loading新概念英语第三册逐句精讲语言点第54课(4)
Instinct or Cleverness? 本能还是机智
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?
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!
10.At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating.
同时，不知为什么昆虫又是迷人的。
11.We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives.
我们喜欢看相关昆虫的书，尤其是当我们了解螳螂等过着一种令人生畏的生活时，就更加爱读相关昆虫的书了。
语言点：lead a…life的意思是“过…的生活”。
12.We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence.
我们喜欢入迷地看它们做事，它们不知道（但愿如此）我们就在它们身边。
语言点1：句子结构分析：“entranced as_时间状语从句”补充说明“看”的状态。
语言点2：go about的意思是“着手做。”