万物简史 第475期:生命在前进(17)

 　　Writing in the journal Evolution, Dawkins attacked Gould's assertions that "evolution in the Cambrian was a different kind of process from today" 道金斯在《进化》杂志上的文章里，攻击古尔德关于“寒武纪的进化不同于今天的进化”的观点，

　　and expressed exasperation¹ at Gould's repeated suggestions that "the Cambrian was a period of evolutionary² 'experiment,' evolutionary 'trial and error,' evolutionary 'false starts.' 对古尔德反复认为的“寒武纪是个进化‘尝试’、进化‘试错法’、进化‘起步错误’……的时期”表示极大的不满，

　　...It was the fertile time when all the great 'fundamental body plans' were invented. “那是个发明了所有重大‘基本体形横剖面’的丰产时期。

　　Nowadays, evolution just tinkers with old body plans. 如今，进化只是按照老的体形横剖面修修补补。

　　Back in the Cambrian, new phyla and new classes arose. Nowadays we only get new species!" 而在寒武纪，新的门和新的纲不断产生。如今我们只有新的种！”

　　Noting how often this idea—that there are no new body plans—is picked up, Dawkins says: 道金斯注意到，经常有人谈论没有新的体形横剖面，便说：

　　"It is as though a gardener looked at an oak tree and remarked, wonderingly: “这就好像有一名园丁望着一棵栎树，惊讶地说：

　　'Isn't it strange that no major new boughs³ have appeared on this tree for many years? ‘真怪呀，这棵树怎么多年来长不出一根新主干？

　　These days, all the new growth appears to be at the twig⁴ level.' " 如今，新长出来的都是一些细枝。’”

　　It was a strange time, Fortey says now, “这真是个古怪的时代，”福泰这时候说，

　　"especially when you reflected that this was all about something that happened five hundred million years ago, but feelings really did run quite high. “尤其是你想到这一切都发生在5亿年以前，而人们的情绪却如此之大。

　　I joked in one of my books that I felt as if I ought to put a safety helmet on before writing about the Cambrian period, but it did actually feel a bit like that." 我在一本书里开玩笑说，我觉得在写到寒武纪的事之前应当先戴个安全帽，不过我就是有点儿这样的感觉。”

　　Strangest of all was the response of one of the heroes of Wonderful Life, Simon Conway Morris, 最古怪的反应来自《奇异的生命》中的一位英雄西蒙·康韦·莫里斯。

　　who startled many in the paleontological community by rounding abruptly⁵ on Gould in a book of his own, The Crucible⁶ of Creation. 他在自己的一本书《创造的熔炉》里突然对吉尔德翻脸，令古生物学界的许多人大吃一惊。

1 exasperation   

n.愤慨

参考例句：

• He snorted with exasperation.他愤怒地哼了一声。
• She rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.她气急败坏地转动着眼珠。

2 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。

3 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

4 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 crucible   

n.坩锅，严酷的考验

参考例句：

• The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
• Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。