54 · 是本能还是机智？
Instinct or Cleverness?
读懂长句与段落衔接，分清事实、推断和观点，再连贯复述或说明。
原稿 quite harmless one like moths 中 one 的复数指代值得注意；结合前后文，通常应说 harmless ones。
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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 sticky 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!
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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 sticky 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!
我们从小就被教导要害怕昆虫，觉得它们多余而且害多益少。我们不停地与它们作战，因为它们会污染食物、传播疾病，或者啃食庄稼。没有招惹它们，它们也会蜇人、咬人；夏夜还会不请自来，飞进房间，或撞击亮着灯的窗户。我们不仅害怕蜘蛛、黄蜂这些惹人厌的小东西，连飞蛾这样无害的生物，也一样怕。阅读有关它们的知识，能增加了解，却消除不了恐惧。即使知道勤劳的蚂蚁生活在高度有序的群体里，看见成群蚂蚁爬满自己精心准备的野餐，我们仍会厌恶不已。不论多喜欢蜂蜜，不论读过多少关于蜜蜂惊人方向感的知识，我们还是害怕被蜇。多数恐惧并不合理，却又无法抹去。可与此同时，昆虫又奇特地引人着迷。我们爱读它们的故事，尤其发现它们像螳螂那样，过着令人毛骨悚然的生活时。我们也爱出神地观察它们忙自己的事，希望它们没有察觉我们的存在。谁不曾看着蜘蛛猛扑苍蝇，或者一列蚂蚁得胜般地抬着一只巨大的死甲虫回巢，而感到惊叹呢？
去年夏天，我接连好些天待在花园，观察成千上万只蚂蚁爬上自己那棵珍爱的桃树。这棵树长在房屋避风的一侧，贴着一面温暖的墙。我格外为它自豪，不光因为它熬过了好几个严冬，还因为它偶尔会结出香甜多汁的桃子。夏季里，我发现树叶开始枯萎，叶背聚集着一群群叫作蚜虫的小虫，许多蚂蚁来找它们，从中取得一种蜜汁。我立即做了个实验，虽然没能除掉蚂蚁，却让我兴致勃勃地观察了整整二十四小时。我用黏胶带缠住树干根部，挡住蚂蚁通往蚜虫的路。胶带太黏，蚂蚁不敢跨过去。我看了很久，只见它们在树根周围慌乱地打转、不知所措。午夜时，我甚至拿着手电筒出去查看，既满意又惊讶地发现，蚂蚁还在胶带周围成群乱转，毫无办法。第二天一早，我满以为它们已经绝望放弃，结果却看见，它们找到了一条新路：先爬上屋墙，再爬到树叶上。我沮丧地意识到，自己被它们的机智彻底打败了。面对我这套完全不科学的办法，蚂蚁很快就找到了对策！
学完这一课
用 Knowing that… does not stop me from… 区分理性知识与情绪反应。
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