万物简史 第466期:生命在前进(8)

 If you could fly backwards¹ into the past at the rate of one year per second, 要是你能以每秒钟一年的速度飞回到过去，

it would take you about half an hour to reach the time of Christ, and a little over three weeks to get back to the beginnings of human life. 那么你要花大约半个小时才能抵达耶稣的年代，花三个多星期才能返回人类起始的时刻。

But it would take you twenty years to reach the dawn of the Cambrian period. 但是，你要花上20年的时间才能抵达寒武纪初期。

It was, in other words, an extremely long time ago, and the world was a very different place. 换句话说，那是在很久很久以前，当时的世界还是另一个模样。

For one thing, 500-million-plus years ago when the Burgess Shale² was formed it wasn't at the top of a mountain but at the foot of one. 首先，当5亿多年前布尔吉斯页岩形成的时候，它不在山顶上，而是在山脚下。

Specifically it was a shallow ocean basin at the bottom of a steep cliff. 具体来说。它是在一座陡峭悬崖脚下的浅海里。

The seas of that time teemed³ with life, but normally the animals left no record because they were soft-bodied and decayed upon dying. 那个时候的大海里充满了生命，但在通常情况下动物没有留下记录，因为它们是软体动物，一死就腐烂了。

But at Burgess the cliff collapsed⁴, and the creatures below, entombed in a mudslide, 然而，在布尔吉斯，悬崖崩塌下来，下面的生物被泥石流所埋葬，

were pressed like flowers in a book, their features preserved in wondrous⁵ detail. 像压在书里的花朵那样被紧紧压住，从而极其详尽地保留了它们的特征。

In annual summer trips from 1910 to 1925 (by which time he was seventy-five years old), Walcott excavated⁶ tens of thousands of specimens⁷ 从1910-1925年（那时候沃尔科特已经75岁），沃尔科特每年夏天都要出门考察，发掘了成千上万件标本

(Gould says 80,000; the normally unimpeachable⁸ fact checkers of National Georgraphic say 60,000), which he brought back to Washington for further study. （古尔德说是8万件，《国家地理杂志》那些通常可靠的事实核对人员说是6万件），将其带回华盛顿作进一步研究。

In both sheer numbers and diversity the collection was unparalleled. 无论在数量上还是在品种上，他的收藏品都是无与伦比的。

Some of the Burgess fossils had shells; many others did not. Some were sighted, others blind. 有的布尔吉斯化石带壳，许多不带。

The variety was enormous, consisting of 140 species by one count. 品种是极其繁多的，有人统计是l40种。

1 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

2 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

3 teemed   

v.充满( teem的过去式和过去分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The pond teemed with tadpoles. 池子里有很多蝌蚪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ideas of new plays and short stories teemed in his head. 他的脑海里装满了有关新的剧本和短篇小说的构思。 来自辞典例句

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

6 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unimpeachable   

adj.无可指责的；adv.无可怀疑地

参考例句：

• He said all five were men of unimpeachable character.他说这五个都是品格完美无缺的人。
• It is the revenge that nature takes on persons of unimpeachable character.这是自然对人品无瑕的人的报复。