---
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。
---

# 是本能还是智能？

## 课文学习台 {#study}

### 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?

中文理解：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，不仅害怕蜘蛛、黄蜂之类令人讨厌的虫子，连飞蛾这类相当无害的小虫也让我们担忧。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，但当看到大群蚂蚁在我们精心准备的午间野餐上爬行时，我们还是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时，谁能不感到敬畏呢？

* **brought up**：引起 / 提出或养育；根据宾语分辨意思，避免把 up 与 about 当可替换小词。

* **not only**：不仅 / 两者都不 / 是否；找齐成对结构的两端；不是看见 not only 就一律倒装。

* **filled with**：装满 / 在某人看来；filled with 与 full of 的搭配要配对记，别混成 full with。

* **No matter how**：坚持 / 你介意吗 / 无论多么；on 后接 -ing；Would you mind… 是请求或征求同意，不接动词原形。

* **At the same time**：到……的时候 / 偶尔 / 一直 / 同时；时间词帮助组织先后关系，但不能仅凭一个时间词机械决定时态。

#### 这一段的读法与用法

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。

### 第2段

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：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。那棵树靠着房子有遮挡的一面向阳墙生长。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。一大群蚂蚁前来光顾这些蚜虫，从它们身上获取一种蜜状物。我当即动手做了一项试验，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手下。蚂蚁已经很快找到了相应的对策，来对付我那套完全不科学的办法！

* **not only**：不仅 / 两者都不 / 是否；找齐成对结构的两端；不是看见 not only 就一律倒装。

* **even though**：以便或以致 / 尽管 / 即使 / 仿佛；先判断两部分的关系；even though 说已知情况，even if 常说假设。

* **failed to**：未能做到；可以客观交代未完成的事，不必总理解为能力不足。

* **get rid of**：摆脱；除去；后面说明清除对象，语气比简单的 remove 更口语化。

* **a long time**：形容词与名词一起理解；先结合这句确定是在评价位置、距离还是经历，不把 good 一律换成中文“好”。

* **got up**：起床 / 赖在床上 / 吃早餐；把一天中的动作作为整体记忆；三餐前通常不加冠词。

* **given up**：放弃 / 让步 / 送出或泄露；先辨认动作和对象，再决定能否替换。

* **in despair**：匆忙地 / 绝望地 / 惊讶地 / 默默地 / 徒劳地；把短语连同动作一起记，观察它如何补出人物状态。

#### 这一段的读法与用法

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

保留原段的推进关系，换成自己的经历，写或说一段四五句的话。

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

*译文与解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；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。*