Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Ryan Geertsma.
感谢大家收听今天的重点报道节目。我是瑞安·吉尔茨马。
And I’m Courtney Schutt. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
我是考特尼·舒特。重点报道节目用慢速英语的方式播报新闻。
It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
以便让世界各地的人们更容易听懂。
What would you do if you had just spent 17 years under ground?
如果你在地下待了17年,你会怎么做?
Would you want to change your clothes?
你想换件衣服吗?
Would you want to sit in the sun?
你想坐在阳光下吗?
Would you want to sing as loud as you could?
你想尽可能大声地唱歌吗?
Singing is exactly what millions of cicadas did in the United States during the summer of 2007!
2007年夏天,美国数百万只蝉就在唱歌!
A cicada is an insect.
蝉是一种昆虫。
It is about three centimeters long.
它大约有三厘米长。
Like many insects, it has six legs.
像许多昆虫一样,它有六条腿。
The adult cicada also has two sets of wings.
成年蝉还有两对翅膀。
There are over 2,000 kinds of cicadas around the world.
世界上有2000多种蝉。
And all of them spend most of their life under the ground!
它们大部分时间都是在地下度过的!
Australia has about 220 different kinds of cicadas.
澳大利亚大约有220种不同的蝉。
And you can find about 450 different kinds in Africa!
你可以在非洲找到大约450种不同的蝉!
Most cicadas are annual cicadas.
大多数蝉是一年生蝉。
They come out of the ground once every year.
它们每年从地里出来一次。
But there are seven kinds of cicadas that stay under the ground for many years.
但是有七种蝉可以在地下待很多年。
Three of these live under ground for 17 years!
其中三种蝉在地下生活了17年!
All of these cicadas are found only in the United States.
所有这些蝉都只在美国被发现。
They are called periodical cicadas.
它们被称为周期蝉。
When a cicada is under the ground it is called a nymph.
当蝉在地下时,它被称为蛹。
These nymphs drink liquids from tree roots.
这些蛹从树根中吸取液体。
As a nymph, the cicada is covered in a hard shell.
蝉蛹身上覆盖着坚硬的外壳。
At this time it has no wings - just legs.
此时,它没有翅膀,只有腿。
After a cicada comes out of the ground, it breaks out of its old shell.
蝉从地里出来后就会破壳而出。
Under the old shell is a new shell and four wings.
旧壳下面是新壳和四只翅膀。
The cicada will find a place in the sun to dry its wings and new shell.
蝉会在阳光下找个地方晒干翅膀和新壳。
Now the cicada is an adult.
现在蝉已经成年了。