Wed, Mar 08, 2006 page14

• Life in the cold 好冷的生活

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  Can you tell what that small, black thing is? It isn't dirt, and it isn't a stick. It's a worm.

  Most worms live in the ground. They dig down into dirt to make their homes. This worm also digs deep to make its home, but this worm digs into snow, not dirt. It's called an ice worm.

  The ice worm in this picture was found underneath 3.6m of snow. Can you imagine trying to live in a place that cold? Scientists want to know how the ice worm can live in such cold temperatures.

  

  Biology student Ben Lee holds an ice worm in Paradise, Washington in the US.

  PHOTO : AP

  They think that if the ice worm can live without a lot of heat or light, maybe there could be living things on distant planets that are much colder than Earth. (Taipei Times)

  你看得出來那個小小黑黑的東西是什麼嗎？不是泥巴，也不是一根樹枝，它是一隻蟲。

  大部份的蟲住在地底下，它們鑽進土裡築巢，這隻蟲也得鑽出自己的巢，不過這隻蟲是鑽進雪地裡而不是泥土裡，它叫做冰蟲。

  照片裡的這隻冰蟲是在雪地下三點六公尺被發現的。你能想像住在這麼冷的地方嗎？科學家想知道為什麼冰蟲能在這麼冷的溫度存活。

  他們認為，如果冰蟲可以在欠缺光和熱的環境存活，也許在比地球冷的遙遠星球上也會有生物存在。

  For your information

  Today's words 今日單字

  1. scientist n. 科學家 (ke1 xue2 jia1) 例：Thomas loves asking questions and figuring out the answers; he should be a scientist when he grows up. （湯瑪士喜歡提問和尋找答案，長大後可能成為一名科學家。） 2. temperature n. 溫度 (wen1 du4) 例：When the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, I hate going outside. （氣溫低於攝氏十度我就討厭外出。） 3. distant adj. 遙遠的 (yao2 yuan3 de5) 例：I love to travel to distant places and meet people from other countries. （我喜歡到遠方旅行，遇見來自不同國家的人。）

  For your information

  Quick Quiz
  複習測驗

  1. Where do worms usually live? a. In ice. b. In snow. c. In dirt. d. In light. 2. Where was this worm found? a. In ice. b. In snow. c. In dirt. d. In light.
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