Awesome Ants
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents A Little History.
内容列表 A小历史.
4 Body Parts.
4 身体部件。
5 Let’s Talk.
5 让我们谈谈。
9 One Big, Happy Family.
9"一大","快乐家庭".
11 The Queen.
十一为后.
13 Yep, Ants Are Awesome.
13 是的,蚂蚁是真棒。
14 Glossary.
14 词汇表。
16 A Little History They march through grass, across sidewalks, over the kitchen counter, and onto picnic blankets as uninvited guests.
16 小历史 他们穿过草地、人行道、厨房柜台、野餐毯等,
They come in many colors, such as red, yellow, brown, or black, and can be as small as 1 millimeter (0.
它们有多种颜色,如红色,黄色,褐色或黑色等,可小到一毫米(0.
04 in.)
04 in. (英语).
long.
长.
These magnificent creatures are ants—awesome ants.
这些雄伟的生物是蚂蚁,是美丽的蚂蚁。
Ants crawled around under the dinosaurs, early mammals, and ancient birds more than 100 million years ago—in the Cretaceous (kreh- TAY-shus) period!
蚂蚁在恐龙、早期哺乳动物和一亿多年前的古鸟下爬来爬去,
They used to look more like wasps.
他们以前更像黄蜂
They had shorter jaws, stingers that they could extend from their bodies, and middle and hind legs that were better for climbing.
它们有更短的下巴,能从身体上伸展的刺口,以及更适合攀爬的中后腿.
Today, more than 10,000 species of ants live in deserts, rainforests, swamps, and cities on every continent except Antarctica.
今天,有超过一万个蚂蚁物种生活在沙漠,雨林,沼泽地,除南极洲外每个大陆的城市.
They have been able to survive for so long by adapting to changes in their environments.
它们通过适应环境的变化得以生存了这么久。
Ants are always on the move.
蚁常出行.
Body Parts Like all insects, ants have three main body parts—an abdomen, a thorax, and a head— and three pairs of legs.
主体部件 和所有的昆虫一样,蚂蚁有三个主要身体部分——腹部,胸口和头部——和三对腿.
Some tropical species can grow to approximately 38 mm (1.
一些热带物种可生长到约38毫米(1.
5 in.)
5 in. (中文(简体) ).
be shared with the colony.
与殖民地共享。
An ant’s leg seen through a microscope shows the hooks it uses to climb.
一只蚂蚁的腿通过显微镜可以看到它用来攀爬的钩子。
The middle part of the body, called the thorax, is a base for all the ant’s muscles.
身体的中段被称作胸肌,是所有蚂蚁肌肉的基础.
The three pairs of legs are designed for running quickly, and each leg has three joints and little hooks that allow ants to climb almost anything.
三对腿为跑快所设计,每条腿有三根关节和小钩可以让蚂蚁攀爬几乎任何东西.
Ants don’t have ears, but they have the ability to detect sound by feeling vibrations through their legs.
蚂蚁没有耳朵,
The head contains the brain, eyes, antennae, and mandibles.
头部包含有大脑,眼睛,天线,和可指甲.
The mandibles, which open and close like scissors, project in front of the mouth.
手柄像剪刀一样打开并关闭 在口前投影
An ant’s most important tool, mandibles are used for cutting and carrying things as well as for digging and hunting.
蚂蚁最重要的工具是可操作工具,用于切割和搬运物品以及挖掘和狩猎。
Some ants can close their mandibles so quickly that they make a clicking sound.
有些蚂蚁可以如此快地关上可操纵装置,发出点击的声音.
Ants can’t chew and swallow food; instead they swallow the liquid that they squeeze from their food.
蚂蚁无法咀嚼并吞食食物,
Ants carry large items in their mandibles.
蚂蚁在它们的可操作器中携带了大型物品.
Ants’ diets vary according to their species.
蚂蚁的饮食因物种而异.
Some prefer sugary liquids, while others cultivate fungus.
有的更喜欢取糖性液体,有的则会培育出真菌.
Still others prefer to scavenge for whatever they can find.
还有一些人更喜欢寻找他们能找到的东西。
Ants are very strong and can lift more than twenty times their own weight.
蚂蚁非常强壮,能举起自己重量的二十多倍.
All ants can bite, and some have stingers and venom sacs that they use to protect themselves from predators.
所有蚂蚁都能被咬,有些蚂蚁会用刺和毒囊来保护自己免受捕食者的侵害.
Many ants that don’t have stingers can spray toxic chemicals onto their enemies.
许多没有刺手的蚂蚁可以向敌人喷出有毒化学品。
The two eyes, called compound eyes, consist of hundreds of lenses that combine many images into a single picture in an ant’s brain.
两只叫复合眼的双眼由上百个镜头组成,将许多图像结合到蚂蚁大脑的一幅相片中.
Some ants have three small sensors, called ocelli (oh-SELL- eye), on the tops of their heads to detect light and dark.
一些蚂蚁有3个小传感器,称为ocelli(Oh-SELL-眼睛),位于头顶上以探测出光和暗.
Ants use their antennae to taste, smell, hear, and communicate with other ants through touch.
蚂蚁使用天线来取味,嗅觉,听觉,并通过触觉与其他蚂蚁交流.
They also use their antennae to recognize their friends in the colony and to detect enemies.
他们还用天线识别自己在殖民地中的朋友并侦测敌人.
The long, thin antennae bend in the middle, like a human’s elbow, and are constantly moving.
长而薄的天线在中间弯曲,就像人类的肘部一样,并不断移动.
Ants don’t have lungs; instead, they breathe through small holes, called spiracles (SPEER-ah- culz), all over their bodies.
蚂蚁没有肺;相反,它们通过小孔呼吸,称为"螺旋"(SPEER-ah-culz),全身上下.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide enter and exit an ant’s body through the spiracles.
氧气和二氧化碳通过呼吸道进出蚂蚁的身体。
Ants’ bodies have a hard, waterproof covering, called an exoskeleton, which gives them support and protection from the elements as well as predators.
蚂蚁的身体有坚硬的,防水的遮盖,被称作"外骨"(exoskeleton),这为蚂蚁们以及捕食者提供了支持和保护.
Ants use their antennae to taste a grape.
蚂蚁会用天线来品尝葡萄.
Let’s Talk Ants communicate with each other in three ways: touch, sound, and smell.
让我们谈谈 蚁相通以相通相通以相通相通相通相通相通以相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相相通相相通相通相通相通相相通相通相相通相通相通相相相通相通相通相通相通相通相通相相
Ants touch each other’s heads and antennae to send different messages.
蚂蚁互相触摸对方的头部和天线发出不同的信息.
They can also make noises by rubbing their legs together or on their bodies.
它们也可以通过将腿一起或身体上擦去来制造出噪音.
By recording these noises and comparing them across many ant species, scientists have learned that these complex signals are a call for help.
科学家通过记录这些噪声,并在许多蚂蚁物种中进行比较,了解到这些复杂的信号是求救的呼声.
Four ants use their antennae to communicate.
四只蚂蚁用天线进行交流.
Ants communicate mainly by smell.
蚂蚁主要通过嗅觉进行交流.
They release special scented chemicals, called pheromones (FAIR-oh-mohnz), which linger long after the first ant is gone.
它们会释放出特殊的有香味的化学物质,被称作"费洛莫内斯"(FAIR-oh-mohnz),在第一个蚂蚁消失后很长一段时间就一直存在.
Different scents send different messages.
不同的气味发送不同的信息.
For example, some pheromones work as an alarm to warn other ants that danger is nearby.
例如,一些费洛蒙能起到警示作用,警告其他蚂蚁危险就在附近.
An ant that has discovered food emits a scent trail for other ants to follow.
一只发现食物的蚂蚁 散发出其他蚂蚁的气味
The trail allows them to find the food and return to the colony without getting lost.
这条小道可以让他们找到食物并返回殖民地而不会迷路.
The more ants that follow the trail, the stronger it becomes.
沿着小道走的蚂蚁越多,它就越强大.
When an ant can’t find food, the chemical warning decays so that other ants do not go that direction.
当蚂蚁找不到食物时, 化学警告会衰变, 以免其他蚂蚁走上这个方向。
Leaf-cutter ants carry leaves that weigh far more than the ants back to their colony.
叶克特蚂蚁所携带的叶子比蚂蚁所携带的重量要多得多回他们的聚居地.
One Big, Happy Family Ant colonies, which can have millions of members, are filled with activity.
一个大 快乐的家庭 蚂蚁殖民地可以拥有上百万个成员,充满了活性.
Some ants are active year-round, while others hibernate in the winter.
有的蚂蚁全年活活,有的则在冬季休眠.
Some ants build their colonies in logs or trees, but most build their colonies underground.
有的蚂蚁用木头或树木来建造他们的殖民地,但大多数是在地下建造他们的殖民地.
Little mounds of dirt or sand are the telltale signs of an ant colony’s location.
少量的泥土或沙子是蚂蚁聚居地的示意图。
Some ants reinforce the entrance to their colony by mixing twigs into the dirt for added protection from flooding.
一些蚂蚁通过将树枝混入泥土来强化其聚居地的入口,以补充防洪.
Colonies have many different chambers, which all have different uses.
殖民地拥有许多不同的宗室,这些宗室都有不同的用途.
Some chambers store food, while others are nurseries for the eggs.
有些会馆储存食物,而其他会馆则是鸡蛋的托儿所.
Colonies even have spaces for groups of ants to relax in and a special chamber for the queen.
殖民地甚至有空间让群蚂蚁放轻松入住并给女王设了特别的室室.
This cast shows the upper part of a large ant colony.
这个铸造物显示了一个大蚁群的上部.
Scientists think this colony went over 12 meters (39 ft) into the ground.
科学家们认为这个殖民地已经超过12米(39英尺)入地.
Ants are social insects that work together as a group, and every ant has a function and special skills to perform it.
蚂蚁是作为一个群体一起工作的社会昆虫,而每个蚂蚁都有其功能和特殊技能来表演.
Worker ants and soldier ants find food and protect the nest.
工人蚂蚁和士兵蚂蚁寻找食物并保护巢.
These are usually the ants you see above the ground, and the older ants in the colony.
这些通常是地上所见的蚂蚁,以及蚁群中较老的蚂蚁.
Other ants build and expand the nest, care for the young, and do other jobs, including taking care of the queen.
其他蚂蚁会建造并扩展巢穴,照顾幼人,并做其他活,包括照顾后人.
The ants that work inside the nest tend to be younger ants.
在巢穴内工作的蚂蚁往往是更年轻的蚂蚁.
All these ants are female, but only one can lay eggs: the queen.
所有这些蚂蚁都是雌性,但只有一头可以产卵:即后.
In other words, all the ants in a colony are related.
也就是说,殖民地中的所有蚂蚁都是有关系的.
Soldier ants are usually much larger than worker ants.
士兵蚂蚁通常比工人蚂蚁大得多.
What About the Boys?
孩子们呢?
Male ants have only one purpose in most colonies: to mate with the queen.
雄性蚂蚁在大多数殖民地只有一个目的:与女王交配.
Once they’ve done their duty, most male ants simply die.
一旦他们尽了责任,大多数雄性蚂蚁就会死去。
The Queen The queen is the leader of the colony, but she doesn’t control all the activity in it.
女皇 女皇 女王是殖民地的领袖,
The largest of all the ants in the colony, the queen is an egg-laying machine.
在殖民地中最大的蚂蚁,王后是放卵机.
Some queens can lay thousands of eggs every day, which translates to millions of ants in a queen’s lifetime.
一些后人每天可以产出上千个卵子,这在后人一生中就意味着数百万蚂蚁.
She needs so many offspring because most worker ants live only for an average of forty-five to sixty days.
她需要这么多的后代,因为大多数工蚁只活了45到60天。
Most colonies have one queen.
大多数殖民地只有一个女王.
When other queen ants hatch, they fly out in search of a new location to start another colony.
当其他后蚂蚁孵出后,它们会飞出去寻找一个新的地点来开始另一个殖民地.
After they start laying eggs, they lose their wings.
开始下蛋后会失去翅膀.
Queens can also live longer than most other insects—more than twenty-five years—but when they die, so does the colony.
昆虫也可以活得比大多数其他昆虫长-超过25年-但当它们死后,殖民地也会活得长.
I Can Fly!
我可以飞!
Like queens, some males can also fly.
和后人一样,有的雄性也能飞行.
When they land near a colony, worker ants rip the wings off.
当他们降落在一个聚居地附近时,工人的蚂蚁把翅膀撕开.
Then they rush the male to the queen so the two can mate before the male dies.
然后他们把雄性赶到后座,这样两人就可以在雄性死前交配.
Yep, Ants Are Awesome Ants may be small, but they can do awesome things.
是的,蚂蚁真棒 蚂蚁可能很小,但他们可以做一些很棒的事。
Thousands or millions of ants working together can build bridges to cross a gap in their path.
数以千计的蚂蚁一起工作,可以搭起桥梁来跨越他们道路上的鸿沟.
They can also shape themselves into rafts to float across rivers without drowning.
它们也可以被自己塑造成木筏来漂浮在河流上而不会被淹死.
Through teamwork, ants can overpower animals hundreds of times their own size for food.
通过团队合作,蚂蚁们可以战胜数百倍于自己体型的动物来取食.
Fire ants link their legs and use their bodies as building blocks to make structures.
火蚁将双腿相接并用身体作为构件来制造结构.
While some types of ants can be trouble for humans, most ants are beneficial and support the environment in many ways.
虽然有些种类的蚂蚁会给人类带来麻烦,但大多数蚂蚁都是有利的,在许多方面支持环境.
They spread seeds, protect crops by eating flies, caterpillars, and other pests, and improve the soil for plants by digging.
它们传播种子,通过吃苍蝇,毛虫等害虫来保护作物,并通过挖取来改善植物的土壤.
Stop and watch a trail of ants, or better yet, follow them—just don’t step on their trail.
停止观察蚂蚁的踪迹,
Ants’ abilities are inspiring, and learning about them highlights how awesome they are.
蚂蚁的能力令人振奋,
A trail usually means the ants are moving to a new home—or they’ve found something very tasty.
蚂蚁通常会搬到新家去,
Glossary antennae (n.)
词汇天线(n.)
the thin feelers found on the heads of some animals that help them touch and smell (p.
在一些动物头上发现的能帮助他们触摸和嗅觉的薄薄的感受器(p.
6) colony (n.)
6) 殖民地 (n.
a group of animals that live together; a place where a group of ants or certain other social insects live (p.
一群动物共同生活; 一群蚂蚁或某些其他社会昆虫所活的地方(p.
5) communicate (v.)
5) 通讯(五.