英语听力文摘 English Digest 258、“哈比人”

　　Small People
佛罗勒斯人（Homo floresiensis）是近年发现的一种史前人类，为人属的一种，主要特征是体型小，大脑小，因此也被化名作“哈比人”。 一般认为他们与现代人类曾经生活在一个时代。他们居住在印尼弗洛勒斯岛上，直到约12000年前灭绝，是已绝种人属中存活最久的。
印度尼西亚在多年前挖掘出一种矮小的人类骨骸，经过研究发现，这种身高仅1米的“哈比人”应该就是人类的始祖。电影魔戒里哈比人腿短、毛多、体型娇小可爱，这是作者托尔金凭空幻想出来的人物，没想到现在考古证实，的确曾经存在“哈比人”。考古学家在印度尼西亚的佛罗瑞斯岛挖掘到史前小矮人的骨骸，发现这种“佛罗瑞斯人”，身高只有100公分、体重30公斤。一开始部分学者还以为，他们是脑部因病萎缩的侏儒人症患者，因为他们的脑部容量只有现代人的1/3，没想到随着更多骨骸出土，证实是一种新人种。考古队发现，佛罗勒斯人具有现代人特征，像是四指并排，不过脚部结构又很原始，和黑猩猩类似。考古学家猜测体形这么娇小，应该是猿人为了适应岛居而演化成侏儒，不过更多的考古之谜仍有待专家一一解开。

　　Songwriter Randy Newman once sang, “short people got no reason to live.” But once upon a time, on an isolated¹ island in the Java sea(爪哇海), short people not only lived–they dominated the food chain. Standing² no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering³ lizards⁴, and miniature elephants.
It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it’s true. Excavations(挖掘) on the island of Flores uncovered the remains⁵ of a race of tiny human ancestors. (1)Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently⁶ (2)lived up until thirteen thousand years ago. This means they overlapped⁷ with modern humans.
So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it’s due to the fact that this race of Tiny Tims lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the case of the miniature elephants that are known to have once roamed the island. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn’t much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and (3)fared better. The smaller the elephant, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.
Scientists call this the “island rule,” and it could apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island’s sparse⁸ food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn’t always better. In the case of homo floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.
Notes:
(1)Homo floresiensis:佛罗勒斯人
(2)live up v.快乐地过日子
Are you alone? Do you live up here all by yourself?
只有你一个人吗?只有你一个人住在这里吗?
(3)fare [fε?] vi.经营；进展；遭遇；过活 n.票价；费用；旅客；食物
The taxi fare was too high, so I persuaded her to cycle there.
出租车费用太高，所以我说服了她骑自行车去那里。

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• 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。

3 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

4 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 overlapped   

_adj.重叠的v.部分重叠( overlap的过去式和过去分词 )；（物体）部份重叠；交叠；（时间上）部份重叠

参考例句：

• His visit and mine overlapped. 他的访问期与我的访问期有几天重叠。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Our visits to the town overlapped. 我们彼此都恰巧到那小城观光。 来自辞典例句

8 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。