I love snakes, while my mother does not. Lots of people who are afraid of snakes have never seen one. Neither has my mother. So where does the fear come from?
To find out the answer,scientists put pictures with snakes, pandas, cats, flowers and many other things in front of a group of people of all ages, even babies. People found snakes faster than flowers. It wasn' t just snakes. They found " black faces" , another example, spiders（蜘蛛）, faster than" safe" things like flowers. It seems we find things that might be dangerous to us faster. Maybe we are born to be afraid of them.
Scientists also found people learned to fear snakes faster. Why did they fear snakes？ Most of them said that in their experiences, they were influenced by the scared voice and faces of those who met snakes, but wasn' t bitten by snakes. After all, if we had to be bitten by a snake to learn that it' s dangerous, we might learn our lesson too late.
So why is it important whether we are afraid of snakes or not? It may not matter much to us,but it is really very important to snakes. People protect animals they like,not animals they fear. Snakes may not be as cute as pandas,but they' re just of the same importance to the environment. Snakes eat insects and mice that are pests（害虫） to humans. Snakes are also food for other animals, so, when we kill snakes, we' re breaking the balance.
How can we reduce our fears to give snakes a chance? Scientists did a study recently. Some volunteer students went on a field trip. With the help of safety tips, everyone could safely touch and hold a snake. It turns out that snakes aren' t so bad when you know the way to stay with them. Most people who were afraid of snakes before the field trip weren' t afraid afterwards. In fact, snakes even became some students' favorite animal. Hmm, maybe I should take my mom on the next field trip.
