类汗液样本时，他们发现蚊子对某些样本表现出强烈的叮咬偏好。
卡尔森说：“我们认为这可能是我们中的一些人比其他人更容易被蚊子叮咬的部分原因。”“有些人
可能只是对蚊子来说味道更好。”
这些发现共同帮助描述了降落的蚊子是如何决定是叮咬还是飞走的。研究人员表示，这些信息可能有
助于确定可以使蚊子离开而不是叮咬的化合物。
卡尔森说：“我们的研究可能有助于以一种新的方式识别保护我们免受蚊子叮咬的化合物。”“这些
化合物可能非常有用，尤其是在气候变化扩大蚊子及其传播疾病的范围时。”
