□劉曉妮

How to Protect Oneself

□劉曉妮

每個(gè)人都有自我保護(hù)的本能，動(dòng)物也不例外。一些動(dòng)物是通過(guò)自身的顏色變化來(lái)保護(hù)自己的，如我們所熟知的變色龍便是。

In nature，you may see many insects1and animals of different colors. Have you ever wondered why？

在自然界中，你可以看到許多不同顏色的昆蟲(chóng)和動(dòng)物。你有沒(méi)有想過(guò)這是為什么呢？

1. insect：n.蟲(chóng)，昆蟲(chóng)

Locusts1are super delicious food for birds，but it is not always an easy job for birds to catch them. It is neither because locusts are good jumpers or runners nor because they are smarter2than their enemies. The reason is that the colors of locusts change with the colors of crops3. When crops are young，locusts look green. But when autumn comes，locusts change to the yellow and brown color as crops do.

蝗蟲(chóng)對(duì)于鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)來(lái)說(shuō)是一種超級(jí)美味的食物，但鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)捕捉它們并不是一件容易的事，既不是因?yàn)榛认x(chóng)是好的彈跳者或運(yùn)動(dòng)員，也不是因?yàn)樗鼈儽葦橙烁斆?。原因是蝗蟲(chóng)的顏色隨作物的顏色變化。當(dāng)莊稼未成熟的時(shí)候，蝗蟲(chóng)看起來(lái)是綠色的。但是當(dāng)秋天來(lái)臨時(shí)，蝗蟲(chóng)就隨著莊稼的顏色變成黃色和棕色的了。

1. locust：n.蝗蟲(chóng)，蚱蜢

2. smart：adj.聰明的；敏捷的

3. crop：n.農(nóng)作物；莊稼

Brown bears，tigers and other animals move quietly through1forests. They can’t be seen easily by their enemies. This is because they havecolors similar2to the trees. For the same reason，polar bears that live on a land of snow and ice are white. Butterflies and bees living among the flowers are colorful like flowers. Soil3insects are mostly dark- colored and they live under the soil in a dark and wet environment4. However，insects with colors different from plants can easily be found and eaten by others. So in order to survive5，they have to hide themselves in the daytime and appear only at night.

棕熊、老虎和其他動(dòng)物在森林中靜靜地走動(dòng)，它們不會(huì)輕易被敵人看見(jiàn)。這是因?yàn)樗鼈冇蓄?lèi)似于樹(shù)的顏色。因?yàn)橥瑯拥脑?，生活在一片冰天雪地上的北極熊是白色的。生活在花叢中的蝴蝶和蜜蜂，像花朵一樣是五顏六色的。生活在土壤中的昆蟲(chóng)大多是深色的，它們生活在黑暗和潮濕的土壤中。然而，與植物不同顏色的昆蟲(chóng)卻可能很容易被發(fā)現(xiàn)和吃掉。所以為了生存，它們不得不在白天躲起來(lái)，只在晚上才出現(xiàn)。

1. through：prep.透過(guò)；經(jīng)由；通過(guò)，穿過(guò)

2. similar：adj.相似的；類(lèi)似的；同樣的；同類(lèi)的

3. soil：n.泥土；土壤

4. environment：n.環(huán)境，外界

5. survive：vi.幸存，活下來(lái)

Have you ever noticed some even stranger acts？The ink fish in the sea can send out some very black ink when it faces danger. As the ink spreads1over，its enemies will find themselves suddenly in a dark world. At the same time the ink fish immediately2swims away. That is how it keeps itself safe though3it is not strong at all.

你有沒(méi)有注意到一些更加奇怪的行為？海中的烏賊魚(yú)在面對(duì)危險(xiǎn)時(shí)會(huì)散發(fā)出一些很黑的墨水。當(dāng)墨水灑出來(lái)時(shí)，它的敵人會(huì)突然發(fā)現(xiàn)自己處在一個(gè)黑暗的世界里，同時(shí)烏賊魚(yú)會(huì)立即游走。這就是它如何保證自己的安全的，雖然它一點(diǎn)也不強(qiáng)大。

1. spread：vt.& vi.展開(kāi)；伸開(kāi)；（使）傳播；（使）散布

2. immediately：adv.立即，馬上

3. though：conj.即使；雖然，盡管；縱然