112 會考英文閱讀第 31 題詳解

Sometimes when the rain falls hard and fast on you, it might hurt a little.

But what happens when it hits a mosquito? A 2012 study says when a raindrop falls on a mosquito, it's like when a bus hits a person. Besides, the little insect is hit by a raindrop about once every 20 seconds. So why don't we see many dead mosquitoes after it rains? A mosquito is as big as a raindrop, but it is much lighter — 0.002 g only. This saves its life in raindrop attacks. Because the mosquito is so light, when it is hit by a raindrop, it won't experience a force that is strong enough to kill it. The study also found that when a mosquito is hit by a raindrop, the insect is pushed by the raindrop and falls together with it. But the mosquito doesn't get wet easily because it is covered with hairs which keep off water. After dropping about 6 cm, it will roll off the raindrop and fly away. However, this trick isn't always successful. If the mosquito flies too low when it is hit by the raindrop, it won't have time to fly off. Then it will hit the ground and meet its death.