The king of the spiders

1、The king of the spidersTarantula 食鳥蛛Cultural salon1 world wide distribution of tarantulasThere are about 850 species of tarantulas world wide, according to some authoritative scientists research. Their range includes Africa and Madagascar, parts of the Middle East, southern Europe, south Asia, the i

2、ndo-pacific region, Australia, Northern New Zealand, some of the Micronesian Islands, all of Central and South America, parts of the Caribbean, and the united states north to central California and east to the Mississippi river. More than 4 dozen of all the species of tarantulas populate the U.S. ra

3、nge.The origin of its nameThe name “ tarantula” originated in 14th century in the town of Taranto, a port town in southern Italy, where people felt forced to dance the wildly erotic Tarantella if bitten by a spider. It was originally used for an unrelated species of European spider. When Europeans s

4、tarted traveling to areas where such large spiders were found, the name was borrowed to refer to the so-called “ theraphosides”, which, in Africa, are often called “ baboon(狒狒） spiders” and in Asia, “ earth tigers” or “ bird-eating spiders” while in Australia, “ barking spiders” or “ whistling spide

5、rs”.Moulting(蛻殼）蛻殼） and life cycleTarantulas, like other spiders, need to shed their exoskeleton periodically in order to grow. This process is called moulting. A young tarantula may go through this process a few times a year while full grown specimens will only moult once a year or even less, or so

6、oner so they can replace lost body parts such as limbs ro urticating hairs（螯毛）. Tarantula may live for years, with most species taking 2-5 years to reach adulthood. But some species may take longer time to reach fully maturity. Some may take up to 10 years, at the point of which, males typically hav

7、e but 1 to 1.5 year period left to live. Female will continue to moult after reaching maturity. They may live for several decades. The oldest spider, according to Guinness world records, lived to be 49 years old.Medical implicationAs we have seen on the video, no fatalities have been attributed tara

8、ntula bites. Nevertheless, sometimes spider bites can become sources of infection. Proper medical advice and preventative measures are more helpful in this respect. The consequences from contact with a tarantulas hairs are more serious than those from its bite. People may experience allergic rhiniti

9、s(過敏性鼻炎）, which causes cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, congestion, sneezing and sinus pressure. Medical intervention is regarded as necessary when these symptoms or more serious ones, such as breathing difficulty or chest pain, develop.Goliath tarantula 巨人食鳥蛛 （P2)Para 1-8Reading the paragra

10、phs 1-8, and answering the following questions.1 what do Goliath tarantula look like?2 what is the history of the tarantula?3 how do most people feel about tarantulas? Why do they feel that way?4 what and how do the tarantulas eat ?Key words1. Largest ; hairy ; dinner plate; 30 cm; fangs 5 cm2. exis

11、t; evolve ; ancient hunters; 25 million years; master predators; adapt to3. scared; stay far away; poor and unfair; media; bad rap; malign; creep people out4. smaller insects; larger prey; snakes; wrap; inject; venom; fangsWords explanationEnormous adj. usually large in sizeEg. He brought me an enor

12、mous bunch of flowers. The past thirty years have witnessed enormous changes in China.PredatorN. Any cardinal animal that eats other animals.Eg. The lion is a fierce predator.Who can say that human beings are not predators?Adapt to = adjust to Eg tarantulas have always been successful in adapting to

13、 different climates.You should try to adapt yourself to the new environment instead of feeling homesick.Inaccessible Adj. Not accessible; unapproachableEg. The plant grows only in those most inaccessible places int the world.It seems an inaccessible goal for me to finish such a task within so short

14、a time.BiasVt. Cause to have a prejudiceEg. Most people are biased against tarantulas since these animals have always been described as being horrible and dangerous in the media. This old lady is always biased against people who try to help her.Other words in the textCreepInjectMalignGo for the jugu

15、larCreep ( someone) out Para 9-16Read the paragraphs of 9-16, and answer the following questions.1 why did West want to explore the cave in spite of the danger? How did he feel?2 how did West tease the tarantula out? Why did he give it back at last?3 can you briefly describe the dangers West may enc

16、ounter.4 what did tarantula do when it faces potential attacks.1. explore; caves; discover; unknown secrets; must; irresistible; compelling2. long stick; tease out; the particular type; earlier trip3. jungle: impossible; break through; razor grass; cut; scrape; Goliath tarantula : weapons; tiny hair

17、s ;urticating hairs; 4.launch; potential attackers; scratch; back legs; pain ; irritationWords explanationIdentify V prove or recognize as being a certain person or thingEg on an earlier trip, West identified this type of tarantula.It is not easy to identify your lost bicycle among the ones in the L

18、ost and Found office.Launch V start off or set in motionEg. The hairs Goliath tarantula launches can sink deep into the skin, eyes or nose of any animal that comes too close.People never expected the tragedy of Titanic after the ship was launched on May 31, 1911.Potential Adj possible but not yet ac

19、tualEg if you come too close to a tarantula, the giant spider may take you as a potential danger.He has never tried to take any measures to prevent the potential problems because of his conceit.PrimordialSwirl aroundCompellingTease ( something ) out Scrape Para 17-25Read the following paragraphs of

20、17-25, and answer the questions.1 what does “ electric” mean? Why did he feel electric?2 why West was not frightened of the tarantula when it was on his body?3 what does its silk use for? Can you describe the Goliath tarantulas process of hunting its prey?4 according to the passage, whats his real r

21、eason to study Goliath tarantula?1. exciting; nighttime; wonderful time; thrilling ; skitter; rush2. walk on; a piece of wood; injure; scare;3. hunting; trip wire; within range; attacks mouse; touch; dinner bell; jumps; wraps; inject; venom; die4. painful; not deadly; no confirmed human death; no re

22、ason to be frightened; turn fear into fascinationWord explanationRush N a sudden surge of sensationEg. When he goes into the jungle at night and hears all the little noises, West gets a rush of excitement.The story she is reading causes a rush of nostalgia for her childhood.Suspect Think that someth

23、ing is probably ture, especially something bad.Eg. The floor mouse would never suspect that the silk on the ground is a trap set by the tarantula.She strongly suspected he was lying to her.VictimA person or thing that suffers harm, death, etc, from another or from some adverse act, circumstance, etc

24、.Eg a lot of wild species have become victims of mans exploitation of the earth.Faced with todays environment crisis, we human beings are not only victims but also the problem.Confirm V prove to be ture or valid; vertifyEg this report confirms that tarantulas are not human killers.Two cases of viral

25、 fever were confirmed in the city.SkitterA rush捕鳥蛛 tarantula捕鳥蛛屬于較原始之蜘蛛，其全身密生細毛。南美洲及北美洲捕鳥蜘身上某些地方可能具一種刺激性的短毛，遇到老鼠等敵物便向敵物用后腳掃散這種自然的致癢粉。敵物之反應如工人鋪設織維玻璃毛氈后，全身會發(fā)癢。因可使用這種護身方式，則未必有亞洲等地捕鳥蜘那么會咬。美洲捕鳥蜘，毒性因此常低于亞洲等地的。 習性捕鳥蛛原生活在南方的深山叢林中,因靠捕鳥為食而得名。捕鳥蛛的蛛毒具有治療老年癡呆癥、癲癇等病的功效。因此，需求量很大。近年來，人們開始人工養(yǎng)殖捕鳥蛛。 亞馬遜巨人捕鳥蛛是最大型的蜘蛛，最大

26、的足展 30厘米。原產(chǎn)自亞馬遜雨林區(qū)，生活在樹洞里，喜歡吃麻雀的幼仔，可以一次吃下整只乳鴿。它們有很長的牙齒，一般有5 毫米長，以方便將毒液注入獵物體內(nèi)。不過一物降一物，它們最怕非洲土人，因為土人百毒不侵，喜歡用薄荷葉將它們卷著生吞，因為它們含有豐富的蛋白質和鈣。 捕鳥蛛是蜘蛛中的“巨人”，大小像拳頭相當(515厘米)，四足外展時體寬可達20多厘米，最大捕鳥蛛可達到30厘米長。因最初被發(fā)現(xiàn)命名時正在捕食鳥類而得名。 有的捕鳥蛛是自然界中最巧妙的獵手之一。有的捕鳥蛛有噴絲織網(wǎng)的獨特本領，在樹枝間編織具有很強粘性的網(wǎng)，一旦食鳥蛛喜食的小鳥、青蛙、蜥蝎和其他昆蟲落入網(wǎng)中，必定成為食鳥蛛的口中之食。食

27、鳥蛛一般多在夜間活動，白天隱藏在網(wǎng)附近的巢穴或樹根間，一有獵物落網(wǎng)，它就迅速爬過來，抓住獵物，分泌毒液將獵物毒死作食物。由于它十分兇悍，人類也得提防。捕鳥蛛織的蛛網(wǎng)能經(jīng)得住300克的重量。1975年,在墨西哥曾發(fā)現(xiàn)一株大樹的幾根樹枝，被一張巨大而多層的蛛網(wǎng)所遮蓋，最大的網(wǎng)竟能將一棵18.3米高的大樹上部3/4的樹枝遮蔽掉。 新大陸的的捕鳥蛛在遇到圍攻時，能用足擦掉腹部的毛，一旦對手粘上,就會又癢又痛不敢再追。捕鳥蛛頭部有8只眼,所以叫“八眼蜘蛛王”，不過它卻高度近視。捕鳥蛛頭部嘴邊還生有一對強有力的螯牙，好像一把鉗子，能自如轉動。螯牙下連毒腺，毒液能從螯牙的尖端分泌出來。南美洲的亞馬遜熱帶雨林是捕鳥蛛的故鄉(xiāng)。捕鳥蛛性喜獨處。卵生，一般能活十多