□刘晓妮

How to Protect Oneself

□刘晓妮

每个人都有自我保护的本能，动物也不例外。一些动物是通过自身的颜色变化来保护自己的，如我们所熟知的变色龙便是。

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

在自然界中，你可以看到许多不同颜色的昆虫和动物。你有没有想过这是为什么呢？

1. insect：n.虫，昆虫

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.

蝗虫对于鸟类来说是一种超级美味的食物，但鸟类捕捉它们并不是一件容易的事，既不是因为蝗虫是好的弹跳者或运动员，也不是因为它们比敌人更聪明。原因是蝗虫的颜色随作物的颜色变化。当庄稼未成熟的时候，蝗虫看起来是绿色的。但是当秋天来临时，蝗虫就随着庄稼的颜色变成黄色和棕色的了。

1. locust：n.蝗虫，蚱蜢

2. smart：adj.聪明的；敏捷的

3. crop：n.农作物；庄稼

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、老虎和其他动物在森林中静静地走动，它们不会轻易被敌人看见。这是因为它们有类似于树的颜色。因为同样的原因，生活在一片冰天雪地上的北极熊是白色的。生活在花丛中的蝴蝶和蜜蜂，像花朵一样是五颜六色的。生活在土壤中的昆虫大多是深色的，它们生活在黑暗和潮湿的土壤中。然而，与植物不同颜色的昆虫却可能很容易被发现和吃掉。所以为了生存，它们不得不在白天躲起来，只在晚上才出现。

1. through：prep.透过；经由；通过，穿过

2. similar：adj.相似的；类似的；同样的；同类的

3. soil：n.泥土；土壤

4. environment：n.环境，外界

5. survive：vi.幸存，活下来

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.

你有没有注意到一些更加奇怪的行为？海中的乌贼鱼在面对危险时会散发出一些很黑的墨水。当墨水洒出来时，它的敌人会突然发现自己处在一个黑暗的世界里，同时乌贼鱼会立即游走。这就是它如何保证自己的安全的，虽然它一点也不强大。

1. spread：vt.& vi.展开；伸开；（使）传播；（使）散布

2. immediately：adv.立即，马上

3. though：conj.即使；虽然，尽管；纵然