时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:万物简史


英语课

 Indeed, with the world dark and hostile, it was a perfect time to be small, warm-blooded, nocturnal, flexible in diet, and cautious by nature, 当世界一片滚黑、布满危险的时候,对于出没于夜间、不挑食物、生性谨慎的小恒温动物来说,它们确实是适得其所。


the very qualities that distinguished 1 our mammalian forebears. 这一些正是我们的哺乳动物祖先所具备的高招。
Had our evolution been more advanced, we would probably have been wiped out. 假如我们进化得更加先进,我们很可能已经不复存在。
Instead, mammals found themselves in a world to which they were as well suited as anything alive. 然而,与任何活着的生物一样,哺乳动物觉得自己非常适应那个环境。
However, it wasn't as if mammals swarmed 2 forward to fill every niche 3. 不过,情况似乎不像是哺乳动物一哄而上去抢占每一块地盘。
"Evolution may abhor 4 a vacuum," wrote the paleobiologist Steven M. Stanley, "but it often takes a long time to fill it." “进化可能讨厌出现空缺,”古生物学家斯蒂芬·M·斯坦利写道,“但空缺往往要花长时间才能填补。”
For perhaps as many as ten million years mammals remained cautiously small. 在可能长达l000万年的时间里,哺乳动物小心翼翼,保持很小的体形。
In the early Tertiary, if you were the size of a bobcat you could be king. 在第三纪,要是你有红猫的个儿那么大,你就可以称王称霸了。
But once they got going, mammals expanded prodigiously 5 — sometimes to an almost preposterous 6 degree. 但是,一旦起步,哺乳动物就大大地增大了自己的个儿——有时候大到了荒唐的地步。
For a time, there were guinea pigs the size of rhinos 7 and rhinos the size of a two-story house. 一时之间,出现了犀牛大的豚鼠和二层楼房大的犀牛。
Wherever there was a vacancy 8 in the predatory chain, mammals rose (often literally) to fill it. 食肉动物链里哪里有空缺,哺乳动物马上挺身而出去填补。
Early members of the raccoon family migrated to South America, discovered a vacancy, and evolved into creatures the size and ferocity of bears. 早年的浣熊家族成员迁移到南美,发现了一个空缺,便演变成熊一般大小和凶猛的动物。
Birds, too, prospered 9 disproportionately. 鸟类的样子也长得大得失去了比例。
For millions of years, a gigantic, flightless, carnivorous bird called Titanis was possibly the most ferocious 10 creature in North America. 有几百万年时间,一种名叫“巨鸟”的不会飞的食肉大鸟可能是北美最凶猛的动物。
Certainly it was the most daunting 11 bird that ever lived. 它肯定是存在过的最威武的鸟。
 

adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的
  • Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
  • A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去
  • When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响,孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
  • When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下,人群就蜂拥回了旅社。
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等)
  • Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
  • The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。
v.憎恶;痛恨
  • They abhor all forms of racial discrimination.他们憎恶任何形式的种族歧视。
  • They abhor all the nations who have different ideology and regime.他们仇视所有意识形态和制度与他们不同的国家。
adv.异常地,惊人地,巨大地
  • Such remarks, though, hardly begin to explain that prodigiously gifted author Henry James. 然而这样的说法,一点也不能解释这个得天独厚的作家亨利·詹姆斯的情况。 来自辞典例句
  • The prices of farms rose prodigiously. 农场的价格飞快上涨。 来自互联网
adj.荒谬的,可笑的
  • The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
  • It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。
n.犀牛(rhino的复数形式)
  • There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
  • The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句
n.(旅馆的)空位,空房,(职务的)空缺
  • Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
  • The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )
  • The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认,这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
  • Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的
  • The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
  • The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。
adj.使人畏缩的
  • They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
  • Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。
标签: 万物简史
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aldehyde-lyase
araponga
assembly programming of farm
Ban Le The
base slide
Bembridae
bestializing
bioinfomatics
bombing sight
bordelaises
bummed-out
cartilago gutturalis
Chengshan (B57)
churchpersons
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colour genlock technique
communication dual access controller
customized software
dash against
date/time patient study consent signed
defails
double camera
drum-buffer-rope
dunluce castle
emitter-coupled trigger
evenly divisible
factoring costs
family Chermidae
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farm census
fuse -wire
GAMMA-HCH
gelatinum glycerinatum
go show
goat's beard
ground-effect flying boat
horsehair
i-wept
I.N.S. value
Ichthyosauridae
ill-favouredly
inchoations
integumentary system
jihads
job assignment notice
junction-type field effect transistor
land leveling machine
lazy
lunar orbit TV data link system
MacAuliffe
macken
magnetic compensation
magnetizing roasting
maximum slip ratio
microradioautograph
Montemesola
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next state function
nooooooooo
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obole
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pleistophora sp.
plowman's lunch
principal climatological station
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Proxen
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reaccumulates
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reinforced concrete hollow pier
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shell and milling cutter
SHIS
shoulder-hitter
skill standard
slid out
spermaturia
stage doors
Sudeck
swabbed
trapping layer
triennially
tuaminoheptane sulfate
under command of
ungnarled
USASI basic FORTRAN
Utata
variance originator
vesparium
Viola schneideri
were of interest to
working pile