Lesson 54:Instinct or cleverness? 是本能还是机智
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Was the writer successful in protecting his peach tree? Why not?
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 ageist 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 tat the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither. Clusters of tin 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 if 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!
New words and expressions 生词和短语
insect
n. 昆虫
wage
v. 进行（斗争）
contaminate
v. 弄脏
provocation
n. 惹怒
spider
n. 蜘蛛
wasp
n. 黄蜂
moth
n. 飞蛾
ant
n. 蚂蚁
revulsion
n. 厌恶
horde
n. 群
uncanny
adj. 神秘的，不可思议的
erase
v. 擦，抹去
praying mantis
螳螂
entranced
adj. 出神的
beetle
n. 甲虫
sheltered
adj. 伤不着的，无危险的
luscious
adj. 甘美的
cluster
n. 一簇
aphid
n. 蚜虫
underside
n. 底面，下侧
colony
n. 一群
sticky
adj. 粘的
scurry
v. 小步跑
swarm
v. 聚集
ingenuity
n. 机灵
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的心理。即使知道勤奋的蚂蚁生活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，但去无法消除。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小虫子。蚜虫遭到一窝蚂蚁的攻击，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）发现那些蚂蚁还围着胶带团团转。无能为力。第二天早上，我起床后希望看见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的手下。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！
新概念英语正版图书购买
自学导读
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。
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
【New words and expressions】 生词和短语
●insect n. 昆虫
●wage v. 进行（斗争）
●contaminate v. 弄脏
●provocation n. 惹怒
●spider n. 蜘蛛
●wasp n. 黄蜂
●moth n. 飞蛾
●ant n. 蚂蚁
●revulsion n. 厌恶
●horde n. 群
●uncanny adj. 神秘的，不可思议的
●erase v. 擦，抹去
●praying mantis 螳螂
●entranced adj. 出神的
●beetle n. 甲虫
●sheltered adj. 伤不着的，无危险的
●luscious adj. 甘美的
●cluster n. 一簇
●aphid n. 蚜虫
●underside n. 底面，下侧
●colony n. 一群
●sticky adj. 粘的
●scurry v. 小步跑
●swarm v. 聚集
●ingenuity n. 机灵
◆insect n. 昆虫
◆wage v. 进行（斗争）
wage: begin and continue a struggle
wage a war against / on
Eg: life means perpetual struggle against poverty.
carry on
undertake to do 着手
Eg: He undertook to inform people concerned.
engage in / be engaged in / be determined on sth. / be dedicated to sth. / be devoted to sth.
◆◆◆contaminate v. 弄脏
contaminate / pollute
contaminate: make dirty or bad or impure by mixing with dirty or poisonous matter.
Eg: Don’t eat the apple. It has been contaminated by flies.
Never eat food contaminated by flies.
Don’t read the hot story just because it will contaminate your mind. 别阅读黄色书刊。
hot story 色情小说 blue movie 色情电影
pollute
Eg: The air has been polluted severely / terribly / badly.
pollution / polluted
tint vt. 弄脏(通常指坏因素对你的影响)
Eg: Don’t read the hot story just because it will contaminate / tint your mind.
His reputation was tinted by the scandal. 他的名声被丑闻沾污了。
scandal 丑闻
foul : 弄脏 make sth. dirty
Eg: Dogs are forbidden to go into the streets because we are afraid the streets will be fouled.
The factory is responsible for fouling up the air. (相当于pollute)
foul up == pollute
defile 弄脏，污染 make sth. impure
Eg: I like honey, but I don’t want to drink the honey defiled by flies.
poison / foul up / pollute
Eg: Gases from cars are poisoning the air of our city.
Read: pollute / foul up / poison / contaminate / defile / tint
Eg: He is contaminated / tinted by hot stories.
Hot stories contaminate / tint his mind.
◆provocation n. 惹怒
provoke v.
1. make angry or bad-tempered
Eg: He was provoked beyond his endurance.
He was provoked and it was more than he could endure.
2. cause 引起，导致，激起
arouse
Eg: The book arouses / provokes my interest.
bring about / result in / lead to / give rise to
provoke sb’s interest in sth.
provoke sb, to do / provoke sb. into doing / cause sb. to do sth.
Eg: You provoked him to say so. Why?
L54-01 end 18’53”
L54-02 begin 18’48”
Eg: His provocation is beyond my endurance.
◆spider n. 蜘蛛
◆wasp n. 黄蜂
◆moth n. 飞蛾
◆ant n. 蚂蚁
◆revulsion n. 厌恶
disgust / dislike
◆horde n. 群
◆uncanny adj. 神秘的，不可思议的
mysterious
Eg: They are leading a mysterious life.
In spite of this, he survived mysteriously.
eerie 怪诞的，奇异的
Eg: He looks eerie. / What he said is eerie to me.
weird 怪异的，怪诞的，神秘的 （行为举止让人摸不着头尾）
Eg: I can’t get along well with him because he is a weird person.
Why do you decide to many such a weird person?
cryptic 神秘的，鬼鬼崽崽的
Eg: Why did you do such a little thing in a cryptic way.
Read: eerie / weird / cryptic / mysterious / uncanny
◆erase v. 擦，抹去
Eg: Erease the idea from your mind!
He erases the name from the namelist.
cancel / write off / cross off
Eg: The word is unnecessary here, so it is crossed off.
wipe out
Eg: I want to write on the blackboard, so I have to wipe all the words here out.
I can’t imaging why you are so hot, please wipe out sweat on your face.
obliterate 涂去
Eg: He obliterated two words in ink / with a pen.
I obliterate the word with chalk.
◆praying mantis 螳螂
◆entranced adj. 出神的
entrance
entrance to the room / hall
entrance: carry away with joy and delight 入迷，出神
be entranced in thought
Eg: I don’t know what he has in his mind. Anyway he is entranced in thought.
be entranced with fear 吓得魂不附体
Eg: At the story at night, I was entranced with fear.
be pleased with / be satisfied with / be popular with / be entranced with performance / film / book
Eg: He was entranced with film.
Are you entranced with the story?
He listened to the story entranced.
The writer watched ants entranced.
◆beetle n. 甲虫
◆sheltered adj. 伤不着的，无危险的
◆luscious adj. 甘美的
◆cluster n. 一簇
◆aphid n. 蚜虫
◆underside n. 底面，下侧
◆colony n. 一群
◆sticky adj. 粘的
◆scurry v. 小步跑
◆swarm v. 聚集
◆ingenuity n. 机灵
Eg: The boy shows ingenulity in making toys.
【课文讲解】
背熟：We have been brought up to fear insects.
Eg: We have been brought up to eat certain food.
We have learnt to do ...
We have learnt to fear insects.
Girls have been brought up to fear mice.
do more harm than good
Eg: The exercese will do you good.
Smoking will do you harm.
wage war against / wage war on them
Eg: Two dogs benefited from the accident and they devoured the remains of the cake.
Her eyes devour the beautiful dress.
fly uninvited into our rooms / without being invited 不请自来
做定语时，light 只能用lighted 形式。
背熟：We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless one like moths.
Eg: I did so as / because I believe that you can do it well.
I did so in the belief that...
in the thought that / in the hope that
in / under
Eg: Even he still lives under the illusion that country life is much more veautiful.
L54-02 end 18’48”
L54-03 begin 18’57”
Eg: We live under the illusion that city life is wonderful.
in dread: in fear
in dread of
dread doing / dread to do
ones: insects
在使用not only..., but (also ) ... (as well) 句型时，要突出介词短语或动词短语中的介词，则此介词要重复出现。
Eg: I live in dread not only of dogs, but of cats.
be afraid of
Eg: I am afraid not only of dogs, but of cats.
both ... and ...
Eg: We live in dread of both dogs and cats.
I am interested not only in English, but in French.
dispel : erase ／get rid of / remove消除
Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society does nothing to prevent us from being
主语 谓语
filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.
时间状语从句
disgusting
in a highly organized society
Eg: We live in a highly organized society.
用does nothing to do造句
Eg: Doing so does nothing to prevent me from hating you.
prevent sb. from doing sth.
Eg: Nothing will prevent me from saying so.
Whatever you say does nothing to prevent me from attaining / accomplish my goal.
accomplish goal / attain goal
accomplish aim / attain aim
horde / colony
crawl / creep / climb
背熟：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.
No matter how: however much
dread / fear / horror / terror
we become illogical when we have a horror of being stung.
It is impossible for us to do sth.
It is impossible for us to erase the fears.
It is easy for everyone to read. / it is easy to read.
be fascinated with
strangely: uncanny
go about their Business: as they do what they should do
as they get down to their Business
Let us get down to our Business.
You should go about your Business. 你该干你应该干的事。
背熟：Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly
L54-03 end 18’57”
Lesson54A end 56:23
Lesson54B begin 35:17
L54-04 begin 20’16”
stand in awe: fear but respect
pounce on: jump at / charge at
stand in awe of
Eg: Generally speaking, employees stand in awe of their employer.
In primary school, puples stand in awe of their teacher.
a colony of ants
Paragraph 2:
prize: dear
如果要突出原因，则要重复because
wither
horde / colony / column / cluster
were to be found / were found
see / find / congratulate (祝贺) 常和be to 搭配，用于被动语态。
Eg: The boy was found behind the door.
The boy was to be found behind the door.
He was congratulated by his friends.
He was to be congratulated by his friends.
We can’t find him anywhere. / We can find him nowhere.
He is nowhere to be found / seen.
which obtained: to obtain
embark on: set out to do / set about doing
Eg: I immediately set out to do an experiment.
本课的要点内容：even though if failed to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated for twenty-four hours.
kept me fascinated : kept me occupied
bind / bound
背熟：I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphids.
making it impossible for sb. to do
Eg: I work hard making it possible to pass the examination.
I prepared dinner carefully, making it possible to please my guests.
They didn’t dare to cross it. / They dared not cross it.
need
Eg: You needn’t come here on Sunday. 助动词
You don’t need to come here on Sunday. 实义动词
in bewilderment: were lost
swarming around
without being albe to do anything about it
unable to do anything about it
背熟：I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair.
hoping to do: in the hope that
背熟：I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity.
I took a beating completely.
be quick to find answer to / a solution to
Eg: Daniel Mendoza was quick to learn.
Ants are quick to find answer to their problem.
L54-04 end 20’16”
L54-05 begin 11’58”
【Vocabulary】P246
Explain the meanings of the ofllowing words as they are used in the passage: contaminate (l.3); devour (l.4); provocation (l.4); dispelling (l.8); revulsion (l.9); pouncing (l.15)
contaminate: make dirty, make impure
contaminate / taint
contaminate / defile
pollute / foul up / poison
devour: eat hungrily
provocation: being make angry
provoke: make angry
dispelling: erasing
dispel: erase
Nothing can dispel our fear.
industrious: hard working
revolsion: dislike
pouncing： jumping at suddenly
pounce on: 猛扑向
Eg: The customs officer pounced on my tiny bottle.(L11)
【Key to Multiple choice questions】
1. B 2. D 3. A 4. C 5. C 6. A 7. C 8. D 9. B 10. B 11. B 12. C
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