万物简史 第445期:小生物的世界(16)

 　　It is a natural human impulse to think of evolution as a long chain of improvements, 人们自然会不由自主地想到，进化是个不断完善的漫长过程，

　　of a never-ending advance toward largeness and complexity—in a word, toward us. 一个朝着更大、更复杂的方向——一句话，朝着形成我们的方向——永远前进的过程。

　　We flatter ourselves. 我们是自己奉承自己。

　　Most of the real diversity in evolution has been small-scale. 在进化过程中，实际差异在大多数情况下向来是很小的。

　　We large things are just flukes—an interesting side branch. 出现我们这样的大家伙完全是一种侥幸——是一种有意思的次要部分。

　　Of the twenty-three main divisions of life, only three—plants, animals, and fungi—are large enough to be seen by the human eye, 在23种主要生命形式中，只有3种——植物、动物和真菌——大到人的肉眼能看得见的程度。

　　and even they contain species that are microscopic¹. 即使在它们中间，有的种类也是极小的。

　　Indeed, according to Woese, if you totaled up all the biomass of the planet, 据沃斯说，即使你把植物的全部生物量加起来——包括植物在内的每一生物，

　　every living thing, plants included—microbes would account for at least 80 percent of all there is, perhaps more. 微生物至少要占总数的80%，也许还多。

　　The world belongs to the very small—and it has for a very long time. 世界属于很小的生物——很长时间以来一直如此。

　　So why, you are bound to ask at some point in your life, do microbes so often want to hurt us? 因此，到了生命的某个时刻，你势必会问，微生物为什么那样经常地想要伤害我们？

　　What possible satisfaction could there be to a microbe in having us grow feverish² or chilled, or disfigured with sores, or above all expire? 把我们弄得发烧，或发冷，或满身长疮，或最后死掉，对微生物来说到底会有什么好处？

　　A dead host, after all, is hardly going to provide long-term hospitality. 毕竟，一个死去的寄主不大能提供长期而适宜的环境。

　　To begin with, it is worth remembering that most microorganisms are neutral or even beneficial to human well-being³. 首先，我们应当记住，大部分微生物对人体健康是无害的，甚至是有益的。

1 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

2 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

3 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。