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！

Comprehension

理解



Give short answers to these questions in your own words as far as possible. Use one complete sentence for each answer.

1What is our attitude to insects?

2Why does man try to exterminate insects?

3What do we enjoy most when reading about insects?

Vocabulary

词汇

Explain the meanings of the following words as they are used in the passage: contaminate (1. 3); devour (1. 4); provocation (1. 4); dispelling (1. 8); industrious (1. 8); revulsion (1. 9); pouncing (1. 15).

Summary writing

摘要写作

Describe in not more than 80 words what the writer saw and did when he tried to prevent the ants from climbing up his peach tree. Use your own words as far as possible. Do not include anything that is not in the last paragraph.

Composition

作文



Write a Composition in about 300 words on one of the following:

aWrite an account of any insect you have read about or observed.

bDescribe man's efforts to control pests.

Letter writing

书信写作

A friend took some amusing photographs of you when you were on holiday together some time ago. Write him a letter of about 100 words asking him what he has been doing since then and requesting that he sendyou copies of the photographs he took.

Key structures and Special difficulties

关键句型和难点

Rewrite the following sentence without changing the meaning. Then refer to 11. 24-25.

The tape was sticky and they did not dare to cross it.

The tape was so …

Multiple choice questions

多项选择题

Choose the correct answers to the following questions.

Comprehension 理解

1We 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

2The 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

3Had 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

4The 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

5By 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

6Most 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

9Even 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

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

a．deliciously fresh

b．sweet and juicy

c．tender

d．exotic

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

a．speedy swarms

b．hungry hordes

c．inventive creatures

d．ingenuous insects