Lesson 8
Fear Matters

Guidance

Animals fear as well as men do. And feeling of fear even can accelerate the hatching of frog eggs. So what else can the magic fear do? 就像人类一样，动物也会感到恐惧。它甚至能使树蛙提前孵化。这神奇的恐惧感真是无所不能。

1 If you are afraid of the dark, it's not a big deal. It's perfectly normal to feel afraid. After all, animals do, too. "Fear matters ," says Karen Warkentin, a scientist of biology. "It's a good thing," she adds, "because fear makes you do things that keep you alive."

2 Like kids, many animals experience fear and they respond to the feeling in different ways. A frightened turtle pulls its head and legs inside its shell . A small fish will swim away when a big, hungry fish comes near.

3 Some animals respond to fear in ways you might not expect. The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. ① Warkentin made the surprising discovery while studying red-eyed tree frogs in Costa Rica.

4 Tree frog eggs usually grow for six days before hatching . If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack , however, they can hatch up to two days ahead of the schedule. ② As the snakes are unable to swim, by falling into the water early, the tadpoles can escape.

5 If hatching early helps protect red-eyed tree frogs from snakes, you might wonder why their eggs don't always hatch sooner. ③ It turns out that hatching early brings with its own danger. Once tadpoles land in the water, hungry fish and other animals like to eat them, too. Staying in their eggs for six days, then, allows frog embryos to grow big and strong. This extra growth improves their chances of surviving in the water.

(263 words)

Word bank

Notes

① The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. 第一个例子就是因为害怕被吃掉而产生的恐惧可以使一些青蛙提前破壳。

② If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack, however, they can hatch up to two days ahead of the schedule. 然而，如果它们感到饥饿的蛇要发动进攻，就会提前2天孵化。

③ If hatching early helps protect red-eyedtree frogs from snakes, you might wonder why their eggs don't always hatch sooner. 如果早些孵化有助于保护红眼睛树蛙免受蛇的侵害，你可能会奇怪为什么它们不一直提前孵化。

Practice

Ⅰ. Comprehension

1. What does Karen Warkentin mean by saying "Fear matters" ?

A. All the people are afraid of the dark.

B. Animals fear as well as men do.

C. Fear is important in biology science.

D. Fear helps you alive.

2. What might a turtle do when it's scared?

A. Pulls its head in its shell.

B. Swim away.

C. Pull its legs inside.

D. Both A and C.

3. A tree frog egg possibly grow for _____ days before hatching if it feels any danger.

A. 6

B. 4

C. 8

D. 2

4. _____ improves tree frogs' chances of surviving in the water.

A. Hatching early

B. Landing in the water

C. Staying in their eggs for 6 days

D. Danger

5. According to the passage, which statement is not true?

A. Being afraid is normal.

B. Fears may frighten frogs to hatch early.

C. Red-eyedtree frogs are only discovered in Costa Rica.

D. Hatching early doesn't always help tree frogs survive.

6. What is this passage mainly written to tell us?

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Ⅱ. Writing practice

Have you ever had any experience of being scared? What happened at first? And what did you do to deal with it? At last, did it help you or hurt you? Share your story with your partners and write it down.

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