人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT14-4

All animals are part of the food chain: they are listed on someone else's menu and always run the risk of ending up as someone else's lunch, dinner or snack. To protect themselves from being eaten and to survive in the wild, many animals have developed clever ways to escape from or avoid danger.
 
        Like human beings, animals often try to hide or run away when they are being attacked. Many animals have adapted to their environment in such a way that they can hide better. Having the right colour can make a big difference. Many animals have the same or similar colour as their environment, making it more difficult for other animals to find them. Some can change colour very quickly, even in a few seconds. Other animals and insects have a body shape that helps them hide. Some insects look just like a small stick and can easily hide in a tree or bush.
 
        If it is too late to hide or run away, an animal must use other methods to survive an attack. One type of snake that lives in Texas has developed an interesting way to defend itself. If it is attacked, it first makes itself look bigger and pretends to be a dangerous snake. If that doesn't work, the snake uses another trick: it rolls over, opens its mouth and acts as if it were dead. The snake is such a good actor that it seems quite dead. If someone picks it up, it hangs like a rope and doesn't move. However, if you roll it back on its stomach, it will roll over on its back again in order to look dead.
 
        Another way to survive an attack is to have useful body parts. The turtle has a thick shell that protects it from its enemies, and other animals have teeth, claws, and horns that they can use to defend themselves. There are also animals that can use their tails to fight off attackers. A long tail can be used to hit an attacker, and there is even an animal whose tail will break off so that it can run away if someone grabs¹ it.
 
       The best way to stay safe is to develop a way to receive an early warning when danger approaches. Many animals stay together in large groups and use sounds and body language to warn each other if they see or hear something suspicious². Some animals even work together with other species³ to stay safe. The birds you often see on the back of a water buffalo⁴ have an important job: they help warn the buffalo of danger.
 
                                                                              EAT  OR  BE  EATEN (Ⅱ)
       The "eat or be eaten" nature of life in the wild also causes predators⁶, or animals that hunt other animals, to adapt in order to become better at finding⁷ and killing⁸ their prey⁹. Predators often use one of three basic strategies¹⁰: they run after their prey, slowly follow their prey, or hide and wait for their prey. All three methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Running after the prey is usually effective, but it requires great speed and a lot of energy. Since the running makes the predator⁵ very tired, it usually selects large animals as its prey. By doing so, the difficult chase¹¹ will be worth the effort. To slowly follow another animal, for example, to walk in the water looking for fish as many birds do, requires very little energy but takes a lot of time. A predator that hunts in this way can choose smaller prey, since the method is less firing and it can hunt several times a day. Hiding and waiting is of course the easiest way to hunt, but it is not as effective. It may take a very long time until something edible¹² walks by. Therefore, animals that hunt in this way have adapted by digesting food slowly. They are able to go without food for a long period of time.
 
 Scientists who study animals can often tell what an animal eats and how it hunts by looking at its body or bones. As the animals adapt, their bodies gradually change. The shape of an animal's head and other features provide clues to how and where the animal lives. There are still many questions, however, and the scientists can't explain some of the shapes and changes that they have found. For a long time, animal experts were puzzled by the fact that so many ancient reptiles¹⁴ had very long necks. A new archeological find in China may help scientists answer the question. Scientists found the bones of an ancient reptile¹³ that lived in Southeast China more than 230 million years ago. It looked a bit like a dinosaur¹⁵, and it had a very long neck. The neck was about 1.7 metres long, twice as long as the creature's body, and the head was very small. Scientists now believe that the reptile used its long neck to hunt other animals. The neck made it possible for the reptile to hide in the depths of brown water and fool fish and other animals. An animal that saw the head "floating" on the surface would mistake it for a small harmless¹⁶ animal. When the prey got close enough to realise that the "animal" was in fact only the head of a large and dangerous creature, it would be too late. The ancient reptile could also change the shape of its neck in order to strike quickly and swallow its prey.

1 grabs   

n.试图抓取，有意抢夺( grab的名词复数 )v.抢先，抢占( grab的第三人称单数 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• The job is up for grabs.Why don't you apply now? 那工作谁都可以争取，你怎么不现在就申请呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She grabs a stack of baby photos and thrusts them into my hands. 她抓起一沓婴儿照片塞到我手里。 来自辞典例句

2 suspicious   

adj.可疑的，容易引起怀疑的，猜疑的，疑心的

参考例句：

• A man was hanging about the house in a suspicious manner.一个男人在房子周围可疑地荡来荡去。
• He's so suspicious he would distrust his own mother.他这个人疑心太重，连自己的母亲也不相信。

3 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

6 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）

参考例句：

• 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》

7 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• 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。

9 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

10 strategies   

n.策略( strategy的名词复数 )；战略；战略学；对策

参考例句：

• Several steps and strategies have been developed to minimize these risks. 有关人士发展了若干措施和方法以减少这些风险。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Different threats require different strategies. 对付不同的威胁需要不同的策略。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 chase   

vt.追逐，追赶，追求；n.追赶

参考例句：

• The police grabbed the robbers after a long chase.警察经过长距离追赶后逮住了抢劫犯。
• Would you chase me if I did?如果我逃开了，你会来追吗？

12 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

13 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

14 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

16 harmless   

adj.无害的，无恶意的

参考例句：

• This experiment was harmless to the animals.这个试验不会对动物造成伤害。
• He was a harmless sort.他是一个不怀恶意的人。