万物简史 第499期:多灾多难的生命进程(19)

 These are difficult inconsistencies. 这些都是难以解释的矛盾地方。

As Richard Fortey observes: "Somehow it does not seem satisfying just to call them 'lucky ones' and leave it at that." 正如理查德·福泰所说：“仅仅把它们称做‘幸运儿’，这似乎总是不太令人满意。”

If, as seems entirely¹ likely, the event was followed by months of dark and choking smoke, then many of the insect survivors² become difficult to account for. 如果在事件发生之后几个月里到处都是乌黑呛人的烟雾，而情况似乎正是这个样，那么你很难解释许多昆虫竟能存活下来。

"Some insects, like beetles," Fortey notes, "could live on wood or other things lying around. “有的昆虫，比如甲虫，”福泰指出，“可以在木头或周围别的东西上生活。

But what about those like bees that navigate³ by sunlight and need pollen⁴? 但是，像蜜蜂这样的在阳光里飞舞、需要花粉的动物怎么办？

Explaining their survival isn't so easy." 说清楚它们幸存的原因是不太容易的。”

Above all, there are the corals. 尤其是那个珊瑚。

Corals require algae⁵ to survive and algae require sunlight, and both together require steady minimum temperatures. 珊瑚需要藻类维持生命，而藻类需要阳光。二者都需要稳定的起码温度。

Much publicity⁶ has been given in the last few years to corals dying from changes in sea temperature of only a degree or so. 在过去几年里，已经有大量关于珊瑚因海水温度变化了1摄氏度左右而死亡的报道。

If they are that vulnerable to small changes, how did they survive the long impact winter? 要是它们连小小的变化都受影响，它们是怎么挺过撞击造成的漫长的冬天的？

There are also many hard-to-explain regional variations. 还有许多难以解释的区域性差异。

Extinctions seem to have been far less severe in the southern hemisphere than the northern. 灭绝在南半球似乎远不如在北半球那么严重。

New Zealand in particular appears to have come through largely unscathed even though it had almost no burrowing⁷ creatures. 在很大程度上，尤其是新西兰好像完好无损地挺了过来，而它又几乎没有穴居动物，

Even its vegetation was overwhelmingly spared, and yet the scale of conflagration⁸ elsewhere suggests that devastation⁹ was global. 连它的植物也绝大部分幸免于难，而别处的大火烈度表明，灾难是全球性的。

In short, there is just a great deal we don't know. 总之，还有许多问题我们搞不清楚。

 

1 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。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

4 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

5 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

6 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

7 burrowing   

v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• What are you burrowing around in my drawer for? 你在我抽屉里乱翻什么？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The forepaws are also used for burrowing and for dragging heavier logs. 它们的前爪还可以用来打洞和拖拽较重的树干。 来自辞典例句

8 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

9 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》