新概念英語第三冊：Instinct or cleverness?
Instinct or cleverness? 是本能還是機(jī)智
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?
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，因為昆蟲弄臟我們的食物，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，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卤环潋亍Ｎ覀兊目謶执蟛糠质菦]有道理的，但去無法消除。同時，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，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，一隊螞蟻抬著一只巨大的死甲蟲凱旋歸時，誰能不感到敬畏呢?
New words and expressions 生詞與短語
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
