时间:2018-12-05 作者:英语课 分类:国家地理2007年


英语课
They're the big, hairy spiders of our nightmares. And it's no wonder we are afraid. Tarantulas are the biggest of all the arachnids. These spiders are killing 1 machines perfectly 2 adapted to their habitats. And the biggest and battiest of them all is the Goliath. It can grow to nearly a foot across with fangs 3 an inch long. The Goliath makes its home in the remote rainforests of South America.

Night is when the Goliath is most active. But for these ambush 4 predators 5, hunting means lying in wait. Near the entrance to her burrow 6, she lays down a silk welcome mat. It acts like a tripwire letting her know when something has ventured within range. Even with eight eyes, Goliaths like most spiders have weak vision. They are alerted to the presence of prey 7 by vibrations 8 rippling 9 across their sensitive hairs. It's only a matter of time before some hapless creature like this floor mouse wanders too close and brushes against the silk. It's like ringing a dinner bell. The Goliath's venom 10 proves fatal to this mouse.

But for most people, the tarantula's bite is no worse than a bee sting. According to researchers, there has never been a single confirmed human death from a tarantula bite. Perhaps knowing the facts about these ancient predators can help turn human fear into fascination 11.

tarantula: a very large hairy spider found chiefly in tropical and subtropical America

arachnid: an arthropod of the class Arachnida, which includes spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks

Goliath: a person or thing of enormous size or strength

lie in wait: wait in hiding to attack

tripwire: a wire that is stretched close to the ground and activates a trap, explosion, or alarm when disturbed



1 killing
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
2 perfectly
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
3 fangs
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座
  • The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 ambush
n.埋伏(地点);伏兵;v.埋伏;伏击
  • Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
  • Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。
5 predators
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面)
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 burrow
vt.挖掘(洞穴);钻进;vi.挖洞;翻寻;n.地洞
  • Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
  • The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。
7 prey
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
8 vibrations
n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 );震动;感受;(偏离平衡位置的)一次性往复振动
  • We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
  • I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了,她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 rippling
起涟漪的,潺潺流水般声音的
  • I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
  • The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。
10 venom
n.毒液,恶毒,痛恨
  • The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
  • In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上,毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。
11 fascination
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋
  • He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
  • His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。
学英语单词
acrolin
afflicted child
ambassadrix
anticensus
APC
autistic disorder (autism)
beyond recovery
buffered mode
cam and lever
cash surrender value of life insurance
check routine test
chronic radiation dose
chx
closet case
co-constituent
commutator-group isomorphism
comprehensive ultrasonic examination record
cost level
countersunk riveting
demavend (damavand)
diacetylurea
discount at
education u.s. copyright act
enamorments
end edge
Energy Department
environmental emergency response
equivalent-circuit parameter
euvernyl
family balanidaes
foundry production line
fraudulent conduct
fulminating
Goubéré
Guillemin line
gym-shoes
harbo(u)r facilities
heart conduction system
illegal function code
indents
industrial relations manager
initial magnetization characteristic
inkiest
insect bait
KAMAXIN
kingdoms of swaziland
latent infection
leave ... with
LeukotrieneA4
line mutual-inductance
Lysimachia auriculata
make as if to do
manual quickopening manhole
mechanics of the foreign exchange market
metri gratia
misproduction
Montanska Oblast
oil-immersed tubes
omnibearing distance facility
operation flow chart
paregorism
pollex (pl.pollices)
popularisms
port control block design
presumptive region
programmable calculating oscilloscope
radiant heat test
real compact
residual atomic charge
roomiest
rubber proofing
run time administration routine
Saletin
self-dual configuration
sensitivity to light
sloping louver of the hood
small scale yielding
Sodom and Gomorrah
specific gravity selection
spindoctors
straw discharging chain
stretch it a bit
suborder mugiloideas
sustainable agriculture and rural development
symmetrical state
tape limit
top dead point
tricholoma saponaceum
trunk loop
Umm al Tuz
unbased
unintuitively
uniplanar flow
Usk
Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
vigilance committees
voucher payable account
Whiggism
Whiteman Ra.
wireline well logging
writs of execution
zultanite