你有沒有凝神思考過世界上到底有多少隻螞蟻？一組研究人員認為他們已估算出這個數字。
20 quadrillion sounds like a lot of ants, and it is. To give you an idea, that’s two and a half million ants for every human on Earth.
20千萬億聽起來像是很多隻螞蟻，事實也確實如此。這就相當於地球上每一個人對應250萬隻螞蟻。
To count them at one a second would take 634 million years. So, no one’s tried that.
以每秒數一隻螞蟻的速度，要6.34億年才能數完。所以，沒有人嘗試過。
But the scientists involved in this report have made their estimate by consulting hundreds of studies from different habitats around the world.
然而參與這項研究的科學傢們通過查閱世界各地不同螞蟻棲息地的數百項研究做出瞭估算。
The study warns that the staggering figure may be an underestimate because of the lack of data from regions including Central Africa and Asia.
該研究提醒，由於缺少包括中非和亞洲等地區的數據，所以盡管這個數字驚人，但可能仍低估瞭螞蟻的實際數量。
詞匯表
quadrillion 一千萬億
give someone an idea 讓某人大致瞭解情況
estimate 估算，估計
consulting 查閱
staggering 驚人的
underestimate 低估
2. 閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。
1. True or false? People have tried to count all the ants in the world at one a second.
2. How many ants did the scientists estimate there are in the world?
3. How did the scientists make an estimate?
4. Why does the study warn the number might be an underestimate?
3. 答案
1. True or false? People have tried to count all the ants in the world at one a second.
False. No one has tried that. It would take 634 million years.
2. How many ants did the scientists estimate there are in the world?
The scientists estimated that there are 20 quadrillion ants in the world.
3. How did the scientists make an estimate?
They made an estimate by consulting hundreds of studies from different habitats around the world.
4. Why does the study warn the number might be an underestimate?
Because of the lack of data from regions including Central Africa and Asia.
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