第72課 聰明的蜘蛛
You may have seen men setting nets in the sea, or in a river, to catch fish. Let me tell you about the little animals that are always setting nets in your house and in your garden in much the same way. These animals are called spiders, and they use their nets or webs to catch flies and other insects.
你可能看到過有人在海面或河面上撒網(wǎng)捕魚?,F(xiàn)在, 我來跟你說一說, 有一種動物經(jīng)常在你的家里、花園里結(jié)網(wǎng)捕食。這種動物叫做蜘蛛, 它們利用自己的網(wǎng)來捕食蒼蠅與其他昆蟲。
The spider itself is not an insect. An insect has only six legs, while the spider has eight. The insect's body is plainly divided into three parts; but the spider has its body in two parts only, the head and the chest being united into one part, while the belly forms the other. Insects have four wings;spiders have no wings. Spiders, again, have no feelers in front of their heads, as insects have.
蜘蛛并不屬于昆蟲, 因?yàn)槔ハx只有六條腿, 但蜘蛛有八條;昆蟲的身體很明顯地分為三個部分, 但是蜘蛛則只有兩個部分:它們的頭部與胸部連接在一起, 腹部則構(gòu)成另外一部分。昆蟲長有四只翅膀;而蜘蛛沒有翅膀。蜘蛛的頭部也沒有昆蟲那樣的觸角。
An insect lays an egg, which changes first into a grub or cater-pillar, then into a pupa or chrysalis, and lastly into an insect. The spider also lays eggs, but each egg produces a perfect little baby spider. The perfect insect never grows bigger;but the little spiders grow so fast for a time that they have to throw off their leathery skins, and grow larger ones every few weeks.
昆蟲產(chǎn)卵, 然后孵化為幼蟲或毛蟲, 再變成蛹并最終生長為昆蟲。蜘蛛同樣產(chǎn)卵, 但是每一顆卵都能夠孵化出結(jié)構(gòu)完整的小蜘蛛。昆蟲成蟲身體不會生長變大, 但是小蜘蛛的生長速度卻快, 經(jīng)過一段時間之后就要蛻皮, 每過幾周時間身體就會長大一些。
The web of the spider is made of silk. This silk is formed inside the spider's body as a gummy fluid. It is squeezed out of several holes at the end of the spider's body, and the moment it comes out into the air it hardens and forms a delicate thread. The spider twists several of these fine threads together to form one strong line.
蜘蛛網(wǎng)由細(xì)絲構(gòu)成, 這些細(xì)絲來自其體內(nèi)的粘稠液體。蜘蛛通過身體末端的幾個小孔將這些液體排出, 它們一遇到空氣就會立刻凝固并形成細(xì)線。蜘蛛將這些細(xì)線纏繞在一起, 形成一條結(jié)實(shí)的繩索。
英語美文