Spare that spider
Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends? Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the harm to us or our belongings.
Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them. One can tell the difference almost at a glance, for a spider always has eight legs and insect never more than six.
How many spiders are engaged in this work no our behalf? One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in grass field in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre; that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year would be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.
单词
census n. 对数量的统计，普查
the fifth national (population) census 第五次人口普查
road traffic census
investigation
The case is under investigation.
The investigation into the cause of the air crash is continuing.
inquest （多强调对死因的调查）
an inquest into the death of the actor
survey / poll / opinion poll 民意调查
常接 find / show / indicate / reveal
(3-47课) The survey revealed a large number of sources of noise that we really dislike.
inquiry / enquiry （泛指）调查
on the spot ~ 现场调查
official ~ 官方调查，sampling ~ 抽样调查
content a. 满足的，满意的
be content / satisfied with …
~ = be discontented / dissatisfied with …
He seems fairly content with his life.
be content / satisfied to do …
He is content to stay in his present job.
contented
A contented mind is a perpetual feast. 知足常乐
content / satisfaction
live in peace and content
~= discontent / dissatisfaction
There are more and more people who are discontented with the policy.
=> There is growing discontent with the policy.
课文
Spare that spider
spare 饶恕，不伤害
spare my life 饶我一命
spare 省下来不用
Spare the rod and spoil the child. 棍棒出孝子。
The government will spare no expense to stem the bird flu from spreading. （不惜一切代价）
China will spare no effort to realize peaceful reunification. （不遗余力）
第一句：Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends?
should 在疑问句中，表达一种意外的、难以理解的语气
How should I know? 我怎么知道？
Why should conservatives vote for Bush?
插入语，突出主句内容
(3-7课) Dogs, it seems, love to chew up money.
(8课) Chickens slaughtered in the United Stated, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables.
(33课) A man without an education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim of adverse circumstances, deprived of one of the greatest twentieth-century opportunities.You may wonder why spiders are our friends.
=> Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends?
(仿) Many of us believe that economic development is of paramount importance to china.
=> Economic development, many of us believe, is of paramount importance to china.
(仿) Building harmonious personal relationships is very important in the modern society.
=> Why, you may wonder, should some of us become experts in building and maintaining personal relationships?
第二句：Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race.
必须用 because 回答 why
destroy 杀死，尤其是杀死动物
kill off
Pollution in the sea has killed off a lot of marine life.
slaughter / massacre 屠杀（战争）
Nanjing massacre
The army slaughtered / massacred hundreds of unarmed civilians.
wipe out / exterminate （使）灭绝
What wiped out / exterminated dinosaurs from the earth?
辨析：
human race 侧重人种
man / human being，后者可数
mankind / humankind
humanity 侧重人性、人道
a crime against humanity 反人类罪
第三句：insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world; they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.
make it impossible for sb. to do = enable sb. to do
(3-26课) They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
render sb. / sth. + adj. 使得
His injury rendered him unfit for work.
Solar power could become a viable energy source, rendering fossil fuels obsolete.
flock 群（主要是羊群，鸟群）
herd 群（牲畜，牛、鹿等）
drove 群（驱赶之中的牲口群）， 和驱赶（drive）同根
pack 群（狼、虎等）
pride 狮群
swarm 蜂群（飞的昆虫）
colony 群（地上爬的昆虫）
school 鱼群
a flock of sheep / pigeons
a herd of cattle / deer / elephants
a drove of horses / cattle / sheep
a pack of wolves / tigers / lions
a pride of lions
a swarm of flies / bees
a colony of ants / termites
a school / shoal of fish
if it were not for … 若没有…的话
but for …/ except for …
but / except (that) …
If it were not for your support, I would be in big trouble now.
Were it not for your support, I would be in big trouble now.
But for / Except for your support, I would be in big trouble now.
But for the flood, the ship have reached its destination on time.
I would buy a Mercedes if I were rich.
=> I would buy a Mercedes except / but (that) I am poor.
这一句是一个圆周句（掉尾句），强调的内容在最后：if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals。如：
(24课) That all great art has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable.
Although Tchaikovskey himself thought of the Pathetic Symphony as his crowning masterpiece, the premiere on October 28th 1893 in St. Petersburg proved a disappointment.
使用复合形容词：
animals which eat insects => insect-eating animals
citizens who abide by the law => law-abiding citizens
silverware which is made by hands => hand-made silverware
diseases which are related to stress => stress-related diseases
state-owned enterprises 国有企业
flower-selling girls 卖花姑娘
epoch-making masterpieces 跨时代的作品
cancer-causing substances 致癌物
造句：
如果我们没有得到杀毒软件的保护，计算机病毒可能会使我们无法安全地浏览网络，它们可能会摧毁计算机里全部的数据并窃取我们的个人信息。
Computer viruses would make it impossible for us to surf the Internet safely; they would destroy all the data in the computer and steal our personal information, if it were not for the protection we get from the anti-virus software.
第四句：We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders.
owe 欠，（口语 IOU 欠条）。
How much do I owe you? 我该给多少钱？
You owe him an apology / explanation.
owe 感谢
I owe you (one). 我欠你一次。/ 感谢。
I owe you a lot / a great deal.
I owe a lot to my father.
owe A to B 把 A 归因于 B
I owe my success to good luck.
owe A to B / put A down to B
attribute A to B / assign A to B
ascribe A to B / credit A to B
名词“同义替换”中的上义替换
(3-33课) The lorry was loaded with empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the vehicle and on to the road.
ship / vessel
giant panda / endangered species
(GRE) Giant pandas are considered a national treasure and the Chinese government are doing their best to protect this endangered species.
(GRE) Moreover, in the past two years other nearby cities may have begun to build similar golf courses or resort hotels. Indeed, the fact that Ocean View has already built these facilities might actually portend failure for Hopewell, …
fraction: 数学上的分数；a small amount of sth.
His shares are now worth a fraction of their former value.
proportion / percentage
a high / large proportion / percentage of …
a small / tiny proportion / percentage of …
(3-56课) We are lucky in that only the lower fields, which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are effected by flooding, …
造句：我们所有人加在一起挣的钱，也不过是比尔·盖茨的一小部分而已。
All of us put together earn only a fraction of the money made by Bill Gates.
第五句： Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the harm to us or our belongings.
| / | / |
|---|---|
| moreover | besides |
| further/furthermore | what is more |
| in addition | additionally |
do harm to …, ~ do no harm to
本文中 never do the least harm to ...， 一点危害也没有，加强语气
I have no idea what to do next
=> I don’t have the foggiest idea what to do next.
I have no interest in boxing.
=> I don’t have the slightest interest in boxing.
（复习）双重否定
All of us are influenced by … => No one can avoid being influenced by …
All of us admit that … => No one can deny that …
All of us are attracted by … => No one can resist …
第六句：Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them.
非限制性定语从句：
Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them.
(3-33课) Things can go wrong on a big scale, as a number of people recently discovered in Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney.
As has been said above, grammar is not a set of dead rules.
从句放在主句的中间或后面时，as 指代的是肯定含义的主句。
She did not open the box, as her friends feared.
翻译为 “她并没有像她朋友们担心的那样打开盒子”，而不是 “正如她朋友们担心的那样，她没有打开盒子”。
=> She did not, as her friends feared, open the box.
（lesson 2 课文讲解（三） 4:20）
因此，本句应该翻译为 “蜘蛛并不像很多人想的是昆虫”。
nor
Cuba cannot be conquered, nor (can she be) dominated. 古巴不会被征服，也不会被控制。
(23课) It tires not, nor does it boast of its power; …
造句：鲸鱼并不像很多人认为的是鱼，甚至和鱼几乎没有关系。
Whales are not fish, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them.
第七句：One can tell the difference almost at a glance, for a spider always has eight legs and insect never more than six.
tell the difference
tell sb. / sth. apart
It’s hard to tell the identical twins apart.
distinguish / differentiate / discriminate
between A and B / A from B
distinguish / … between causes and effects 区分因果
distinguish / … between cancer cells from normal tissue
第八句：How many spiders are engaged in this work no our behalf?
be engaged in (doing) sth.
He is engaged in politics / business.
He is engaged in searching for solutions.
(5课) For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.
on one’s behalf / on behalf of sb.
+= in one’s interest / in the interest of sb. 为了 … 的利益
We are raising a fund on behalf of orphans.
I beat you on your behalf. 我打你为了你好。
第九句：One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in grass field in the south of England, and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre; that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch.
authority 权威；当局
the authorities
the local authorities
the French / Chinese authorities
(2-62课) When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly.
(3-37课) It is all too easy to blame the railway authorities when something does go wrong.
that is (to say): or more exactly 也就是说，确切地说
I loved him —— that is, I thought I did.
The fare is reduced for children, that is anyone under 15 years old.
Languages are taught by the direct method, that is to say, without using the student’s own language.
something like … 大约
some …，如： some 100 people，大约 100 人
(32课) In his own lifetime Galileo was the centre of violent controversy; but the scientific dust has long since settled, and today we can see even his famous clash with the Inquisition in something like its proper perspective.
a football / soccer（英） pitch / field 足球场，field 指大一点的运动场
a tennis / basketball / badminton court court 指中号的运动场
ring 拳击台 a boxing ring
rink 溜冰场 skating rink
roller skating rink
baseball diamond / court 棒球场
golf course / links 高尔夫球场
bowling alley 保龄球馆
第十一句：It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill, but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.
guess
Guess what? John got engaged to Susan!
（听力）
W: Guess what? I just nominated you for this year’s class treasurer.
M: Oh, no, Sally, you didn’t!
Q: What does the man imply?
A: (B) He doesn’t want to be treasurer.
make a guess at …
Make a guess at who’s behind the door.
wild: unreasonable; without careful thought.
a wild dream / imagination / speculation
Working with you is beyond my widest dreams.
more than + n. 超过；不仅仅
Peace is more than the absence of war. 和平不仅仅是没有战争。
(8课) These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries.
(30课) The open sea was deep and mysterious, and anyone who gave more than a passing thought to the bottom confines of the oceans probably assumed that the sea bed was flat.
造句：他们是有事业心的年轻人，不会满足于平淡的日常生活。
They are enterprising young people, not content with the dull routine of everyday life.
平淡的日常生活 the dull routine of everyday life
(3-31课) The invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.
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新东方《新概念英语（第四册）》（李延隆老师）课程来源于 YouTube.
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