---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-3/54-instinct-or-cleverness.md
description: 新概念英语第三册：Instinct or Cleverness?。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 54 · 是本能还是机智？

### 第1段

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!

中文理解：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！

* **have been brought up**：从小受到某种教育；be brought up to do 说成长塑造，不是正在把某物带上楼。

* **do more harm than good**：弊大于利；固定搭配用 do，不说 make harm。

* **wage war on**：向……开战；竭力对付；wage war on 可作比喻，本课指人类不断消灭昆虫。

* **without provocation**：无缘无故地；未受挑衅地；描述没有明显挑衅，不能据此当成对所有动物行为的科学结论。

* **increases our understanding**：加深我们的理解；increase / deepen understanding of + 主题，不只记 understand 的中文。

* **a horror of**：对……的强烈恐惧；have a horror of + 名词或 doing，保持 of。

* **At the same time**：与此同时；可强调同时发生；议论中也可补另一面。

* **go about their business**：忙自己的事；business 在这里是日常活动，不一定指经商。

* **at the sight of**：一看见……就；at 引出触发情绪的情景，of 后接看到的对象。

* **proud of**：为……自豪；of后接人、事物或动名词，不直接接动词原形。

* **on the underside of**：在……的底面；underside 与 surface 区分，描述空间位置比笼统 under 更准。

* **embarked on an experiment**：着手做了一项实验；embark on + 任务；实验结论仍需检验，不因动词正式就科学。

* **get rid of**：摆脱；除去；人作宾语时可能显得不客气，注意语境。

* **did not dare to**：不敢……；did not dare to do；dare 作情态也可见 dare not do。

* **in bewilderment**：困惑不解地；将抽象困惑与可见动作搭配。

* **noted with satisfaction**：满意地注意到；note that + 观察内容，with satisfaction 说明观察者的态度。

* **in despair**：绝望地；无可奈何地；交代人物绝望或无计可施的状态，而不是事情必然没有结果。

* **had discovered a new route**：已找到一条新路；discover a route to / through，课文借改道揭示原办法失败。

* **had been completely defeated**：已彻底败下阵来；完成被动把失败放在领悟之前，注意是谁打败谁。

* **quick to find an answer**：很快找到了办法；be quick to do 说反应快，区别 quickly 是修饰行动的副词。

#### 原文注释 · We have been brought up to fear insects.

注释：①Knowing…society 为主语，不是从句，主语中包含一个that 引导的从句作动名词knowing 的宾语。②No matter 引导的状语从句中，含有一个about…possess 状语，该状语中有一个which 引导的定语从句修饰direction。③entranced…presence 属于过去分词作伴随状语，不是从句，该状语中含一个as 引导的时间状语从句。we hope 的括号是原文中便有的，并不是定语符号，在这里作插入语。④contaminate = make impure or dirty。⑤devour = eat, consume (completely)。⑥provocation = being made angry or bad-tempered。⑦dispelling = getting rid of。⑧industrious = hard-working。 ⑨revulsion = disgust。⑩pouncing = jumping。

#### 原文注释 · Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree.

注释：①by…them 是方式状语，不是从句，其中含有一个which 引导的定语从句修饰 ants，从句中含有一个状语from them。②that 引导的so…that 结构中的结果状语从句。 ③and surprise 的括号是原文中有的，不是定语符号。

\[语法符号讲解] \[1]本句中that 引导的宾语从句只是hoping 引导的状语中的额外细分，故最后宾语从句的结尾只包括第一个表示in despair 状语的中括号，不包括第二个表示hoping 状语的中括号，即“air]].”

#### Summary 摘要

The writer saw thousands of ants crawling up his peach tree. Then he noticed the leaves of the tree were withering and found there were aphids under the leaves. They were being visited by the ants. In an effort to stop them, he bound the base of the tree with sticky tape and of course they couldn't cross it. By the next morning, however, they had solved the problem: they were climbing onto the leaves from the house wall. (79 words)

#### Composition 作文

\[1]According to my dictionary, "pests" are "small animals or insects that harm or destroy food supplies". But for me, they are more than that: they are insects and small animals that spread disease and damage property, too. Whatever they do and however you define them, pests have been a major problem to man throughout history. Man has tried to control or exterminate these creatures, but never with very much success.

\[2]In some ways, insets are the worst pests. Ants, locusts and beetles damage property, woodwork, crops and harvest, and in this century we have sprayed crops with insecticides and pesticides to protect them from insects. The problem now is that there are some insects that have become immune to pesticides. Rats and mice eat our food supplies too and spread disease, and people have tried to kill or catch them with poison or traps. But again, they are still with us. We haven't managed to exterminate them.

\[3]Let's not forget, however, that for farmers, certain birds are "pests" too. In Britain, seagulls, pigeons and other birds often fly down in their hundreds (or even thousands) to pick up seeds when farmers are planting crops. Years ago, farmers used to stand scarecrows in the fields to frighten away birds, but I'm not sure how effective they were.

\[4]We have tried different things, then, to control pests, and we have managed to hold some pests in check. However, some are a big problem, both in the major industrial nations and in the Third World. While locusts are a terrible problem in countries like Sudan and Ethiopia, rats are still a problem in most large cities in the world. We might control pests to a certain extent, but we shall never get rid of them. (292 words)

## 学完这一课

用 Knowing that… does not stop me from… 区分理性知识与情绪反应。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-3/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第192—196页，2022年2月第3版。*