VOA常速英语:Cicadas Swarm Wide Portions of US

短语讲解：

1. On a muggy afternoon at the farmers’ market in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Missouri, the cicada invasion is in full force and local residents have mixed feelings about it.

in force 大批地, 大规模地
例句：The enemy is in force behind the hill.
敌人在山后集结了大量兵力。

2. “Oh my gosh, they look like little devils, and I don’t like it,” she says.

look like 看起来与(某人或某物)相像〔相似〕
例句：These houses look exactly like each other, which makes the street look very dull.
这些房屋的外观极为相似, 使整条街道显得十分呆板。

3. They actually use their wings to amplify and resonate the sound out, which adds to the racket.

add to增加, 加强
例句：This lesson adds to the value of the book.
这一课增加了这本书的价值。

4. But these periodical cicadas have spent the past 13 years not making any noise at all.

not at all根本不，完全不，一点也不
例句：The boy is not at all shy with them. 
这孩子和他们在一起一点也不害羞。
 
5. They’ve been underground, feeding on the juices of tree roots, as small brown juveniles, or nymphs.

feed on以…为食,以…为能源
例句：Squirrels feed on nuts.
松鼠以坚果为食。

6. “The nymphs are these strange kind of alien-looking things that have no wings, very rudimentary legs that are only good for crawling and nothing else, and they kind of have these huge, claw-like front legs,” says Hartley.

be good for对…有好处, 值得,有效
例句：The Olympics will be good for business.
奥运会的召开对促进商业发展有好处。

7. When they’re ready to emerge, the nymphs tunnel their way to the soil surface in the middle of the night, leaving visible holes in the ground a little over a centimeter in diameter.

in the middle of在…的中间
例句：The pounding rain began in the middle of the night.
半夜时分，下起了瓢泼大雨。

8. They climb up the nearest bush or tree and molt for the last time, littering the foliage with their old brown casings.

litter with使充满
例句：The fire-place was littered with cigarette butts.
壁炉里丢满了烟头。

9. “A female will lay, throughout her lifespan, about 600 eggs,” says Glenn Frei, who helps care for the live insect collection at the Saint Louis Zoo.

care for 照料, 服侍
例句：He was given treatment and cared for until he recovered.
他一直受到治疗和护理直到痊愈。

10. Frei says the number of adult periodical cicadas has already peaked in the area and he expects them to die off in the next couple of weeks.

die off相继死去；先后死去
例句：The deer in the forest are all dying off from disease.
森林中的鹿一只接一只地病死了。