英語聽力：長毛象王國-12

The male flicks the air with his tongue to test if the ewe will accept him. The next stage of courtship is not so subtle. He gives her a kick. At this highly-charged time of year, skirmishes can easily erupt between the rams, especially if they both have the same ewe in their sights.

But though there was food in Beringia, it was still cold, bitterly cold. The much of the year, temperatures would have remained below freezing 24 hours a day. How did the ice age animal survive in such a harsh world?

The more hair, the better for a start. Mask oxen can stay warm in temperatures of minus 50 degree centigrade, thanks to their chill-proof woolly coats. In fact, they have the warmest fur of any mammal. They have an extremely long outer layer over another very dense fine wool layer beneath, a combination so effective that even in winter, the mask ox can overheat if it runs too far. From frozen mammoths’ remains, we know they had a very similar fur coat, made up of strands5 of hair up to a meter long.

1 flicks

(尤指用手指或手快速地)輕擊( flick的第三人稱單數(shù) ); (用…)輕揮; (快速地)按開關(guān); 向…笑了一下(或瞥了一眼等)

參考例句：

'I shall see it on the flicks, I suppose.' “電影上總歸看得見。” 來自英漢文學(xué)

Last night to the flicks. 昨晚看了場電影。 來自英漢文學(xué)

2 rams

n.公羊( ram的名詞復(fù)數(shù) );(R-)白羊(星)座;夯;攻城槌v.夯實(土等)( ram的第三人稱單數(shù) );猛撞;猛壓;反復(fù)灌輸

參考例句：

A couple of rams are butting at each other. 兩只羊正在用角互相抵觸。 來自辭典例句

More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何東西都更嚴(yán)重地加速了他們那本該天長地久的婚姻的破裂。 來自辭典例句

3 dense

a.密集的，稠密的，濃密的;密度大的

參考例句：

The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 將軍把部隊埋伏在濃密的樹林里。

The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被樹葉厚厚地蓋了一層。

4 remains

n.剩余物，殘留物;遺體，遺跡

參考例句：

He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。

The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.殘羹剩飯喂狗了。

5 strands

n.(線、繩、金屬線、毛發(fā)等的)股( strand的名詞復(fù)數(shù) );縷;海洋、湖或河的)岸;(觀點、計劃、故事等的)部份v.使滯留，使擱淺( strand的第三人稱單數(shù) )

參考例句：

Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用幾股麻搓成了一段繩子。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

She laced strands into a braid. 她把幾股線編織成一根穗帶。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》