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 ageist 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 aphides 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 if 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 aphides. The tape was so stick 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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impossible [im'pɔsəbl] 想一想再看
adj. 不可能的，做不到的
adj.
联想记忆 X 单词impossible 联想记忆：
im不，无，非+plssible可能的→不可能的
spider ['spaidə] 想一想再看
n. 蜘蛛

provocation [.prɔvə'keiʃən] 想一想再看
n. 激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因
联想记忆 X 单词provocation 联想记忆：
provoke激怒+ation表名词，“行为，过程，结果”→激怒
route [ru:t] 想一想再看
n. 路线，(固定)线路，途径
vt. 为 .

organized ['ɔ:gənaiz] 想一想再看
v. 组织

sticky ['stiki] 想一想再看
adj. 粘的，闷热的，困难的，令人不满意的

fascinating ['fæsineitiŋ] 想一想再看
adj. 迷人的
联想记忆 X 单词fascinating 联想记忆：
fascinate使…入迷+ing表形容词，“正 …的”，“令人…的”→迷人的
unreasonable [ʌn'ri:znəbl] 想一想再看
adj. 不合理的，过度的，不切实际的

prevent [pri'vent] 想一想再看
v. 预防，防止
联想记忆 X 单词prevent 联想记忆：
pre预先+vent来→预先来到→抢先一步，防止别人→防止，阻止
possess [pə'zes] 想一想再看
vt. 持有，支配