万物简史 第489期:多灾多难的生命进程(9)

 　　Then, as now, dragonflies could cruise at up to thirty-five miles an hour, 当时和现在一样，蜻蜓能以每小时50多公里的速度飞行，

　　instantly stop, hover¹, fly backwards², and lift far more proportionately than any human flying machine. 能快停，能悬停，能倒飞。要是按照比例的话，蜻蜓能升到的高度比人类的任何飞行器所能达到的要高得多。

　　"The U.S. Air Force," one commentator³ has written, "has put them in wind tunnels to see how they do it, and despaired." “美国空军，”有一位评论员写道，“把它们放在风洞里，看看它们是怎么表现的，结果感到望尘莫及。”

　　They, too, gorged⁴ on the rich air. 它们也吞噬浓郁的空气。

　　In Carboniferous forests dragonflies grew as big as ravens⁵. 在石炭纪的森林里，蜻蜓长到大得像乌鸦。

　　Trees and other vegetation likewise attained⁶ outsized proportions. 树木和别的植物同样长得特别高大，

　　Horsetails and tree ferns grew to heights of fifty feet, club mosses⁷ to a hundred and thirty. 杉叶藻和桫椤长到l5米的高度，石松长到40米的高度。

　　The first terrestrial vertebrates—which is to say, the first land animals from which we would derive—are something of a mystery. 第一批陆地脊椎动物——即我们从其演变而来的第一批陆地动物——在一定程度上还是个谜。

　　This is partly because of a shortage of relevant fossils, 部分原因是缺少有关的化石，

　　but partly also because of an idiosyncratic Swede named Erik Jarvik 但也要怪一个名叫埃里克·贾维克的脾气怪癖的瑞典人，

　　whose odd interpretations⁸ and secretive manner held back progress on this question for almost half a century. 他的古怪解释和讳莫如深的表现使这方面的进展延误了差不多半个世纪。

　　Jarvik was part of a team of Scandinavian scholars who went to Greenland in the 1930s and 1940s looking for fossil fish. 贾维克是一个瑞典学者考察小组的成员，他们于20世纪30-40年代来到格陵兰寻找鱼化石。他们尤其要寻找一种叶鳍型鱼。

　　In particular they sought lobe-finned fish of the type that presumably were ancestral to us and all other walking creatures, known as tetrapods. 据推测，那种鱼是所谓的四足动物，即我们和其他所有会行走的动物的祖先。

　　Most animals are tetrapods, and all living tetrapods have one thing in common: four limbs that end in a maximum of five fingers or toes. 大多数动物是四足动物，活着的四足动物都有个共同点：有4肢，每肢的尽头最多有5个指或趾。

1 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

2 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。

3 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

4 gorged   

v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕

参考例句：

• He gorged himself at the party. 在宴会上他狼吞虎咽地把自己塞饱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The men, gorged with food, had unbuttoned their vests. 那些男人，吃得直打饱嗝，解开了背心的钮扣。 来自辞典例句

5 ravens   

n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wheresoever the carcase is,there will the ravens be gathered together. 哪里有死尸，哪里就有乌鸦麇集。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A couple of ravens croaked above our boat. 两只乌鸦在我们小船的上空嘎嘎叫着。 来自辞典例句

6 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

7 mosses   

n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• The only plants to be found in Antarctica are algae, mosses, and lichens. 在南极洲所发现的植物只有藻类、苔藓和地衣。

8 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》