[by:英语听力网|http://yingyu.chazidian.com||查字典英语网] [00:00.00]喜欢chazidian.com，就把chazidian.com复制到QQ个人资料中！Lesson 26 The past life of the earth [00:02.99]地球上的昔日生命 [00:05.98]First listen and then answer the following question. [00:08.32]听录音,然后回答以下问题. [00:10.66]What is the main condition [00:14.21]for the preservation of the remains of any living creature? [00:16.78]生物的尸体被保存下来的主要条件是什么? [00:19.36]It is animals and plants which lived in or near water [00:22.24]只有生活在水中或水边的动植物 [00:25.13]whose remains are most likely to be preserved, [00:27.35]其尸体最有可能被保存下来, [00:29.57]for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, [00:32.90]因保存的必要条件之一是迅速掩埋, [00:36.23]and it is only in the seas and rivers,and sometimes lakes, [00:39.26]所以只有在海洋和江河里有时在湖泊里, [00:42.29]where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, [00:44.81]这些泥沙不停淤积的地方 [00:47.33]that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved. [00:50.60]尸体之类的东西才能被迅速地覆盖而保存下来. [00:53.86]But even in the most favourable circumstances [00:56.24]即使是在最有利的环境中, [00:58.62]only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way [01:02.05]死去的生物中也只有一小部分能被这样保存下来, [01:05.49]before decay sets in or,even more likely,before scavengers eat them. [01:09.17]在开始腐烂前,或更可能在被食腐动物吃掉之前,被这样保存下来. [01:12.86]After all,all living creatures live by feeding on something else, [01:16.19]因为一切生物都是靠吃别的东西来活命的, [01:19.52]whether it be plant or animal,dead or alive, [01:22.19]不管这种东西是植物还是动物,死的还是活的, [01:24.87]and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided. [01:27.69]因此,生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运. [01:30.51]The remains of plants and animals that lived on land [01:35.48]are much more rarely preserved, [01:37.46]曾在陆地上生活过的动植物的遗体被保存下来的更为罕见, [01:39.45]for there is seldom anything to cover them over. [01:41.67]因为陆地上几乎没有什么东西覆盖它们. [01:43.89]When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about, [01:46.83]你可以想象出天上有看得见的飞来飞去、数不清的鸟, [01:49.77]not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles [01:53.29]地上有无数的老鼠和田鼠之类 [01:56.82]which you do not see, [01:58.33]这些不显眼的小动物, [01:59.85]it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, [02:05.28]except,of course,on the roads. [02:07.16]但是,除非在路上,很少有人遇到这些动物的尸体, [02:09.04]They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather [02:11.71]因为它们腐败之后很快就被风化掉, [02:14.37]or eaten by some other creature. [02:16.49]或被别的动物吃掉了. [02:18.61]It is almost always due to some very special circumstances [02:21.43]几乎总是由于某些特殊的条件, [02:24.25]that traces of land animals survive, [02:26.52]陆地动物的遗体才被保存下来, [02:28.79]as by falling into inaccessible caves,or into an ice crevasse, [02:32.67]如掉进难以到达的洞穴,或冰窟中, [02:36.55]like the Siberian mammoths, [02:38.54]像西伯利亚长毛象那样, [02:40.52]when the whole animal is sometimes preserved,as in a refrigerator. [02:43.85]有时整个动物像被放在冰箱里一样被保存下来. [02:47.18]This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth [02:49.91]著名的别林索夫卡长毛象就是这样 [02:52.64]which was found preserved and in good condition. [02:54.92]被保存下来的,而且保存得很好. [02:57.19]In his mouth were the remains of fir trees [02:59.53]它嘴里还留着冷杉 [03:01.86]the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back. [03:05.14]它掉进冰河裂隙折断脊柱之前的最后一顿饭. [03:08.42]The mammoth has now been restored [03:10.45]这头长毛象已被修复, [03:12.47]in the Palae ontological Museum in St.Petersburg. [03:15.13]现存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆. [03:17.80]Other animals were trapped in tar pits, [03:19.93]有的动物掉进天然沥青坑里被保存了下来, [03:22.06]like the elephants,sabre-toothed cats,and numerous other creatures [03:25.44]如大象,剑齿虎和许多其它动物, [03:28.82]that are found at Rancho la Brea,which is now just a suburb of Los Angeles.