Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree.

watch sb. doing sth. ^{注视某人正在做某事的过程}

• Let's just sit and watch them doing. ^{咱们就坐在这看他们演戏吧。}
• They will then unfurl in the warmth of your room; you can watch them doing it. ^{然后它们将不再在你温暖的房间里伸展开来；你可以看着它们这样做。}

prize ^{valued; treasured; cherished}

• One of Mary's prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her.
• The idea never appealed to me very much, but one day, after heavy shower, I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants.

The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house.

sheltered ^{adj.  可避风雨的}

• We found a sheltered spot to have a picnic.

I am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches. ^{不仅因为...,而且还因为...}

survive ^{vt. 经历……而幸存}

• A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact. 

severe ^{adj. 严重的，严酷的，严厉的}

• a severe injury
• a severe winter
• Recognizing who the customer was, the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely.

produce ^{v. 含义1. make, create 制造}

• When you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump it, burn it, turn it into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it.

produce ^{v. 含义2. to grow sth. or make it naturally  出产（农场品），产（仔）}

• The tree produces fruit. 
• A cow produces milk.
• A hen produces eggs.

produce ^{v. 含义3. if you produce an object, you bring it out or present it, so that people can see or consider it 出示，拿出}

• Produce your ticket!
• They made no effort to hide their amusement whenever I produced a packet of sweets from my pocket.
• She produced all sorts of weird concoctions, but none of them met with Harry's requirements. 

During the summer, I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither.

be beginning ^{进行时强调逐渐的...}

• Her sight is beginning to go. ^{她的视力开始下降。}
• The snow was beginning to melt. ^{积雪开始融化了。}
• Her legs were beginning to tire. ^{她的双腿开始感到累了。}
• The cheese was beginning to sweat. ^{奶酪开始出水了。}

Clusters of tiny insects called aphides were to be found on the underside of the leaves.

cluster ^{n. a group of things of the same kind that are very close together （密密匝匝的）一簇， 一团}

• a cluster of red berries

be to be found / heard / seen ^{能够被找到 / 看到 / 听到}

• Such books are to be found in the library. 
• Not a sound was to be heard.
• Not a soul was to be seen. 

They were visited by a large colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them.

colony ^{n.a group of animals or plants of the same type that are living or growing together（住在一起的）一群动物或植物}

• a colony of ants
• a seal colony
• A colony of gulls inhabits the island.^{一群海鸥栖息于这个岛上。}

形式定语从句

• They were visited by a large colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them.
• They were visited by a large colony of ants because the ants obtained a sort of honey from them. 
• We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write.
• We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, because people first learned to write there.
• Don’t sit on the chair because it has a broken leg. 
• Don’t sit on the chair which has a broken leg.
• I have to be very careful not to offend the manager because he could give me the sack at any time.
• I have to be very careful not to offend the manager who could give me the sack at any time.

a sort of = a kind of … ^{1.一种、某种…；2.有些像……的；……般的 ；（此处课文指得是第2种含义）}

• We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise where the sun always shines. 
• In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero.
• Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries: the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound interest law, which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing.

I immediately embarked on an experiment which even though it failed to get rid of the ants, kept me fascinated for 24 hours.

embark on / upon sth. ^{1.上船；2.开始某个工作、任务}

• Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes.

get rid of … ^{赶走…，打发走…}

• It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.

I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphides.

base of ^…的底部

• At the base of the gold cap, the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. 

The tape was so sticky that they did not dare to cross it.

cross ^{v.穿过; 穿过去}

• She was partly to blame for failing to look as she crossed the road. ^{她横穿马路时没有看车，应承担部分责任。}
• Egan crossed to the drinks cabinet and poured a Scotch. ^{伊根穿过去，来到酒柜旁，倒了一杯苏格兰威士忌。}

For a long time, I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment.

scurry ^{v. run with short quick steps 小步快跑}

• The mouse scurried across the floor. 

bewilder ^{v. 令人迷惑，令人晕头转向}

• The silence from Alex had hurt and bewildered her. ^{亚历克斯的沉默令她伤心和迷惑不解。}
• So many questions bewilder me. ^{这样多的问题使我困惑。}
• The letter would only bewilder the mother. ^{这信只会使妈妈惶惑不解。}

表示“感情”的名词和介词在一起做状语，大多数用in

• in bewilderment / confusion 
• in surprise 
• in horror
• in despair
• in a panic …

I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with satisfaction (and surprise) that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do anything about it.

with satisfaction = satisfiedly ^{满意地做某事}

• After consulting my railway timetable, I noted with satisfaction that there was an express train to Westhaven.

swarm ^{v. When insects swarm, they come together in a large group 昆虫聚集}

• A swarm of people encircled the hotel. ^{一大群人包围了这家酒店。}
• At the time, this was the largest swarm of robots ever tested. ^{当时，这是测试过的最大的机器人群。}
• A network swarm is all edges and therefore open-ended any way you come at it. ^{一个网络群到处都是边，因此，无论你以何种方式进入，它都是开放的。}

do something about …^{to do something in order to deal with a problem or difficult situation 解决，处理（问题或困难）}

• When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.

there is nothing … can do about … ^{对某问题某人无能为力}

• 'That's the trouble, vicar,' answered Bill. 'It's working all right, but I'm afraid that at one o'clock it will strike thirteen times and there's nothing I can do about it.'

I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair.

hope to do ^{希望做某事}

• We hope to arrive around two. ^{我们希望能在两点钟左右到达。}
• I hope to hell you're right. ^{我打心底里希望你是对的。}
• I hope to be back in a fortnight. ^{我希望两周后回来。}
• He had one last hope to cling on to. ^{他还抱着最后的一线希望。}

Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route.

Instead of …, however, … ^{本该…，结果却…}

• Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. 

They were climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves of the tree.

on to … = onto … ^{到…上面去}

• We all herded on to the bus.^{我们全都涌上了公共汽车。}
• With a spring, the cat leapt on to the table.^{猫一跃跳上桌子。}
• We bundled out onto the street. ^{我们大伙急忙跑到街上。}

I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity.

ingenuity ^{n.心灵手巧，聪明才智，独创力}

• Inspecting the nest can be difficult and may require some ingenuity. ^{仔细检查鸟巢可能有困难，也许需要一些巧妙的心思。}
• It's limited only by your ingenuity! ^{被束缚的仅仅是你的独创性！}
• They suppress the ingenuity of our people and businesses. ^{它们抑制我们的人民和企业的创造力。}

The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods!

be quick to do ^{【idiom】to react quickly to what someone says or does 很快就……} 

• He was quick to notice the mistake.
• He offered to train Mendoza and his young pupil was quick to learn. 

an answer to sth.  ^{a solution to sth. 问题的解决方案}

• There is no easy answer to the problem.