一. 课文内容
Why↑, you may wonder, should spiders be our （弱读）friends? Because they destroy '''so many insects, and '''insects include |some of the '''greatest enemies| of the human race. Insects would make it impossible（三个词连读 ，t变d，impossible 重读，前两个词弱读） for '''us（连读，for弱读） to live in the world; they would devour all our （连读）crops and kill our（连读） flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating（吃昆虫） 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（连读） glance, for | a '''spider always has eight legs and an '''insect never more than six.
How many spiders are '''engaged in this work on 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（弱读） 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.
二. 小词积累
1. spare adj.备用的,预备的; 剩下的,多余的,空闲的; （能被表示程度的副词或介词词组修饰的形容词）简单的;不加修饰的;简朴的； 瘦削的（tall and not at all fat）
v. 剩余，剩下(时间、金钱或空间)； You got here with ninety seconds to spare. 你到这里的时候还剩 90 秒钟时间。
抽出，拨出(金钱或其他资源)；If you spare time or another resource for a particular purpose, you make it available for that purpose.[V n]
She said that she could only spare35 minutes for our meeting...她说她只能抽出 35 分钟时间参加我们的会议。
使免遭伤害;使幸免；If a person or a placeis spared, they are not harmed, even though other people or places have been.[be V-ed] [be V-ed from n]
不让…难堪(或难过)；If you spare someone an unpleasant experience, you prevent them from suffering it.[V n n] [V n] [V n from n]
I wanted to spare Frances the embarrassment of discussing this subject.讨论这个话题太尴尬，我不想让弗朗西斯难堪。
spare no effort/expense in doing不遗余力/不惜工本；If you spare no effort in doing something, you do it as well as possible, without worrying about the amount of work involved. If you spare no expense in doing it, you do it as well as possible, without trying to save money
2. flocks 形容鸟，羊群; 一群人蜂拥而至 （flock to）
3. herds 兽群 ，the herd 芸芸众生
4. a fraction of 冰山一角，杯水车薪，一部分
5. for a spider always has eight legs and an insect never more than six. 因为谓语动词相同，后面有省略has
6. tell the difference 看出差别
7. Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them八竿子打不着
8. engaged in/on 忙于; 订婚的;电话占线的
9. concensus共识
10. about
a. about与on表示“关于”：about是一般的“谈及”，on则是有一定学术水平的“论及”。【例如】a conversationabouthousekeeping有关家政的谈话 / a book for childrenaboutMexico一本向儿童介绍墨西哥的书 / a lectureontheoretical physics一场关于理论物理的讲课。所用介词前面以及后面，两边的名词的正式程度，在这里都需要综合考虑在内。【例如】a novelabout(*on) love一本有关爱情的小说 / a filmabout(*on) Lincoln一部有关林肯的影片 / a thesison(*about) Lincoln一篇有关林肯的毕业论文 / a speechon(*about) a political subject一篇有关政治题目的演说 / a paperon(*about) the Holocaust一篇有关纳粹大屠杀的论文。
b. 放在表示“知晓”、“感知”这类动词后面，about比of表示了解得更为详细具体。例如：know of somebody可能只是从书报电视上知道有此人，但know about somebody则是对此人有比较多的了解。表示“从不知到知”这一变化的learn of与learn about，也有类似区别
c. what X is all about是英语常用的词组，表示X是什么一回事。【例如】That is what our job is all about.那就是咱们工作的内容。也就是说，这里有一个公式：X is all about Y，其中X是个概括性的概念，Y则是它的较为具体的内容。所以即使不用what，这个公式也成立。【例如】But if he does it any more, I shall certainly let him know that I seewhathe isabout.(Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter Six) 要是他再这样，我一定要叫他明白我并不是个糊涂蛋（直译：我一定要叫他明白我知道他的老底）。Successful truffle-making is about temperature control. 做软块糖要成功，关键在于控制好温度。但是这个X is (all) aboutY的表达法，有些语言上保守的人士认为不高雅，所以在比较正式的书面英语不常用。
11. football pitch足球场 basketball court篮球场
牛Beef Veal小牛肉 Ox公牛 Cow奶牛 Bull 红牛
羊Sheep羊 Lamb小羊羔, goat公山羊与ram(没有阉的)公羊
中文山羊绵羊、公羊母羊、老羊幼羊，都叫“羊”。英文却是分得很仔细。lamb是“小羔羊”，有神圣可爱的意义。goat则是公山羊，往往有“好色”的含义。ram则也是公山羊，也有“好色”、“健壮”的含义。
pitch 音高（多来米）绝对音高:perfect pitch;足球、板球（cricket）、曲棍球（hockey ball）等运动的球场；争取拿到；If someone is pitching for something, they are trying to persuade other people to give it to them；通常指仔细瞄准后用力投，掷，扔，抛； 搭[帐篷]; 扎营；If you pitch your tent, orpitch camp, you put up your tent in a place where you are going to stay
court: (网球、篮球、羽毛球或壁球等的)球场
12. you may wonder 是这个疑问句的插入语。
常见的插入语还有：as you know, to be frank, in fact, generally speaking等等。
13. if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals，这是一个非真实条件状语从句，were表示虚拟语气。
表示对过去的虚拟：If+过去完成时(had done sth), would/could have done...
表示对现在的虚拟：If+简单过去时(did sth), would/could do...
14. owe a lot to 归功于，感激
①owe money to sb欠某人钱
例句：The company owes moneoy to more than 60 banks.
这家公司欠了60多家银行钱。
②owe sth to sb把某事归功于某人，感谢某人
例句：He owes his success more to luck than to ability.
他认为他的成功是靠运气而不是因为自己有能力.
15. on our behalf 代表我们
on behalf of sb/on sb's behalf 代表某人
例句：On behalf of my colleagues and myself I thank you.
我代表我的同事以及我自己向你表示谢意.
三. 读音纠正
1. 连读： one hour（连读）；
make it impossible（三个词连读 ，t变d，impossible 重读，前两个词弱读） for '''us（连读，for弱读）；
devour all our （连读）crops and kill our（连读） flocks and herd；
2. 弱读
make it impossible（三个词连读 ，t变d，impossible 重读，前两个词弱读） for '''us（连读，for弱读）；
that is something like（弱读） 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds |on a football pitch
3. wonder /wʌndɚ/ 跟one 一样，n也要发音 wander/wɑndɚ/ 漫游
4.元音重读，且/ɑ/ impossible crop a lot /lɑt/
5. a lot of /a lɑ dəv/
6. estimated/ei/动词 estimate/ə/ 名词
7. con'tent满意，'content目录
四. 建议
1. 提早十分钟不看文本听课文
2. 英文语调变化跟重弱读有关，跟中文语调变化导致意思变化不同
3. 我的问题 : 断句
Because they destroy '''so many insects, and '''insects include |some of the '''greatest enemies| of the human race.
五. 练习
It has/tæs/been '''estimated that/ə/ the '''weight of （连读）''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.
