Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.

industrious  ^{diligent 勤奋的}

• Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency. 
• She was an industrious and willing worker. ^{她是个勤劳肯干的工人。}

do nothing to do sth. ^{做某某方面没用}

• It is a cosmetic measure which will do nothing to help the situation long term. ^{这是装点门面的措施，无益于局势的长期发展。}
• It grieved him that he could do nothing to help her. ^{他因无法帮助她而伤心。}
• He could do nothing to disturb them. ^{他做什么都打搅不了她们。}

The precautions did nothing / did not do anything to prevent the disease from spreading. ^{这些预防措施在阻止这种疾病蔓延方面没有任何作用。}

prevent … from … ^阻止

• He said this would prevent companies from creating new jobs. ^{他说这将阻止各公司创造新的职位。}
• There's been talk of a retaliatory blockade to prevent supplies from getting through. ^{有人在谈论实施报复性封锁，以阻止供应物资通过。}

do little to do sth.^{在某方面没多大作用}

• Third, harsh laws often do little to protect the innocent. ^{第三，严苛的法律往往无助于保护无辜者。}
• Moreover, higher interestrates would do little to curb food prices. ^{其次，提高利率对限制食物价格作用寥胜于无。}
• But it will do little to protect the economy from a prolonged credit squeeze. ^{但它却不能抑制长期的信贷紧缩。}

be filled with … ^{充满了某种情绪}

• be filled with anger/ fear / dread / horror / joy / happiness / doubt / alarm / revulsion / admiration / remorse … ^{充满了某种情绪…}
• All at once, I noticed that my wife seemed to be filled with alarm.
• Their faces were suddenly filled with fear.
• I am filled with admiration for your bravery.

No matter how much we like honey, or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung.

sense of direction / humor / danger / justice / pride / honor / accomplishment / responsibility / superiority / inferiority … ^…感

• The sense of humo(u)r is mysteriously bound up with national characteristics. ^幽默感
• He simply had no sense of danger at all. ^危险感

have a horror of … ^害怕

• She has a horror of cockroaches.

Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase.

… they are impossible to erase… ^{形容词后加动词不定式作补语，用主动表被动的含义}

• He is easy to fool.
• She is extremely difficult to please.
• The machine is awkward to handle.
• The man is hard to work with.

造句：My fear of driving is unreasonable, but it is impossible to erase.  ^{我害怕开车是没有道理的, 但这种感觉无法消除。}

At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating.

fascinating ^{adj. 迷人的}

• Madagascar is the most fascinating place I have ever been to. ^{马达加斯加是我去过的最迷人的地方。}
• The exhibition tells the fascinating story of the steam age. ^{展览讲述了蒸汽时代引人入胜的故事。}
• I still find it fascinating. ^{我仍然觉得它很迷人。}

At the same time, however, insects exert a peculiar fascination on us.
At the same time, however, insects never fail to fascinate us.

We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives .

perfectly ^{adv. completely ― used to emphasize what you are saying（用于加强语气）完全， 非常，极其}

• It's perfectly normal to feel like this.
• To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to go anyway.

We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence.

• We enjoy reading about them ...
• We enjoy staring at them ...

entrance ^{vt. 令人着迷，陶醉}

• I’m completely entranced by / with the music.
• The children sat silent on the carpet, entranced by the puppet show. 

go about one’s business ^{做自己的事}

• The villagers were going about their business as usual. 

be (un)aware of … ^{意识到/没有意识到}

• He used to sleep during the day and work at night, quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley.
• The crowd began to shout, but the drunk was unaware of the danger.

presence ^{n. 出席，在场}

• Everything around him was full of her presence, continually reopening the wound. 
• His daughter's presence seemed to fill her empty bedroom.
• Everything around me is full of his / her presence, continually reopening the wound. 

absence ^{n. 不在场，缺席}

• She did not mention her mother's absence. ^{她没有提到她母亲的缺席。}
• She concocted some elaborate story to explain her absence. ^{她精心编造了解释她不在场的一些谎言。}
• The case was dismissed in the absence of any definite proof. ^{此案因缺乏确凿证据而不予受理。}

Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?

stand in awe (of ...)^{（对……）充满敬畏}

• Stand in awe in front of it. ^{怀着崇敬的心情站在它的面前。}
• They rather stand in awe of Charles. ^{他们非常敬畏查尔斯。}
• We always stand in awe of our manager. ^{我们对经理总是敬而远之。}

pounce on … ^猛扑向…

• He had spotted a tiny bottle at the bottom of my case and he pounced on it with delight. 

column ^{n. a long moving line of people or things（人或事物的）队伍}

• a column of soldiers
• a column of refugees
• Perhaps you are a poor speller or cannot add up a column of figures. ^{也许是你的拼写能力太差了，又或许是你不会把纵列数字相加。}
• Word went out that a column of tanks was on its way. ^{有消息说一队坦克上路了。}

triumph ^{n.  胜利，成功（的喜悦）；v.  获得成功，取胜}

• There was a note of triumph in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white.
• Arch of Triumph ^凯旋门

rhetorical question ^{修辞疑问句（不用回答；多用于结尾）}

• We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?
• O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? ‘Ode to the West Wind’— P. B. Shelley
• Who among us has not dreamed of that?
• What is the use of our studying grammar if we can't put the grammatical rules into practice? 
• Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical than that of gunners using science to shatter men‘s bodies while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them?