L54-1: Instinct or cleverness?
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 ones 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.
instinct /ˈɪnstɪŋkt/ 本能;天性;直觉
insect /ˈɪnsekt/ 昆虫
do more harm than good 害多益少
wage /weɪdʒ/ 开始，发动， 进行斗争
wage war on 对。。开战
contaminate /kənˈtæmɪneɪt/ 污染，弄脏;玷污
devour /dɪˈvaʊər/ 吞食;吞噬;吞没
sting /stɪŋ/ 刺;蜇;叮
provocation /ˌprɑːvəˈkeɪʃn/ 挑衅;刺激;激怒
wasp /wɑːsp/ 黄蜂;胡蜂
dread /dred/ 畏惧;厌恶，
moth 飞蛾
dispel 消除、驱散
does nothing to prevent 不能阻止
revulsion /rɪˈvʌlʃn/ 厌恶 嫌恶;恶心
horde /hɔːrd/ 部落;一大群人
uncanny /ʌnˈkæni/ 不可思议的;异常的;神秘的
possess /pəˈzes/ 拥有
erase /ɪˈreɪs/ 擦除;清除;消除;
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