The Human Body: Life Story 生命物语-6
...is actually the result of immeasurable activity inside our bodies.
We are performing literally 1 thousands of different tasks every second of every day. Simply being is part of an intricately complicated balancing act, the mechanics of which are completely hidden from us. And just as our bodies hide from us the miracle of everyday life, so they hide from us an even bigger surprise.
It's the story of how we came to be the way we are. And it is an amazing story. It will change the way you think about your body, the way we live, the shape we are, even the way we think was decided 2 for us thousands, millions even billions of years ago, when the human body didn't even exist, and planet earth was almost unrecognizable.
Here we are. 8,000 feet above sea level, in America's Yellowstone National Park. If you'd been on the surface of the planet earth three billon years ago, it would have looked something like this. The earth would have been covered in volcanoes and billowing vents 3 of steam and sulphurous water.
Had you been standing 4 here, you'd have been present as the story of life was unfolding. And had you been standing here, you'd have been standing by the most advanced life form on the planet. In this almost boiling water, there are thousands of long thin strands 5. They are actually colonies of tiny heat loving creatures, they are bacteria. Once, long ago, this was the most complex form of life anywhere on earth. What's so surprising is that it's still here today, just like it was three billion years ago. Whereas dinosaurs 6 came and went, and literally millions of other species developed, withered and died out, this has survived practically unchanged.
words and expressions
billow:A great swell 8, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound.
似巨浪翻腾：巨浪、波涛或波浪形团块，如烟雾或声音
sulphurous:[化]硫磺的, 含有硫磺的
wither: 消亡，衰退
- He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
- Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
- The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。
- After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
- They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
- Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》