【TheSongofCicadasLateinthesummer,onacoolevening,Addyandherfatherheardasonghighinthetrees."Listen!"saidDaddy,"Cicadas!"Togethertheysearchedthetreesaroundtheiryardandfoundemptycicadashells,&q】
The Song of Cicadas
Late in the summer,on a cool evening,Addy and her father heard a song high in the trees."Listen!"said Daddy,"Cicadas!"
Together they searched the trees around their yard and found empty cicada shells,"An insect used to live inside,"Daddy explained."When it grew bigger,it left its shell behind."Gently Addy and Daddy pulled the fragile(易碎的)shells off the trees and collected them in a bucket.
Just as Addy reached for one of the shells,it began to walk!The cicada was still inside.Addy watched it slowly crawl up the tree.Then it stopped and sat motionless for what seemed like a long time.A small crack began to open down its shell.The crack got wider and wider,until Addy could see the insect's back emerging.When it head popped out,Addy looked right into its shiny green eyes.
Slowly and gently each leg slipped out of the shell-two small ones on the front,two in the middle,and two bigger ones on the back.Addy could see two tiny,thin wings that looked like wet paper.
Daddy brought out a chair."Aren't your legs getting tired?"he asked,"You've been watching for almost an hour now."
"Look,Daddy!"exclaimed Addy,"Something is happening to the wing.""The cicada has tiny vessels(脉管)in its wings,"said Daddy."It fills these vessels with fluid from its body to expand the wings."
Patiently Addy sat in her chair and watched and watched.The sun went down and the air became very cool.Mommy called from the house,"Time to come inside!"
Reluctantly Addy went inside.When she was ready for bed,she and Daddy took his flashlight out to check on the cicada once more.It was still resting on its shell.
"It was hard work for the cicada to come out of its shell,"said Daddy."It probably needs a long rest."
When Addy woke the next morning,she ran outside to the