Live ABC

The Butterfly Code  蝴蝶密碼

•      In the summer of 2000,a man caught a chestnut tiger butterfly in Japan.

 在二○○○年的夏天，一名男子在日本捉到一隻青斑蝶。

•      As he examined its delicate blue and brown wings, he noticed something strange: there was a code written on them.

 當他檢視其纖弱的藍棕色翅膀時，他注意到奇怪的東西；翅膀上面寫著一組代碼。

•      What did this code mean and who had left the message on the butterfly?

 這組代碼代表什麼呢?又是誰在蝴蝶身上留下這個訊息呢?

•      The code, 1032C NTU, was written by a graduate student and explained where and when the butterfly had been marked. “ NTU ”stands for National Taiwan University.

1032C NTU這組代碼是一位研究生寫的，說明這知蝴蝶再何處與何時被作記號？NTU代表國立台灣大學。

•      This remarkable  butterfly had made its way from Taipei to Japan in only thirteen days.

 這隻非凡的蝴蝶僅在時三天內就從台北飛到日本。

•      A month later, a second Taiwanese butterfly was found in Kyoto(京都), almost 1,800 kilometers from the place that it had been coded in Taiwan. Somehow, these delicate creatures were migrating across an ocean.

    一個月後，第二隻台灣蝴蝶在京都被發現，離牠在台灣被編碼的地方將近一千八百公里遠。這些纖弱的生物不隻怎麼的遷移橫跨整片海洋。

•      In total, three marked Taiwanese butterflies were found in Japan.

 總共有三隻有記號的台灣蝴蝶在日本被發現。

•      Scientists think the butterflies migrate to Japan during Taiwan’s hot summer, and the migration isn’t just one-way.

科學家認為這些蝴蝶再台灣炎熱的夏天時移遷到日本，且遷移的不只是單向的。

•      Two marked butterflies from Japan were found in Taiwan during cooler winter months.

 兩隻來自日本的有記號蝴蝶於較涼的冬季月份在台灣被發現。

•      With the help of air currents, they traveled over 2,000 kilometrs.

 有了氣流的幫助，他們移動了兩千多公里。

Vocabulary

•      code (n.; v.) 密碼、代碼；為…編碼

•      chestnut tiger butterfly(n.)青斑蝶

•      delicate (adj.) 纖弱的

•      graduate (adj.) 研究生的

•      remarkable (adj.) 非凡的

•      creature (n.) 生物

•      somehow (adj.) 不知怎麼地；用某種方法

 Ex.  Somehow he was afraid of her.

•      message (n.) 訊息

Ex. Anna left a message for her parents because she would go to the library.

•      migration (n.) 遷移

•      current (n.) 氣流；水流

 Ex. The current in this place is very rapid.

Language Notes

•      Where and when S+V.

•      直接問句 疑問詞(+助動詞)(+S.)+V…?

•      名詞子句 疑問詞(+S.)(+助動詞)+V….

•      a.直接問句助動詞(can/will/should/may/)保留，

       而主詞移到助動詞前

Ex.  How can you such a thing to her?

 →  I don’t know how you can such a thing to her.

•      b.直接問句助動詞(do/did/does)改寫後省略。

Ex.  When did Tony come back?

 →  Mom asked me when Tony came back.

•      C.接問句疑問詞為主詞時，動詞順序不變仍依時態變化

Ex.  Who gave you the present?

 →  You hadn’t told us who gave you the present.

Question:

Why did the graduate student leave the message on the butterfly ?

Answer:

 To explaine where and when the butterfly had been marked.