新概念英語第四冊Lesson+26+The+past+life+of+the+earth+講義

Lesson26Thepastlifeoftheearth地球上的昔日生命Whatisthemainconditionforthepreservation1oftheremains2ofanylivingcreature?Itisanimalsandplantswhichlivedinornearwaterwhoseremainsaremostlikelytobepreserved,foroneofthenecessaryconditionsofpreservationisquickburial,anditisonlyintheseasandrivers,andsometimeslakes,wheremudandsithavebeencontinuouslydeposited,thatbodiesandthecanberapidlycoveredoverandpreserved.Buteveninthemostfavourable3circumstancesonlyasmallfractionofthecreaturesthatdiearepreservedinthiswaybeforedecaysetsinor,evenmorelikely,beforescavengerseatthem.Afterall,alllivingcreatureslivebyfeedingonsomethingelse,whetheritbeplantoranimal,deadoralive,anditisonlybychancethatsuchafateisavoided.Theremainsofplantsandanimalsthatlivedonlandaremuchmorerarelypreserved,forthereisseldomanythingtocoverthemover.Whenyouthinkoftheinnumerablebirdsthatoneseesflyingbout5,nottomentiontheequallynumeroussmallanimalslikefieldmiceandvoleswhichyoudonotsee,itisveryrarelythatonecomesacrossadeadbody,except,ofcourse,ontheroads.Theydecompose6andarequicklydestroyedbytheweatheroreatenbysomeothercreature.Itisalmostalwaysduetosomeveryspecialcircumstancesthattracesoflandanimalssurvive,asbyfallingintoinaccessible7caves,orintoanicecrevasse8,liketheSiberianmammoths,whenthewholeanimalissometimespreserved,asinarefrigerator.ThisiswhathappenedtothefamousBeresovkamammoth9whichwasfoundpreservedandingoodcondition.Inhismouthweretheremainsoffirtrees--thelastmealthathehadbeforehefellintothecrevasseandbrokehisback.ThemammothhasnowjustasuburbofLosAngeles.Apparently10whathappenedwasthatwatercollectedonthesetar11pits,andthebiggeranimalsliketheelephantsventuredoutontotheapparentlyfirmsurfacetodrink,andwerepromptly12bogged13inthetar.Andthen,whentheyweredead,thecarnivores,likethesabre-toothedcatsandthegiantwolves,cameouttofeedandsufferedexactlythesamefate.Therearealsoendlessnumbersofbirdsinthetaraswell.ERROLWHITEThepastlifeoftheearthfromDiscoveryNewwordsandexpressions生詞和短語preservationn.保存silt14n.淤泥scavenger4n.食腐動(dòng)物volen.野鼠，鼴鼠decomposev.腐爛inaccessibleadj.不能到達(dá)的crevassen.縫隙Siberianadj.西伯利亞的palaeontologicaladj.古生物學(xué)的St.Petersburgn.圣彼得堡sabre-toothedadj.長著銳利的長牙venturev.冒險(xiǎn)boggedadj.陷入泥沼的，陷入要困境的參考譯文只有生活在水中或水邊的動(dòng)植物尸體最有可能被保存下來，因?yàn)楸４娴谋匾獥l件之一是迅速掩埋，所以只有在泥沙不停淤積的海洋和江河里，有時(shí)在湖泊里，尸體之類的東西才能被迅速地覆蓋而保存下來。即使是在最有利的環(huán)境中，死去的生物中也只有一小部分能在開始腐爛前，或更可能在被食腐動(dòng)物吃掉之前，被這樣保存下來。因?yàn)橐磺猩锒际强砍詣e的東西來活命的，不管這種東西是植物還是動(dòng)物，死的還是活的，因此，生物偶爾才能避免被吃掉的命運(yùn)。曾在陸地上生活過的動(dòng)植物的遺體被保存下來的更為罕見，因?yàn)殛懙厣蠋缀鯖]有什么東西覆蓋它們。你可以想象出天上有看得見的飛來飛去、數(shù)不清的鳥，地上有不顯眼的無數(shù)的老鼠和田鼠之類的小動(dòng)物，但是，除非在路上，很少有人遇到這些動(dòng)物的尸體，因?yàn)樗鼈兏瘮≈蠛芸炀捅伙L(fēng)化掉，或被別的動(dòng)物吃掉了。幾乎總是由于某些特殊的條件，陸地動(dòng)物的遺體才被存下來，如掉進(jìn)難以到達(dá)的洞穴，或掉進(jìn)冰河裂縫里，或者像西伯利亞長毛象那樣掉進(jìn)冰窟中，有時(shí)整個(gè)動(dòng)物像被放在冰箱里一樣被保存下來，著名的那林索夫卡長毛象就是這樣被保存下來的，而且保存得很好。它嘴里還留著冷杉--它掉進(jìn)冰河裂隙折斷脊椎柱之前的最后一頓飯。這頭長毛象已被修復(fù)，現(xiàn)存于圣彼得堡古生物學(xué)博物館。有的動(dòng)物掉進(jìn)天然瀝清坑里被保存下來，如在蘭橋.拉.布里--現(xiàn)在是洛杉磯的郊區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)的大象、劍齒虎和許多其他動(dòng)物。顯然，事情的經(jīng)過是這樣：瀝青坑里積存了水，大象那樣的大動(dòng)物冒險(xiǎn)到似乎堅(jiān)固的水面上去飲水，立即掉進(jìn)了瀝青坑。大象死后，一些食肉動(dòng)物，如劍齒虎和大灰狼就來吃大象，結(jié)果遭到了同樣的命運(yùn)。瀝青坑里還有無數(shù)只鳥的尸體。新概念英語正版圖書購買點(diǎn)擊收聽單詞發(fā)音

1preservation

n.保護(hù)，維護(hù)，保存，保留，保持參考例句：Thepoliceareresponsibleforthepreservationoflawandorder.警察負(fù)責(zé)維持法律與秩序。Thepictureisinanexcellentstateofpreservation.這幅畫保存得極為完好。2remains

n.剩余物，殘留物；遺體，遺跡參考例句：Heatetheremainsoffoodhungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。Theremainsofthemealwerefedtothedog.殘羹剩飯喂狗了。3favourable

adj.贊成的，稱贊的，有利的，良好的，順利的參考例句：Thecompanywilllendyoumoneyonveryfavourableterms.這家公司將以非常優(yōu)惠的條件借錢給你。Wefoundthatmostpeoplearefavourabletotheidea.我們發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)人同意這個(gè)意見。4scavenger

n.以腐尸為食的動(dòng)物，清掃工參考例句：He'sjustfitforajobasscavenger.他只配當(dāng)個(gè)清道夫。Heisnotascavengernorjustamovingappetiteassomesharksare.它不是食腐動(dòng)物，也不像有些鯊魚那樣，只知道游來游去滿足食欲。5bout

n.侵襲，發(fā)作；一次(陣，回)；拳擊等比賽參考例句：Iwassufferingwithaboutofnerves.我感到一陣緊張。Thatboutofpneumoniaenfeebledher.那次肺炎的發(fā)作使她虛弱了。6decompose

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐敗，（使）腐爛參考例句：Theeggsbegantodecomposeafteradayinthesun.雞蛋在太陽下放了一天后開始變壞。Mostanimalsdecomposeveryquicklyafterdeath.大多數(shù)動(dòng)物死后很快腐爛。7inaccessible

adj.達(dá)不到的，難接近的參考例句：Thisnovelseemstomeamongthemostinaccessible.這本書對我來說是最難懂的小說之一。ThetopofMountEverestisthemostinaccessibleplaceintheworld.珠穆朗瑪峰是世界上最難到達(dá)的地方。8crevasse

n.裂縫，破口；v.使有裂縫參考例句：Thedeepcrevasseyawnedattheirfeet.他們腳下的冰川有一道深深的裂縫。Hefelldownacrevasse.他從裂縫處摔了下來。9mammoth

n.長毛象；adj.長毛象似的，巨大的參考例句：Youcanonlyundertakemammothchangesifthefinancesarethere.資金到位的情況下方可進(jìn)行重大變革。Buildingthenewrailroadwillbeamammothjob.修建那條新鐵路將是一項(xiàng)巨大工程。10apparently

adv.顯然地；表面上，似乎參考例句：Anapparentlyblindalleyleadssuddenlyintoanopenspace.山窮水盡，豁然開朗。Hewasapparentlymuchsurprisedatthenews.他對那個(gè)消息顯然感到十分驚異。11tar

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或澆柏油/焦油于參考例句：Theroofwascoveredwithtar.屋頂涂抹了一層瀝青。Weusetartomakeroads.我們用瀝青鋪路。12promptly

adv.及時(shí)地，敏捷地參考例句：Hepaidthemoneybackpromptly.他立即還了錢。Shepromptlyseizedtheopportunityhisabsencegaveher.她立即抓住了因他不在場給她創(chuàng)造的機(jī)會(huì)。13bogged

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼，（使）陷入困境(bog的過去式和過去分詞)；妨礙，阻礙參考例句：Theprofessorboggeddowninthemiddleofhisspeech.教授的演講只說了一半