实用英语口语(高级) 28.Importance of insects
ADVENTURER:When you think of endangered species, which animals do you think of? The tiger? The elephant? The panda? Ah, I get it.
ADVENTURER:You like the rock stars of the animal world, the famous, good looking ones, hey? The ... celebrities. Me too. I mean, which animals do you prefer: the lion ... ... or the ... beetle? It's just not easy to like ugly animals, is it?
ADVENTURER:Especially ... insects. Insects! They're everywhere! You know, there are more than a million known species of insect, and maybe as many as thirty million species that we don't even know about yet! Whoa!
ADVENTURER:That's a lot of bugs! But what good do insects do for us? Well ... you like honey, don't you? What about that nice silk shirt? Both made by bugs ... and, can you imagine, if there were no spiders, how many flies there'd be?
ADVENTURER:We need insects to eat other insects! And in fact, some insects are delicious! Full of protein. Oh, and perhaps the most valuable thing insects do for us: pollination. Insects help make it possible for flowers and grasses to reproduce.
ADVENTURER:We all agree that flowers are beautiful, right? Well, if there were no insects, there would be a lot less flowers. 此外，所有在食物链顶端的动物都要以食物链底部的动物和昆虫为食。 Think about it. If there were no insects, there might be no lions, no tigers, no elephants, no ... humans.
