【課文】
We have been brought up to fear insects. We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good. We continually wage war on them, for they contaminate our food, carry diseases, or devour our crops. They sting or bite without provocation; they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our lighted windows. We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless one like moths. Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears. Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch. No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung. Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase. At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating. We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives. We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence. Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?
Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree. The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house. I am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches. During the summer, I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither. Clusters of tiny insects called aphids were to be found on the underside of the leaves. They were visited by a large colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them. I immediately embarked on an experiment which, even though it failed to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated for twenty-four hours. I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphids. The tape was so stick that they did not dare to cross it. For a long time. I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment. I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with satisfaction (and surprise) that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do anything about it. I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair. Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route. They were climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves of the tree. I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity. The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods!
【課文翻譯】
我們自幼就在對昆蟲的懼怕中長大。我們把昆蟲當(dāng)作害多益少的無用東西。人類不斷同昆蟲斗爭,因?yàn)槔ハx弄臟我們的食物,傳播疾病,吞噬莊稼。它們無緣無故地又叮又咬;夏天的晚上,它們未經(jīng)邀請便飛到我們房間里,或者對著露出亮光的窗戶亂撲亂撞。我們在日常生活中,不但憎惡如蜘蛛、黃蜂之類令人討厭的昆蟲,而且憎惡并無大害的飛蛾等。閱讀有關(guān)昆蟲的書能增加我們對它們的了解,卻不能消除我們的恐懼的心理。即使知道勤奮的螞蟻生活具有高度組織性的社會里,當(dāng)看到大群螞蟻在我們精心準(zhǔn)備的午間野餐上爬行時(shí),我們也無法抑制對它們的反感。不管我們多么愛吃蜂蜜,或讀過多少關(guān)于蜜蜂具有神秘的識別方向的靈感的書,我們?nèi)匀皇趾ε卤环潋?。我們的恐懼大部分是沒有道理的,但去無法消除。同時(shí),不知為什么昆蟲又是迷人的。我們喜歡看有關(guān)昆蟲的書,尤其是當(dāng)我們了解螳螂等過著一種令人生畏的生活時(shí),就更加愛讀有關(guān)昆蟲的書了。我們喜歡入迷地看它們做事,它們不知道(但愿如此)我們就在它們身邊。當(dāng)看到蜘蛛撲向一只蒼蠅時(shí),一隊(duì)螞蟻抬著一只巨大的死甲蟲凱旋歸時(shí),誰能不感到敬畏呢?
去年夏天,我花了好幾天時(shí)間站在花園里觀察成千只螞蟻爬上我那棵心愛的桃樹的樹干。那棵樹是靠著房子有遮擋的一面暖墻生長的。我為這棵樹感到特別自豪,不僅因?yàn)樗冗^了幾個(gè)寒冬終于活了下來,而且還因?yàn)樗袝r(shí)結(jié)出些甘甜的桃子來。到了夏天,我發(fā)現(xiàn)樹葉開始枯萎,結(jié)果在樹葉背面找到成串的叫作蚜蟲小蟲子。蚜蟲遭到一窩螞蟻的攻擊,螞蟻從它們身上可以獲得一種蜜。我當(dāng)即動(dòng)手作了一項(xiàng)試驗(yàn),這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)盡管沒有使我擺脫這些螞蟻,卻使我著迷了24小時(shí)。我用一條膠帶把桃樹底部包上,不讓螞蟻接近蚜蟲。膠帶極粘,螞蟻不敢從上面爬過。在很長一段時(shí)間里,我看見螞蟻圍著大樹底部來回轉(zhuǎn)悠,不知所措。半夜,我還拿著電筒來到花園里,滿意地(同時(shí)驚奇地)發(fā)現(xiàn)那些螞蟻還圍著膠帶團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)。無能為力。第二天早上,我起床后希望看見螞蟻已因無望而放棄了嘗試,結(jié)果卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它們又找到一條新的路徑。它們正在順著房子的外墻往上爬,然后爬上樹葉。我懊喪地感到敗在了足智多謀的螞蟻的手下。螞蟻已很快找到了相應(yīng)的對策,來對付我那套完全不科學(xué)的辦法!
【詞匯】
insect n. 昆蟲
wage v. 進(jìn)行(斗爭)
contaminate v. 弄臟
provocation n. 惹怒
spider n. 蜘蛛
wasp n. 黃蜂
moth n. 飛蛾
ant n. 螞蟻
revulsion n. 厭惡
horde n. 群
uncanny adj. 神秘的,不可思議的
erase v. 擦,抹去
praying mantis 螳螂
entranced adj. 出神的
beetle n. 甲蟲
sheltered adj. 傷不著的,無危險(xiǎn)的
luscious adj. 甘美的
cluster n. 一簇
aphid n. 蚜蟲
underside n. 底面,下側(cè)
colony n. 一群
sticky adj. 粘的
scurry v. 小步跑
swarm v. 聚集
ingenuity n. 機(jī)靈
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【revulsion】
例句:
1. She stared at the snake in revulsion .
她盯著那條蛇, 感到很厭惡。
2. He had a revulsion against his neighbor.
他對鄰居非常反感。
【uncanny】
例句:
1. He seemed to have an instinct about the cards. It was uncanny .
他好象對牌有一種本能似的,簡直神了。
2. Use your wit, uncanny memory and Cancer charm and you will not end up alone this week.
運(yùn)用你的聰明才智、超強(qiáng)記憶里和巨蟹特有的魅力,本周絕對不會孤獨(dú)。
【erase】
英英:remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing
例句:
1. We cannot erase a single word we said.
我們無法抹去說出的每一個(gè)字。
2. Nothing can erase from her mind the memory of the war.
沒什么東西能夠把戰(zhàn)爭從她的記憶里抹去。
3. When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away.
當(dāng)他人傷害了我們,我們應(yīng)該把它記在沙子上,這樣捎帶原諒的微風(fēng)就可以將它抹去。
【entranced】
例句:
1. From the first note the singer 's voice entranced the audience.
演唱者唱出的第一個(gè)音符就使聽眾出神了。
2. In addition, he was a man of soaring imagination and was entranced by human nature.
除此之外,他還有豐富的想象力,而且對人性有著狂熱的追求與興趣。
【sheltered】
例句:
1. They had led a sheltered life.
他們一直過著安穩(wěn)無憂的生活。
2. The harbour was in a sheltered bay.
港口在一個(gè)隱蔽的海灣里面。
【ingenuity】
例句:
1. Much will depend on the ingenuity of mediators.
這就有賴于調(diào)停者的足智多謀了。
2. It's not cash that's needed, so much as ingenuity and willingness.
因?yàn)榕c錢相比,我們更需要的,是人們的巧思和意愿。
【常用短語】
【bring up】撫養(yǎng),養(yǎng)育
【in dread】在恐懼中
【go about】從事,著手
【stand in awe】敬畏的
【at the sight of】當(dāng)發(fā)現(xiàn)
【get rid of】擺脫,除去
【in bewilderment】困惑,迷亂
【in despair】絕望的
We have been brought up to fear insects. We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good. We continually wage war on them, for they contaminate our food, carry diseases, or devour our crops. They sting or bite without provocation; they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our lighted windows. We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless one like moths. Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears. Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch. No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung. Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase. At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating. We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives. We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence. Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?
Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree. The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house. I am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches. During the summer, I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither. Clusters of tiny insects called aphids were to be found on the underside of the leaves. They were visited by a large colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them. I immediately embarked on an experiment which, even though it failed to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated for twenty-four hours. I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphids. The tape was so stick that they did not dare to cross it. For a long time. I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment. I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with satisfaction (and surprise) that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do anything about it. I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair. Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route. They were climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves of the tree. I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity. The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods!
【課文翻譯】
我們自幼就在對昆蟲的懼怕中長大。我們把昆蟲當(dāng)作害多益少的無用東西。人類不斷同昆蟲斗爭,因?yàn)槔ハx弄臟我們的食物,傳播疾病,吞噬莊稼。它們無緣無故地又叮又咬;夏天的晚上,它們未經(jīng)邀請便飛到我們房間里,或者對著露出亮光的窗戶亂撲亂撞。我們在日常生活中,不但憎惡如蜘蛛、黃蜂之類令人討厭的昆蟲,而且憎惡并無大害的飛蛾等。閱讀有關(guān)昆蟲的書能增加我們對它們的了解,卻不能消除我們的恐懼的心理。即使知道勤奮的螞蟻生活具有高度組織性的社會里,當(dāng)看到大群螞蟻在我們精心準(zhǔn)備的午間野餐上爬行時(shí),我們也無法抑制對它們的反感。不管我們多么愛吃蜂蜜,或讀過多少關(guān)于蜜蜂具有神秘的識別方向的靈感的書,我們?nèi)匀皇趾ε卤环潋?。我們的恐懼大部分是沒有道理的,但去無法消除。同時(shí),不知為什么昆蟲又是迷人的。我們喜歡看有關(guān)昆蟲的書,尤其是當(dāng)我們了解螳螂等過著一種令人生畏的生活時(shí),就更加愛讀有關(guān)昆蟲的書了。我們喜歡入迷地看它們做事,它們不知道(但愿如此)我們就在它們身邊。當(dāng)看到蜘蛛撲向一只蒼蠅時(shí),一隊(duì)螞蟻抬著一只巨大的死甲蟲凱旋歸時(shí),誰能不感到敬畏呢?
去年夏天,我花了好幾天時(shí)間站在花園里觀察成千只螞蟻爬上我那棵心愛的桃樹的樹干。那棵樹是靠著房子有遮擋的一面暖墻生長的。我為這棵樹感到特別自豪,不僅因?yàn)樗冗^了幾個(gè)寒冬終于活了下來,而且還因?yàn)樗袝r(shí)結(jié)出些甘甜的桃子來。到了夏天,我發(fā)現(xiàn)樹葉開始枯萎,結(jié)果在樹葉背面找到成串的叫作蚜蟲小蟲子。蚜蟲遭到一窩螞蟻的攻擊,螞蟻從它們身上可以獲得一種蜜。我當(dāng)即動(dòng)手作了一項(xiàng)試驗(yàn),這項(xiàng)試驗(yàn)盡管沒有使我擺脫這些螞蟻,卻使我著迷了24小時(shí)。我用一條膠帶把桃樹底部包上,不讓螞蟻接近蚜蟲。膠帶極粘,螞蟻不敢從上面爬過。在很長一段時(shí)間里,我看見螞蟻圍著大樹底部來回轉(zhuǎn)悠,不知所措。半夜,我還拿著電筒來到花園里,滿意地(同時(shí)驚奇地)發(fā)現(xiàn)那些螞蟻還圍著膠帶團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)。無能為力。第二天早上,我起床后希望看見螞蟻已因無望而放棄了嘗試,結(jié)果卻發(fā)現(xiàn)它們又找到一條新的路徑。它們正在順著房子的外墻往上爬,然后爬上樹葉。我懊喪地感到敗在了足智多謀的螞蟻的手下。螞蟻已很快找到了相應(yīng)的對策,來對付我那套完全不科學(xué)的辦法!
【詞匯】
insect n. 昆蟲
wage v. 進(jìn)行(斗爭)
contaminate v. 弄臟
provocation n. 惹怒
spider n. 蜘蛛
wasp n. 黃蜂
moth n. 飛蛾
ant n. 螞蟻
revulsion n. 厭惡
horde n. 群
uncanny adj. 神秘的,不可思議的
erase v. 擦,抹去
praying mantis 螳螂
entranced adj. 出神的
beetle n. 甲蟲
sheltered adj. 傷不著的,無危險(xiǎn)的
luscious adj. 甘美的
cluster n. 一簇
aphid n. 蚜蟲
underside n. 底面,下側(cè)
colony n. 一群
sticky adj. 粘的
scurry v. 小步跑
swarm v. 聚集
ingenuity n. 機(jī)靈
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【revulsion】
例句:
1. She stared at the snake in revulsion .
她盯著那條蛇, 感到很厭惡。
2. He had a revulsion against his neighbor.
他對鄰居非常反感。
【uncanny】
例句:
1. He seemed to have an instinct about the cards. It was uncanny .
他好象對牌有一種本能似的,簡直神了。
2. Use your wit, uncanny memory and Cancer charm and you will not end up alone this week.
運(yùn)用你的聰明才智、超強(qiáng)記憶里和巨蟹特有的魅力,本周絕對不會孤獨(dú)。
【erase】
英英:remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing
例句:
1. We cannot erase a single word we said.
我們無法抹去說出的每一個(gè)字。
2. Nothing can erase from her mind the memory of the war.
沒什么東西能夠把戰(zhàn)爭從她的記憶里抹去。
3. When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away.
當(dāng)他人傷害了我們,我們應(yīng)該把它記在沙子上,這樣捎帶原諒的微風(fēng)就可以將它抹去。
【entranced】
例句:
1. From the first note the singer 's voice entranced the audience.
演唱者唱出的第一個(gè)音符就使聽眾出神了。
2. In addition, he was a man of soaring imagination and was entranced by human nature.
除此之外,他還有豐富的想象力,而且對人性有著狂熱的追求與興趣。
【sheltered】
例句:
1. They had led a sheltered life.
他們一直過著安穩(wěn)無憂的生活。
2. The harbour was in a sheltered bay.
港口在一個(gè)隱蔽的海灣里面。
【ingenuity】
例句:
1. Much will depend on the ingenuity of mediators.
這就有賴于調(diào)停者的足智多謀了。
2. It's not cash that's needed, so much as ingenuity and willingness.
因?yàn)榕c錢相比,我們更需要的,是人們的巧思和意愿。
【常用短語】
【bring up】撫養(yǎng),養(yǎng)育
【in dread】在恐懼中
【go about】從事,著手
【stand in awe】敬畏的
【at the sight of】當(dāng)發(fā)現(xiàn)
【get rid of】擺脫,除去
【in bewilderment】困惑,迷亂
【in despair】絕望的