Module 6Unexplained Mysteries of the Natural World

词汇短语园地

1. attack vt. 袭击；攻击；（用语言或文字）猛烈抨击，侵袭；进攻

They attacked this village during the night.

他们在夜间袭击了这个村庄。

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

我的朋友独自回家时遭到了一个年轻人的袭击。

She has been attacked for ignoring her son.

她因漠视自己的儿子而受到责难。

Scientists find a new disease that will attack mans brain.

科学家发现了一种会侵袭人类大脑的新的疾病。

Spain attacked more in the second half.

西班牙队在下半场加强了攻势。

attack n. 袭击；攻击；辱骂；抨击；（疾病的）突然发作

The planes began their attack on the city.

飞机开始攻击这个城市。

The city came under attack during the night.

这座城市在夜间遭到了袭击。

He is recovering from an attack of flu.

他的流行性感冒快好了。

attacker n. 进攻者；袭击者

I didnt really see the attacker.

我没有看清楚袭击我的人。

2. frightening adj. 吓人的；引起恐惧的

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

想到这类事情可能再发生就让人不寒而栗。

frighten v. 使惊吓；使恐吓

frightened adj. 受惊吓的；受惊的

比较：frightening和frightened的区别

frightening表示某物使人产生害怕的情绪，主语是物；frightened表示某人处于害怕的状态，主语是人。

The idea of death is frightening to most people.

死的想法对于大多数人来说都是可怕的。

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

他害怕从高楼顶部往下看。

3. exist vi. 存在

Does life exist in other planet？

其他行星上有生命吗？

exist on 靠……生活/生存

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

他们要靠这一点收入生活是不可能的。

existence n. 存在；实有

came into existence 存在

existent n. & adj. 存在（或实有）的事物；存在的

existing adj. 现存的；现行的

4. calm adj. 平静的

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

虽然这个消息让她很震惊，但她的声音却出人意料的平静。

You must try to be calm.

你必须设法冷静下来。

calm v. 使平静；使镇静

They did what they could to calm her.

他們尽量使她平静下来。

calm down （使）平静；镇静；安静

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

他深深吸了几口气，让自己冷静下来。

calmness n. 平静；冷静；镇静

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

冷静地处理这些问题才是明智的。

calm n. 平静的时期；宁静的状态

I like the calm of the summer evening.

我喜欢夏日夜晚的宁静。

the calm before the storm 暴风雨前的平静

calmly adv. 平静地；冷静地；镇静地

She recovered from her surprise， and answered calmly.

她从惊慌中恢复过来，并且镇静地给予了回答。

5. cover vt. 占地（多大面积）；包括；覆盖，遮盖

The city covered ten square miles.

这座城市占地十平方英里。

The discussion covered a wide range of subjects.

这个讨论涵盖了广泛的内容。

Dust covered all the furniture.

所有的家具都被灰尘给覆盖了。

cover n. 封面；盖子，套子；遮盖物，隐蔽处

read form cover to cover 从头看到底

take cover 藏身；躲藏

under cover 保密；秘密地

6. disappear vi. 不见；消失

When spring comes， the snow disappears.

春天来临时，积雪全都不见了。

Lets hope that our difficulties will soon disappear.

希望我们的苦难很快就会消失。

disappearance n. 消失；失踪；不见

We were puzzled by the sudden disappearance of the guide.

对于导游的突然消失，我们感到很疑惑。

7. fortune n. 运气；命运；财富；巨款

Fortune smiled on me.

我交了好运。

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

让家里人吃味道好又健康的餐食并不需要花多少钱。

fortunate adj. 幸运的

fortunately adv. 幸好；幸运地

8. die out 灭绝；不复存在；熄灭

Tribes and tribal customs died out centuries ago.

部落和部落文化在几个世纪前就消亡了。

The fire died out.

火熄灭了。

比较：die out/die for/die off/die away/die down的区别

die out意为“灭绝，不复存在”；die for意为“迫切想要某物或做某事”；die off意为“一个接一个死去；相继死去”；die away意为“逐渐减弱；逐渐消失”；die down意为“逐渐变弱；逐渐平息”。

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

工厂中使用童工的做法几乎绝迹。

He is dying for the book.

他很想要这本书。

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

随着她的年纪越来越大，她的亲属都相继去世了。

The sound of the music died away.

音乐声渐渐消失了。

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

掌声平息后她便开始演讲了。

9. due to 由于；因……造成；归功于

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.

这种情况部分是由经济困难造成的。

due to sb 应支付/应给予/归功于某人

due （for） sth 应有/应得到某物

due to do sth 预定/预期/预计做某事

10. go for 挑选，选择；试图得到，努力争取；批评；

喜欢；适用于

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

你給他苹果时，他总是挑选最大的。

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

我听说你准备去争取那份工作。

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

我妈妈在得知我说谎后狠狠地骂了我一顿。

Do you go for Chinese food？

你喜欢中国食物吗？

What I said about Peter goes for you， too.

我说的有关彼得的话也适用于你。

go about 着手；从事

go after 追逐；追求

go against 违背；反对

go along 继续；进行

go along with 赞成；支持

go around 传播

go on 发生；进行；继续

go through 遭受；经历；仔细检查；审查；（法律等）被通过

背景大鏈接

Why Do Zebras Have Stripes？为什么斑马身上有条纹？

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.

对于很多动物来说，伪装是生存的重要部分。猎豹的花斑和北极熊的白毛都能帮助它们融入各自的生存环境当中。

斑马醒目的条纹却不能帮助它们融合到自己所生活的开阔平原当中。但是斑马醒目的斑纹也可以把自己隐藏起来。1844年，自然学家Francis Galton指出，这些条纹可以帮助斑马在非洲夜晚那灰暗的微光下伪装自己。五十年后，一位名叫Abbot Thayer的艺术家提出这些条纹可能会改变猎食者看到的斑马形象。

斑马醒目的斑纹把观察者的注意力吸引到斑纹本身，而不是动物的轮廓。因此，当猎食动物看斑马时，它先注意到的是斑纹，然后才是斑马。这不到一秒的时间给了动作很快的斑马逃脱的机会。

当一匹斑马开始逃避正在靠近的狮子时，斑马群中的其他斑马看到的闪动条纹对它们来说意味着“跟我来”的信号。跟鹿尾后闪动的白点一样，这对整群动物来说是危险警报。而另一方面，对正在靠近的狮子来说，在一团令人眼花缭乱的移动斑纹之中经常会找不到最初定位的目标。

斑纹也可以帮助正在找食的小斑马辨别自己的母亲。成年斑马则可以通过斑纹来识别自己的同类。