William Terzaghi Spring 2014 Bio 398: Topics in Plant Biology.
Biology and many other topics
Transcript of Biology and many other topics
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No. Word/Idiom Pronunciation Meaning Dch ngha Example
1 amoeba (plural:
amoebae)
mib
mibi
a very small living creature that
consists of only one cell amip
Were not talking about amoebae, ants
or alligators.
2 mutate mjutet /mjutet
to develop or make something
develop a new form or structure,
because of a genetic change
lm o tai/bin i Some mutate swiftly from chaotic
hordes to complex, stable populations in
a process eerily akin to Darwinian
evolution.3 horde rd a large crowd of people B ngi(ngun tu);b l du
4 blueprint bluprntthe pattern in every living cell,
which decides how the plant,
animal or person will develop and
what it will look like
Tit k, ln ko
Perhaps, far in the future, such research
will yield the ability to blueprint livingorganisms.
5 mimic mmk a person or an animal that can copythe voice, movements, etc. ofothers
tng tAn example of how programs mimic
biology can be found in cellular
automata-literally, cell-like machines:
structures that arise from tiny programs
that each display a seemingly
independent existence based on a few
simple rules.
6 automaton(plural:automata)
tmtn(tmt)
a machine that moves without
human control; a small robot
M t ng,tit b t ng
7 rectilinear rektlnir having straight lines tng, png When simulated organisms clustertogether, leaving rectilinear tracks onthe screen, researchers call them ants.
8 flutter fltr to beat very quickly and notregularly
Run r v kng, bi ri, xaoxun, xn xang
causes the heart to flutter
9 velocity vlsti the speed of something in aparticular direction
Vn t, t (nt l teo mt
ng n),
they match velocity with the nearby
flock, and they fly toward the greatest
concentration of the flock.
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t l
10 maze meza system of paths separated by
walls or hedges built in a park or
garden, that is designed so that it is
difficult to find your way through
M l; m ungthe ability to navigate electronic mazes
and search for symbols that represent
food.
11
spontaneous spntenis
done naturally, without being
forced or practised T pt, t sin
Biologists maintain that life began in a
spontaneous outburst of activity thatourred wen Earts environmentreached critical thresholds of heat,
atmosphere and chemical composition.
12 threshold reold the level at which something startsto happen or have an effect
m; ngng
13 conducive kndusv making it easy, possible or likely forsomething to happen
C , li,a n, dnn
settle into recurring patterns conducive
to the orderly transmission of
information.
14 cusp kspa pointed end where two curves
meet
n, m,ngn (ni)(ton ) imli
Life itself may have started as a chance
computation on the cusp of liquid and
gaseous states.
15 gaseous sis like or containing gas (tu) t k16 hoist st to raise or pull something up to ahigher position, often using ropes or
special equipment
n bng lnwhich of these simple programs will
someday hoist itself out of the
electronic soup
17 teres a graarea in here
an undefined situation or subject that does not seem to conform to known categories or rules; an
intermediate area or topic that is not clearly defined
18 spawn spn to cause something to develop orbe produced
Sin ra, xutin, ra (ig) vi ki lngln
Apart from spawning sci-fi speculations,
artificial life has begun to show
commercial promise.
19 unveil nvel to show or introduce a new plan,product, etc. to the public for thefirst time
Trnh by cng
kai, tun bng kai; l,tit l
Danny Hillis, the founder of the Thinking
machines corporation in the U.S., for
instance, has unveiled a program that
follows a process similar to Darwinian
evolution.
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No. Word/Idiom Pronunciation Meaning Dch ngha Example
1 weathering werto change, or make somethingchange, colour or shape
because of the effect of the
sun, rain or wind
Lm o ta i n
dng, lm o ta imu s (do t ng ama, nng, gi)
This brick weathers to a warm pinkish-
brown colour.
2 insolation nslen the amount of light from thesun which reaches a particulararea
S pi nngBoth field observations and laboratory
experiments have led to a
reassessment of the importance of
insolation in desert weathering.
3 oscillation slena regular movement between
one position and another or
between one amount and
another
S lng l, s do d; sdao ng
Rocks subjected to many cycles of large
temperature oscillations display no
evidence of fissuring of fragmentation
as a result.4 fissure fr a long deep crack insomething, especially in rock
or in the earth
C nt, vt nt
5 welder weldr a person whose job is weldingmetal
T nBlackwelders cites the case of a granite
statue in Egypt which fell on its side.
6 shattered trdto suddenly break into small
pieces; to make something
suddenly break into small
pieces
p v, lm v tan
Some shattered pebbles and boulders
attributed to thermal changes consist
of flint and quartzite, both
homogeneous and almost inert
chemically.7 pebble pebl a smooth, round stone that isfound in or near water
ui, si
T an
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8 boulder boldr a very large rock which hasbeen shaped by water or theweather
Tng mn
9 flint flnt a type of very hard grey stonethat can produce a spark whenit is hit against steel
la; vin la
10 quartzite /kw:tsait/ quazit
11 inert nrt without active chemical orother properties (=characteristics)
tr
12 is alleged to led to state something as a factbut without giving proof
Vin l, dn ng, vinra, vin vo; a ra luniu rng
The expansive action of crystallisingsalts is often alleged to exert sufficient
force to disintegrate rocks.
13 exert zrt to make a big physical ormental effort
g ra (l)
14 disrupt dsrpt to make it difficult forsomething to continue in thenormal way
p g, p v, p vFew would dispute that this mechanism
is capable of disrupting fissile or well-
cleaved rocks.
15 splinter splntra small thin sharp piece of
wood, metal, glass, etc. that
has broken off a larger piece
Mn vn (g, , n)
wood is splintered, terracotta tiles
disintegrated and clays disturbed by the
mechanism, but its importance when
acting upon fresh and cohesive
crystalline rocks remains uncertain.
16 terracottatile
terktreddish-brown clay that has
been baked but not glazed,
used for making pots, etc
ngi bng t nung
17 cohesive koisv forming a united whole dn kt
18 superficial suprfl of or on the surface ofsomething (tu) b mt, trn bmt; b ngoi many boulders possess a superficialhard layer of iron oxide and/or silica.
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19 geomorphic Tu a mo20 varnish vrn
a liquid that is painted onto
wood, metal, etc. and that
forms a hard shiny transparent
surface when it is dry
Vc-ni (lp p ngoing trong v bng p lnb mt, nt l a go st)
another superficial layer, the precise
nature of which is little understood, is
the well-known desert varnish.
21 veneer vnran outer appearance of a
particular quality that hidesthe true nature of
somebody/something
ra v ngoi; e , ngtrang
a fully formed blackish veneer
22 crust krst a hard layer or surface,especially above or aroundsomething soft or liquid
(a l,a t) v tri t surface crusts
23 torrentialdownpours
trenl(of rain) falling in large
amountsma trt n
the crusts prevent the waters of
occasional torrential downpours from
penetrating deeply into the soil.
24 plateau plto an area of flat land that ishigher than the land around it
Cao nguyn the hard layer forms a resistant capping
on plateau and mesas, such as are
common in many parts of arid and
semi-arid Australia.25 mesas mes a hill with a flat top and steepsides that is common in the
south-west of the US
ni mt bn, ni nbng
26 preclude prkludto prevent something from
happening or somebody from
doing something; to make
something impossible
Loi tr, tr b; ngnnga; xa
it is sufficiently distinct in appearance
to preclude the possibility of confusion
with other crusts formed at other
times.27 Miocene /maisi:n/ (a l) t mioxen the laterite of northern Australia to be
of the Lower or Middle Miocene age.28 laterite /ltrait/ Laterit, ong
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No. Word/Idiom Pronunciation Meaning Dch ngha Example
1 drift drfta slow steady movement from one
place to another; a gradual change ordevelopment from one situation to
another, especially to something bad
S tri git continental drift
2 convectioncurrents
knvekn
the process in which heat moves
through a gas or a liquid as the hotter
part rises and the cooler, heavier part
sinks
dng i lu
the continents drifting plates in a
state of perpetual motion over a
vast sea, their movement caused
by the action of extremely slow
thermal convection currents
originating in te Earts ore3 viscous vsks thick and sticky; not flowing freely nt To stop convection, the mantle
material would have to be 10,000
times more viscous than the rate of
postglacial recoil indicates.
4 postglacialrecoil
/poustgleilrikil/
s di li sau tik sng bng
5 ridge rd a narrow area of high land along thetop of a line of hills; a high pointedarea near the top of a mountain
Di t p ni im ao nta mt d i;ng bin ao
nt
Across the floors of all the oceans,
for a distance of 40,000 miles,there runs a continuous system of
ridges. Over long stretches, the
ridge is faulted and rifted under
the tension of forces acting at right
angles to the axis of the ridge.
6 stretch stret an area of land or water, especially along one
di t
7 fault flt a place where there is a break that islonger than usual in the layers of rockin the earth's crust
C pa, ton
8 rift rft a large crack or opening in the ground,rocks or clouds
ng nt,ng rn, k ,k nt, vt nt
( t, , vt)
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9 seismic sazmk connected with or caused byearthquakes
a nSeismic observations show that the
speed of sound in this layer
suddenly becomes slower.
10 basalt bslt a type of dark rock that comes fromvolcanoes
bazan the flow of basalt lavas.
11 siliceous /silis/ a siliThe continents, having been built
up by the accumulation of lighterand more siliceous materials
brought up from below, are not
dragged down.
12 fracture frktr to break or crack; to make somethingbreak or crack
(a l,a t)nt t g
Since the material near the surface
is chilled and brittle, it fractures,
causing earthquakes until it is
heated by its descent.13 descent dsent an action of coming or going down S d xung; on
ng d
14 schematize skimtaz to organize something in a system Trnh by khiqut
Effects of convection currents,
schematized in the two illustrations
on this page, provide one possible
means of accounting for the
formation of median ridges.
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No. Word/Idiom Pronunciat
ion
Meaning Dch ngha Example
1 term trm to use a particular name or wordto describesomebody/something
Gi, t tn l, n; o l
the first point relates to what mightbe termed the more strictly utilitarian
reasons for language learning.
2 diplomacy dplomsi
the activity of managing
relations between different
countries; the skill in doing
thisinternational diplomacy
Tut ngoi giao;ngn ngoi giao; koangoi giao
this language learning objective
relates to the role of languages other
than English in various fields of
employment, such as interpreting and
translating, international trade,
diplomacy and defence.
3 in isolation aslen separately; alone without regard tocontext, similarmatters, etc
taken in isolation
4 indisputable ndspjutbl
that is true and cannot be
disagreed with or denied
Kng t i, kngt bn i, kng ttran lun
it seems indisputable that practical
fluency skills must remain one of the
major purposes of the language
teaching enterprise.
5 contend kntend to say that something is true,especially in an argument
Tran i, tran lunIt is also contended that language
provides the key to major historicalcultures, such as the civilizations of
classical antiquity which have exerted
a profound influence on the Western
tradition.
6 antiquity ntkwti the ancient past, especially thetimes of the Greeks and Romans
i xa
7 contention kntennangry disagreement between
people, a belief or an opinion
that you express, especially in an
argument
Lun im, lun iu
in this regard another submission
referred to the contention that
second language study produces such
desirable characteristics as greater
tolerance, understanding of others,
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and acceptance of difference, and
went on to observe that.
8 in the course of during trong khi In the course of hearings
9 empirical mprkl based on experiments orexperience rather than ideas ortheories
Teo li kin ngim,do kin ngim
evidence which lends some empirical
support to the claim that the
experience of language learning
fosters the development of a betterunderstanding of other cultures.
10 complacency kmplesnsi
a feeling of satisfaction with
yourself or with a situation, so
that you do not think any
change is necessary; the state of
being complacent
Tn t mn, S bnglng, s va , s tomn
a powerful means of challenge to
omplaen in te rigtness of onesown ways.
11 entail ntel to involve something thatcannot be avoided
i i; g ra, an the preservation of cultural heritages
necessarily entails the retention of
the languages associated with them.12 retention rtenn the action of keeping somethingrather than losing it or stoppingit
S , s gi, s s u, s sdng
13 takes on aspecial note
this issue takes on a special note of
urgency.
14 cognitive kntv connected with mentalprocesses of understanding
Lin quan n nnt
the general cognitive and linguistic
capacities of students