新概念英语第四册32-01

第32课

New words and expressions 生词短语

hummer bird :蜂鸟 cuckoo :杜鹃 quail : 鹌鹑 v.感到恐惧

remains: 更多指人 body：（人和动物）都可以

to pay the last respects to his remains 向遗体告别

preservation n.:保存

preserved vegetable :腌菜 preserved bean curd

She is well-preserved. 她保养得非常好。 poorly/badly preserved

set in vi. :开始

Lesson32

It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.But even in the most favourable circumstances only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way before decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them. After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided. The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over. When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about, not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see, it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads. They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather or eaten by some other creature.

It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator. This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved and in good condition. In his mouth were the remains of fir trees--the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back. The mammoth has now been restored in the Palaeontological Museum in Leningrad. Other animals were trapped in tar pits, like the elephants, sabre-toothed cats, and numerous other creatures that are found at Rancho la Brea, which is now just a suburb of Los Angeles. Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits, and the bigger animals like the elephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar. And then, when they were dead, the carnivores, like the sabre-toothed cats and the giant wolves, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate. There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well.

ERROL WHITE The Past Life of the Earth from Discovery

参考译文

只有生活在水中或水边的动植物的尸体最可能被保存下来，因为保存的必要条件之一是迅速埋藏，而只有在泥沙不断淤积的海洋和江河，有时是湖泊里，动植物尸体之类的物体才能被迅速埋没并保藏下来。但是，即使在最为有利的条件下，也只有很小一部分的生物尸体在开始腐烂之前，或者更有可能在被食尸动物吃掉之前就这样保存下来。毕竟，所有的生物都是靠吃别的东西而生活，不论是植物或是动物，死的或活的，只有碰巧才能逃脱这种被捕食的命运。生活在陆地的动植物尸体，能保存下来的为数更少，因为在陆地几乎没有什么东西可把尸体覆盖起来。当你想到人们看得见的飞翔的鸟儿多得难以计数，还有人们难以看得见的众多的田鼠和野鼠之类的小动物，你便

会觉得你看到这类的尸体实在太少了，当然除了在路上。它们的尸体腐烂后很快被风化掉，或被其他动物吃掉。

几乎总是由于某种非常特殊的情况，使得陆地动物的遗骸得以保持下来，例如掉入难以到达的深洞，或者像西伯利亚猛犸那样掉入冰窟中，就像被放到冰箱里一样，完整地被保存了下来。掉入冰窟的著名别列索夫卡猛犸，后来被发现保存得十分完好。它的嘴里还留有冷杉树的残物——这是它掉入冰窟跌断脊柱之前的最后一餐。这一猛犸遗骸现已修复陈列在列宁格勒古生物博物馆。其他的动物是陷入到焦油坑内，如现在属洛杉矶郊区的兰乔拉布莱被发现的有象，剑齿虎以及很

多别的动物。显然，当时的情况是，焦油坑中积满了水，大象这一类大动物冒险走到貌似坚固的坑面上去饮水，于是一下子掉进焦油坑中。后来象死了，剑齿虎和巨狼等食肉动物出来觅食，也遭到同样的命运。在焦油坑内还发现有数不清的鸟类尸体。