英语听力：自然百科 探索世界奥秘之Wild Africa - Deserts(浩瀚沙漠) Unit04（在线收听）

With the spider exposed, it's now a battle between the wasp's paralyzing sting and the spider's jaws. But the wasp has quick reflexes. Cornered, the spider now plays its trump card. Hurling itself down the dune, it flips into a wheel. Traveling at over 40 turns a second, it makes a dizzy dash for freedom. Safe, at last.

Back up the dune, the wasp is left standing, chasing the scent of its vanished meal.

Instinct honed over time, governs much of the life in the Namib. But some creatures also have to learn how to conquer these sands, using knowledge passed down over generations.

African elephants are so resourceful, they can survive even here in the heart of the desert.

Elephants have remarkable powers of memory. Though this desert is more than 2 million square kilometers in size, 100 or so elephants it supports know precisely where to find enough to eat and drink. It takes a lot of food, up to 300 kilos a day to feed the world's largest land animal. And all of that -from a desert.

But there's one plant here, the Nara, whose roots draw water from deep underground. Each year it produces a bumper crop of melons. Elephants just love them.

words and expressions:

1.paralyzing:使瘫痪的

paralyze: make powerless and unable to function(eg.:The bureaucracy paralyzes the entire operation.)

2.reflex:mental reaction反射，反映

3.flip:翻跳

(eg.:The car flipped;The fish flipped on the deck.)

4.Elephants have remarkable powers of memory. 

Often,when we describe someone's amazing memory capacity, we always say:"You have an elephant's memory."

5.bumper:1.缓冲器

2.丰盛的(eg.:a bumper harvest/year)