Module 6Unexplained Mysteries of the Natural World

詞匯短語園地

1. attack vt. 襲擊；攻擊；（用語言或文字）猛烈抨擊，侵襲；進攻

They attacked this village during the night.

他們在夜間襲擊了這個村莊。

My friend was attacked by a young man while walking home alone.

我的朋友獨自回家時遭到了一個年輕人的襲擊。

She has been attacked for ignoring her son.

她因漠視自己的兒子而受到責難。

Scientists find a new disease that will attack mans brain.

科學家發現了一種會侵襲人類大腦的新的疾病。

Spain attacked more in the second half.

西班牙隊在下半場加強了攻勢。

attack n. 襲擊；攻擊；辱罵；抨擊；（疾病的）突然發作

The planes began their attack on the city.

飛機開始攻擊這個城市。

The city came under attack during the night.

這座城市在夜間遭到了襲擊。

He is recovering from an attack of flu.

他的流行性感冒快好了。

attacker n. 進攻者；襲擊者

I didnt really see the attacker.

我沒有看清楚襲擊我的人。

2. frightening adj. 嚇人的；引起恐懼的

Its frightening to think that this kind of thing will happen again.

想到這類事情可能再發生就讓人不寒而栗。

frighten v. 使驚嚇；使恐嚇

frightened adj. 受驚嚇的；受驚的

比較：frightening和frightened的區別

frightening表示某物使人產生害怕的情緒，主語是物；frightened表示某人處于害怕的狀態，主語是人。

The idea of death is frightening to most people.

死的想法對于大多數人來說都是可怕的。

He was frightened to look down from the top of the tall building.

他害怕從高樓頂部往下看。

3. exist vi. 存在

Does life exist in other planet？

其他行星上有生命嗎？

exist on 靠……生活/生存

It was impossible for them to exist on such a small income.

他們要靠這一點收入生活是不可能的。

existence n. 存在；實有

came into existence 存在

existent n. & adj. 存在（或實有）的事物；存在的

existing adj. 現存的；現行的

4. calm adj. 平靜的

Although she was shocked by this news， her voice was surprisingly calm.

雖然這個消息讓她很震驚，但她的聲音卻出人意料的平靜。

You must try to be calm.

你必須設法冷靜下來。

calm v. 使平靜；使鎮靜

They did what they could to calm her.

他們盡量使她平靜下來。

calm down （使）平靜；鎮靜；安靜

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

他深深吸了幾口氣，讓自己冷靜下來。

calmness n. 平靜；冷靜；鎮靜

It would be wise to deal with these problems with calmness.

冷靜地處理這些問題才是明智的。

calm n. 平靜的時期；寧靜的狀態

I like the calm of the summer evening.

我喜歡夏日夜晚的寧靜。

the calm before the storm 暴風雨前的平靜

calmly adv. 平靜地；冷靜地；鎮靜地

She recovered from her surprise， and answered calmly.

她從驚慌中恢復過來，并且鎮靜地給予了回答。

5. cover vt. 占地（多大面積）；包括；覆蓋，遮蓋

The city covered ten square miles.

這座城市占地十平方英里。

The discussion covered a wide range of subjects.

這個討論涵蓋了廣泛的內容。

Dust covered all the furniture.

所有的家具都被灰塵給覆蓋了。

cover n. 封面；蓋子，套子；遮蓋物，隱蔽處

read form cover to cover 從頭看到底

take cover 藏身；躲藏

under cover 保密；秘密地

6. disappear vi. 不見；消失

When spring comes， the snow disappears.

春天來臨時，積雪全都不見了。

Lets hope that our difficulties will soon disappear.

希望我們的苦難很快就會消失。

disappearance n. 消失；失蹤；不見

We were puzzled by the sudden disappearance of the guide.

對于導游的突然消失，我們感到很疑惑。

7. fortune n. 運氣；命運；財富；巨款

Fortune smiled on me.

我交了好運。

You dont have to spend a fortune to give your family tasty and healthy meals.

讓家里人吃味道好又健康的餐食并不需要花多少錢。

fortunate adj. 幸運的

fortunately adv. 幸好；幸運地

8. die out 滅絕；不復存在；熄滅

Tribes and tribal customs died out centuries ago.

部落和部落文化在幾個世紀前就消亡了。

The fire died out.

火熄滅了。

比較：die out/die for/die off/die away/die down的區別

die out意為“滅絕，不復存在”；die for意為“迫切想要某物或做某事”；die off意為“一個接一個死去；相繼死去”；die away意為“逐漸減弱；逐漸消失”；die down意為“逐漸變弱；逐漸平息”。

The practice of children working in factories has nearly dies out.

工廠中使用童工的做法幾乎絕跡。

He is dying for the book.

他很想要這本書。

As she got older and older， her relatives all died off.

隨著她的年紀越來越大，她的親屬都相繼去世了。

The sound of the music died away.

音樂聲漸漸消失了。

When the applause had died down， she began her speech.

掌聲平息后她便開始演講了。

9. due to 由于；因……造成；歸功于

Her absence was due to heavy traffic.

由于交通堵塞她缺席了。

This situation was in part due to financial difficulties.

這種情況部分是由經濟困難造成的。

due to sb 應支付/應給予/歸功于某人

due （for） sth 應有/應得到某物

due to do sth 預定/預期/預計做某事

10. go for 挑選，選擇；試圖得到，努力爭取；批評；

喜歡；適用于

When you offer him apples， he always goes for the biggest one.

你給他蘋果時，他總是挑選最大的。

I hear that you are going to go for that job.

我聽說你準備去爭取那份工作。

My mother went for me when she knew that I told a lie.

我媽媽在得知我說謊后狠狠地罵了我一頓。

Do you go for Chinese food？

你喜歡中國食物嗎？

What I said about Peter goes for you， too.

我說的有關彼得的話也適用于你。

go about 著手；從事

go after 追逐；追求

go against 違背；反對

go along 繼續；進行

go along with 贊成；支持

go around 傳播

go on 發生；進行；繼續

go through 遭受；經歷；仔細檢查；審查；（法律等）被通過

背景大鏈接

Why Do Zebras Have Stripes？為什么斑馬身上有條紋？

For many animals， camouflage is an important part of survival. A leopards spotted coat and a polar bears white fur help them blend into their respective environments.

But a zebras bold stripes cant help to disguise it in its natural habitat， the open plains. The zebras bold markings can also help to conceal it. In 1844， naturalist Francis Galton pointed out that stripes can help disguise zebras in the dim， grayish light of an African night. Fifty years later， an artist named Abbot Thayer suggested that stripes could help actually change the way a predator sees a zebra.

The zebras bold markings draw the viewers attention to the stripes themselves， not the shape of the animal. So when a predator looks at a zebra， it sees stripes first， and then the zebra. This split second of recognition gives the fleet-footed zebra a chance to escape.

To other zebras in the herd， the flash of stripes they see when one zebra starts to flee from an approaching lion is a “follow me” signal. Like the white flash of a deers tail， it alerts the entire herd to danger. The approaching lion， on the other hand， often loses his initial target in the confusing mass of moving stripes.

Stripes also allow young zebras in search of a meal to identify their mothers. And adult zebras use stripes to recognize members of their own species.

對于很多動物來說，偽裝是生存的重要部分。獵豹的花斑和北極熊的白毛都能幫助它們融入各自的生存環境當中。

斑馬醒目的條紋卻不能幫助它們融合到自己所生活的開闊平原當中。但是斑馬醒目的斑紋也可以把自己隱藏起來。1844年，自然學家Francis Galton指出，這些條紋可以幫助斑馬在非洲夜晚那灰暗的微光下偽裝自己。五十年后，一位名叫Abbot Thayer的藝術家提出這些條紋可能會改變獵食者看到的斑馬形象。

斑馬醒目的斑紋把觀察者的注意力吸引到斑紋本身，而不是動物的輪廓。因此，當獵食動物看斑馬時，它先注意到的是斑紋，然后才是斑馬。這不到一秒的時間給了動作很快的斑馬逃脫的機會。

當一匹斑馬開始逃避正在靠近的獅子時，斑馬群中的其他斑馬看到的閃動條紋對它們來說意味著“跟我來”的信號。跟鹿尾后閃動的白點一樣，這對整群動物來說是危險警報。而另一方面，對正在靠近的獅子來說，在一團令人眼花繚亂的移動斑紋之中經常會找不到最初定位的目標。

斑紋也可以幫助正在找食的小斑馬辨別自己的母親。成年斑馬則可以通過斑紋來識別自己的同類。