万物简史 第471期:生命在前进(13)

 　　Sprigg submitted a paper to Nature, but it was turned down. 斯普里格给《自然》杂志写了一篇论文，但是没有被采用。

　　He read it instead at the next annual meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement¹ of Science, 他转而把论文在澳新科学促进协会的下一次年会上宣读，

　　but it failed to find favor with the association's head, 但没有博得协会头儿的欢心。

　　who said the Ediacaran imprints² were merely "fortuitous inorganic³ markings"—patterns made by wind or rain or tides, but not living beings. 那位头儿说，埃迪亚卡拉印子只是“由非生物偶然留下的记号”——即不是由生物形成的，而是由风吹雨打或潮汐运动形成的图案。

　　His hopes not yet entirely⁴ crushed, Sprigg traveled to London and presented his findings to the 1948 International Geological Congress, 斯普里格的希望并没有完全破灭，他来到伦敦，把自己的发现提交给1948年国际地质学大会，

　　but failed to excite either interest or belief. 但既没有引起兴趣，也没有人相信。

　　Finally, for want of a better outlet⁵, he published his findings in the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 最后，在没有更好的出路的情况下，他把自己的成果发表在《南澳大利亚皇家学会学报》上。

　　Then he quit his government job and took up oil exploration. 接着，他辞去了政府里的职务，开始从事石油勘探工作。

　　Nine years later, in 1957, a schoolboy named John Mason, while walking through Charnwood Forest in the English Midlands, found a rock with a strange fossil in it,  9年之后，l957年，一位名叫约翰·梅森的小学生在穿越英格兰中部昌伍德森林的时候，发现一块岩石里有一种古怪的化石，

　　similar to a modern sea pen and exactly like some of the specimens⁷ Sprigg had found and been trying to tell everyone about ever since. 样子很像现代的海笔，跟斯普里格发现的、此后一直想告诉大家的有些标本完全相同。

　　The schoolboy turned it in to a paleontologist at the University of Leicester, who identified it at once as Precambrian. 那位小学生把化石交给了莱斯特大学的一位古生物学家。他马上认出那是寒武纪之前的东西。

　　Young Mason got his picture in the papers and was treated as a precocious⁸ hero; he still is in many books. 小梅森的照片被刊登在报纸上，他被当做一名早熟的英雄，直到现在，许多书里仍然提到他的事迹。

　　The specimen⁶ was named in his honor Chamia masoni. 为了纪念他，那个标本被命名为梅森恰尼海鳃属。

1 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

2 imprints   

n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响

参考例句：

• With each step he took, his boots left muddy imprints on the floor. 她父亲的毡靴一移动，就在地板上压了几个泥圈圈。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
• In Freudian theory, the imprints are memories, albeit unconscious ones. 在佛洛伊德理论中，这些痕迹就是记忆，只不过它们是无意识的。 来自互联网

3 inorganic   

adj.无生物的；无机的

参考例句：

• The fundamentals of inorganic chemistry are very important.无机化学的基础很重要。
• This chemical plant recently bought a large quantity of inorganic salt.这家化工厂又买进了大量的无机盐。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

6 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

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 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。