晨读英语美文60篇六级59

[00:00.00]Man Is Altering the Balance of Nature

[00:05.68]The balance of nature is a very elaborate

[00:09.66]and very delicate system of checks and counterchecks.

[00:13.60]It is continually being altered as climates change,

[00:16.66]as new organisms evolve,

[00:18.74]as animals or plants permeate¹ to new area.

[00:22.68]But the alternations have in the past,

[00:25.95]for the most part,

[00:27.49]been slow, whereas with the arrival of civilized² man,

[00:31.09]their speed has been multiplied many fold:

[00:33.83]From the evolutionary³ time scale where change

[00:37.66]is measured by periods of ten or a hundred thousand years,

[00:41.58]they have been transferred to the human time scale

[00:44.67]in which centuries and even decades count.

[00:47.38]Everywhere man is altering the balance of nature.

[00:51.65]He is facilitating the spread of plants and animals into new regions,

[00:56.79]sometimes deliberately⁴,

[00:58.44]sometimes unconsciously.

[01:00.31]He is covering huge areas with new kinds of plants,

[01:04.24]or with houses, factories,

[01:06.75]slagheaps and other products of the civilization.

[01:10.26]He exterminates⁵ some species on a large scale,

[01:13.97]but favours the multiplication⁶ of others.

[01:16.91]In brief, he has done more in five thousand years

[01:20.65]to alter the biological aspect of the planet

[01:23.38]than has nature in five million.

[01:25.79]Many of these changes

[01:27.64]which he has brought about have had unforeseen consequences.

[01:31.79]Who would have thought that

[01:34.09]the throwing away of a piece of Canadian waterweed

[01:36.81]would have caused half the waterways of Britain to be blocked for a decade?

[01:40.88]Or that the provision of pot cacti⁷ for lonely settlers’ wives

[01:45.36]would have led to Eastern Australia

[01:47.53]being overrun with forest of Prickly Pear?

[01:50.29]Who would have prophesied⁸ that the cutting down of forests

[01:54.11]on the Adriatic coasts,

[01:55.98]or in the parts of Central Africa,

[01:58.04]could have reached the land to semi desert,

[02:01.11]with the very soil washed away from the bare rock?

[02:04.50]Who would have thought that improved communications

[02:08.10]would have changed history

[02:09.86]by the spreading of disease—

[02:11.62]sleeping sickness into East Africa,

[02:14.01]measles into Oceania,

[02:16.13]very possibly malaria⁹ into ancient Greece?

[02:19.73]These are spectacular examples;

[02:22.34]but examples on a smaller scale are everywhere to be found.

[02:26.30]We make a nature sanctuary¹⁰ for rare birds,

[02:29.68]prescribing absolute security for all species;

[02:33.18]and we may find that some common

[02:35.48]and hardy¹¹ kind of bird multiplies beyond measure

[02:39.31]and ousts¹² the rare kinds in which we are particularly interested.

[02:43.13]We see, owing to some little change brought about by civilization,

[02:47.72]the startling spread over the English countryside in hordes¹³.

[02:52.22]We improve the yielding capacities of our cattle;

[02:55.50]and find that now they exhaust the pastures

[02:58.88]which sufficed for less exigent stock.

[03:01.63]We gaily¹⁴ set about killing¹⁵ the carnivores that molest¹⁶ our domestic animals,

[03:06.44]the hawks¹⁷ that eat our fowls¹⁸ and game-birds;

[03:09.49]and find that in so doing we are also removing the brake

[03:13.75]that restrains the multiplication of mice

[03:16.28]and other little rodents¹⁹ that gnaw²⁰ away the farmer’s profits.

1 permeate   

v.弥漫，遍布，散布；渗入，渗透

参考例句：

• Water will easily permeate a cotton dress.水很容易渗透棉布衣服。
• After a while it begins to permeate through your skin.过了一会，它会开始渗入你的皮肤。

2 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

3 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

4 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

5 exterminates   

n.消灭，根绝( exterminate的名词复数 )v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He exterminates some species on a large scale, but favours the multiplication of others. 他使有些物种大批消亡，却造成有利条件使另外一些物种成倍地增加。 来自互联网

6 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

7 cacti   

n.（复）仙人掌

参考例句：

• There we could see nothing but cacti.那里除了仙人掌我们什么也看不到。
• Cacti can survive the lack of rainfall in the desert.仙人掌在降水稀少的沙漠中也能生存下去。

8 prophesied   

v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She prophesied that she would win a gold medal. 她预言自己将赢得金牌。
• She prophesied the tragic outcome. 她预言有悲惨的结果。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

10 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

11 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

12 ousts   

驱逐( oust的第三人称单数 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

13 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

16 molest   

vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏

参考例句：

• If the man continues to molest her,I promise to keep no measures with the delinquent.如果那人继续对她进行骚扰，我将对他这个违法者毫不宽容。
• If I were gone,all these would molest you.如果没有我，这一切都会来骚扰你。

17 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

18 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

19 rodents   

n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句

20 gnaw   

v.不断地啃、咬；使苦恼，折磨

参考例句：

• Dogs like to gnaw on a bone.狗爱啃骨头。
• A rat can gnaw a hole through wood.老鼠能啃穿木头。