自学新概念英语第三册笔记 Lessons 54

学以致用

　　Notes on the text 课文注释

　　1  do more harm than good，害多益少。

　　2  wage war on，对……开战。

　　3  does nothing to prevent，不能阻止……。

　　4  go about…，做……。

　　5  stand in awe，肃然起敬。

　　参考译文

　　我们自幼就在对昆虫的惧怕中长大。我们把昆虫当作害多益少的无用东西。人类不断地同昆虫斗争，因为昆虫弄脏我们的食物，传播疾病，吞噬庄稼。它们无缘无故地又叮又咬；夏天的晚上，它们未经邀请便飞到我们房间里，或者对着露出亮光的窗户乱扑乱撞。我们在日常生活中，不但憎恶如蜘蛛、黄蜂之类令人讨厌的昆虫，而且憎恶并无大害的飞蛾等。阅读有关昆虫的书能增加我们对它们的了解，却不能消除我们的恐惧心理。即使知道勤奋的蚂蚁生活在具有高度组织性的社会里，当看到大群蚂蚁在我们精心准备的午间野餐上爬行时，我们也无法抑制对它们的反感。不管我们多么爱吃蜂蜜，或读过多少关于蜜蜂具有神秘的识别方向的灵感的书，我们仍然十分害怕被蜂蜇。我们的恐惧大部分是没有道理的，但却无法消除。同时，不知为什么昆虫又是迷人的。我们喜欢看有关昆虫的书，尤其是当我们了解到螳螂等过着一种令人生畏的生活时，就更加爱读有关昆虫的书了。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。当看到蜘蛛扑向一只苍蝇时，一队蚂蚁抬着一只巨大的死甲虫凯旋而归时，谁能不感到敬畏呢？

　　去年夏天，我花了好几天时间站在花园里观察成千只蚂蚁爬上我那棵心爱的桃树的树干。那棵树是靠着房子有遮挡的一面暖墙生长的。我为这棵树感到特别自豪，不仅因为它度过了几个寒冬终于活了下来，而且还因为它有时结出些甘甜的桃子来。到了夏天，我发现树叶开始枯萎，结果在树叶背面找到成串的叫作蚜虫的小虫子。蚜虫遭到了一窝蚂蚁的攻击，蚂蚁从它们身上可以获得一种蜜。我当即动手作了一项试验，这项试验尽管没有使我摆脱这些蚂蚁，却使我着迷了24小时。我用一条胶带把桃树底部包上，不让蚂蚁接近蚜虫。胶带极粘，蚂蚁不敢从上面爬过。在很长一段时间里，我看见蚂蚁围着大树底部来回转悠，不知所措。半夜，我还拿着电筒来到花园里，满意地（同时惊奇地）发现那些蚂蚁还在围着胶带团团转，无能为力。第二天早上，我起床后希望看到蚂蚁已因无望而放弃了尝试，结果却发现它们又找到一条新的路径。它们正在顺着房子的外墙往上爬，然后爬上树叶。我懊丧地感到败在了足智多谋的蚂蚁手下。蚂蚁已很快找到了相应的对策，来对付我那套完全不科学的办法！

　　Multiple choice questions 多项选择题

　　Choose the correct answers to the following questions.

　　Comprehension 理解

　　1  We may learn more about the behaviour of insects ______ .

　　a．and become so fascinated by them that we are no longer moved by them

　　b．but we are no less likely to lose our irrational fear of them

　　c．provided they remain unaware of our presence while we observe them

　　d．as long as they only harm each other and not us

　　2  The ant is an insect which ______ .

　　a．will eat its way through anything from picnic lunches to aphids

　　b．lives in a highly organized society which we find disgusting

　　c．once it has killed its prey, will bear it home in a triumphal column

　　d．shows great ingenuity at finding its way round any obstacle in its path

　　3  Had the peach tree been planted on the opposite side of the house ______ .

　　a．it might not have survived the severe winters

　　b．the writer would not have spent days looking at it

　　c．the ants would have had further to go before reaching it

　　d．the ants would not have found another route of access to the leaves

　　4  The reason for the ants' swarming up and down the tree was that ______ .

　　a．they collected a kind of honey from the leaves

　　b．they fed on a kind of honey contained in the sap of the tree

　　c．they were milking a kind of honey from the aphids on the leaves

　　d．they needed to go back to their nest in the branches of the tree

　　Structure 结构

　　5  By reading about them, we may increase our understanding but ______ dispel our fears. (11. 7-8)

　　a．we will not

　　b．it does not

　　c．this will not

　　d．not

　　6  Most of our fears are unreasonable, but we find ______ _(1. 12)

　　a．it impossible to erase them

　　b．that they cannot erase

　　c．them to erase impossible

　　d．erasing them impossible

　　7  ---- an experiment which, ______ failure to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated. (11. 22-23)

　　a．even though it was

　　b．in spite of the

　　c．despite its

　　d．was a

　　8  ______ long to find an answer to…(11. 30-31)

　　a．The ants had not been

　　b．The ants had not been

　　c．The ants had not spent

　　d．It had not taken the ants

　　Vocabulary 词汇

　　9  Even when we know that the ant is an industrious creature which leads a highly organized life, we cannot ______ being filled with… (11. 8-10)

　　a．refuse

　　b．help

　　c．prevent

　　d．lose

　　10  ---- we have read about the ______ sense of direction which bee possess … (1. 11)

　　a．unknown

　　b．mysterious

　　c．infinite

　　d．disabled

　　11  The tree occasionally produces ______ _fruit. (11. 19-20)

　　a．deliciously fresh

　　b．sweet and juicy

　　c．tender

　　d．exotic

　　12  I had been completely defeated by the ______ _(11. 29-30)

　　a．speedy swarms

　　b．hungry hordes

　　c．inventive creatures

　　d．ingenuous insects