Lesson2 Spare that spider
Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends ? Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders.
Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings. Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them. One can tell the difference almost at a glance for a spider always has eight legs and an insect never more than six.
How many spiders are engaged in this work on our behalf ? One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in a grass field in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre, that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
New words and expressions 生詞短語(yǔ)
flocks and herds 牛群和羊群
／flCk/ the birds of the same feather flock together.物以類聚，人以群分
you are the same flock.也可指人
herd多指牛群 cowherd cowboy throng and crowd swarm
owe /[U/ vt.感激 欠 i owe you. i owe you a big favor. 欠 issue
oblige indebt appreciate----常用口語(yǔ)詞 正式：grateful thankful
beast /bi: st/ n 獸 形容人野蠻無(wú)比，不能用animal 形容
creature可以指小孩，女人，不用于男性．
fraction / ＇frAkF[n/ n.小部分 分?jǐn)?shù)，小數(shù) a fraction of rice will suffice
on one＇s behalf 代表．．．利益
I beat you on your behalf.我打你是為你好 on behalf of somebody /something
e.g on behalf of chinese government on behalf of ＝represent
authority /C:＇WCriti/ n.權(quán)威 authorize批準(zhǔn) authoritative權(quán)威性的 authoritarian*的
－tarian帶有這種詞綴的詞都是壞詞 dictator*者 dictatorial*的
authorities １．權(quán)威（可單數(shù)可復(fù)數(shù)） ２．*（復(fù)數(shù)）
census /sens[s/ n.統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù) the fifth national population census. censor審查
censorious 挑剔的，挑刺的
acre /＇eik[/ n.英畝?。盿cre＝４０４７square meters
football pitch 足球場(chǎng) football yard football court football field
be content with 滿足于 滿足作表語(yǔ)，不能出現(xiàn)定語(yǔ)結(jié)構(gòu)
He is content with status quo. contented heart :心滿意足的人
spare /spZ[/ v. 不傷害，寬恕 spare me He doesn’t spare himself.
I spare no efforts to learn english.( spare no efforts: 不遺余力作什么)
Notes on the text 課文注釋
why, you may wonder－you may wonder why插入語(yǔ) 先不管插入語(yǔ)，弄清句子結(jié)構(gòu)
you may wonder why spiders should be our friends？插入語(yǔ)位置不固定
why以疑問(wèn)句 開(kāi)頭
why,you may wonder,the problem of pollution befalls human beings.
why,you may wonder,one of my friends is so kindhearted.
destroy程度比damage要重得多，片甲不留，消滅光 tear into pieces
greatest enemies:天敵 dying enemy crying enemy dear enemy
human race:人的種族，一般不加復(fù)數(shù)，表示一個(gè)總稱詞
impossible 和possible 永遠(yuǎn)不要以人開(kāi)頭
It is impossible for somebody to do something.
likely可以以人做主語(yǔ)。i am likely to go. probable 也不以人做主語(yǔ)
they would表示假設(shè)
devour狼吞虎咽devour the food
make a cake of myself make a god of myself devour the book
it虛擬語(yǔ)氣 前面是主句，下面是條件句
前面一般的加動(dòng)詞devour,后面用一般過(guò)去時(shí)
If it were not for:如果這不是因?yàn)?BR> I would not survive if it were not for his timely help.
but for 一定是虛擬語(yǔ)氣 ＝if it were not for
owe感激，欠 i owe you.
引出主題 all of them put together:把他們堆到一起 謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞是kill
destroyed后置定語(yǔ)，重心轉(zhuǎn)到spider
Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends ? Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders.
Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the least harm to us or our belongings. Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them. One can tell the difference almost at a glance for a spider always has eight legs and an insect never more than six.
How many spiders are engaged in this work on our behalf ? One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in a grass field in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre, that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
New words and expressions 生詞短語(yǔ)
flocks and herds 牛群和羊群
／flCk/ the birds of the same feather flock together.物以類聚，人以群分
you are the same flock.也可指人
herd多指牛群 cowherd cowboy throng and crowd swarm
owe /[U/ vt.感激 欠 i owe you. i owe you a big favor. 欠 issue
oblige indebt appreciate----常用口語(yǔ)詞 正式：grateful thankful
beast /bi: st/ n 獸 形容人野蠻無(wú)比，不能用animal 形容
creature可以指小孩，女人，不用于男性．
fraction / ＇frAkF[n/ n.小部分 分?jǐn)?shù)，小數(shù) a fraction of rice will suffice
on one＇s behalf 代表．．．利益
I beat you on your behalf.我打你是為你好 on behalf of somebody /something
e.g on behalf of chinese government on behalf of ＝represent
authority /C:＇WCriti/ n.權(quán)威 authorize批準(zhǔn) authoritative權(quán)威性的 authoritarian*的
－tarian帶有這種詞綴的詞都是壞詞 dictator*者 dictatorial*的
authorities １．權(quán)威（可單數(shù)可復(fù)數(shù)） ２．*（復(fù)數(shù)）
census /sens[s/ n.統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù) the fifth national population census. censor審查
censorious 挑剔的，挑刺的
acre /＇eik[/ n.英畝?。盿cre＝４０４７square meters
football pitch 足球場(chǎng) football yard football court football field
be content with 滿足于 滿足作表語(yǔ)，不能出現(xiàn)定語(yǔ)結(jié)構(gòu)
He is content with status quo. contented heart :心滿意足的人
spare /spZ[/ v. 不傷害，寬恕 spare me He doesn’t spare himself.
I spare no efforts to learn english.( spare no efforts: 不遺余力作什么)
Notes on the text 課文注釋
why, you may wonder－you may wonder why插入語(yǔ) 先不管插入語(yǔ)，弄清句子結(jié)構(gòu)
you may wonder why spiders should be our friends？插入語(yǔ)位置不固定
why以疑問(wèn)句 開(kāi)頭
why,you may wonder,the problem of pollution befalls human beings.
why,you may wonder,one of my friends is so kindhearted.
destroy程度比damage要重得多，片甲不留，消滅光 tear into pieces
greatest enemies:天敵 dying enemy crying enemy dear enemy
human race:人的種族，一般不加復(fù)數(shù)，表示一個(gè)總稱詞
impossible 和possible 永遠(yuǎn)不要以人開(kāi)頭
It is impossible for somebody to do something.
likely可以以人做主語(yǔ)。i am likely to go. probable 也不以人做主語(yǔ)
they would表示假設(shè)
devour狼吞虎咽devour the food
make a cake of myself make a god of myself devour the book
it虛擬語(yǔ)氣 前面是主句，下面是條件句
前面一般的加動(dòng)詞devour,后面用一般過(guò)去時(shí)
If it were not for:如果這不是因?yàn)?BR> I would not survive if it were not for his timely help.
but for 一定是虛擬語(yǔ)氣 ＝if it were not for
owe感激，欠 i owe you.
引出主題 all of them put together:把他們堆到一起 謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞是kill
destroyed后置定語(yǔ)，重心轉(zhuǎn)到spider