双语有声阅读：紧迫性

June 24 If a man is ever going to admit that he belongs to the earth, not the other way round,it probably will be in late June.Then it is that life surpasses man’s affairs with incredible urgency and outreaches him in every direction.Even the farmer, on whom we all depend for the substance of existence,knows then that the best he can do is cooperate with wind and weather, soil and seed.The incalculable energy of chlorophyll, the green leaf itself, dominates the earth,and the root in the soil is the inescapable fact. Even the roadside weed ignores man’s legislation.

 

The urgency is everywhere. Grass blankets the earth, reaching for the sun, spreads its roots,flowers and comes to seed. The forest widens its canopy¹, strengthens its boles, nurtures² its seedlings³, ripens⁴ its perpetuating⁵ nuts. The birds nest and hatch their fledglings. The beetle⁶ and the bee are busy at the grassrootand the blossom, and the butterfly lays eggs that will hatch and crawl and eat and pupate and take to the air once more. Fish spawn⁷ and meadow voles harvest the wild meadows, and owls⁸ and foxes feed their young. Dragonflies and swallows and nighthawks seine the air where the minute winged creatures flit out their minute life spans.

 

And man, who glibly⁹ calls the earth his own, neither powers the leaf nor energizes¹⁰ the fragile wing.Man participates, but his dominance is limited. It is the urgency of life, or growth, that rules.Late June and early Summer are the ultimate, unarguable proof.

 

6月24日

 

如果一个人愿意承认他是属于地球的而不是地球属于他，那很可能就是在6月份的晚些时候。这个时候，自然生机那种只争朝夕的精神比起人类亊务来真是紧迫得令人难人置信，在各方面都胜人类一筹。就连农民（我们依靠他们生产的东西 维持生存）也知道这时候最好是能顺应风雨天候，照料土壞种子。主宰着大地的是叶绿素无法估算的能源以及绿叶本身，土壤中有根的存在，这是自不待言的。即使是路边的野草也都冲破人为的制约蔓生开来。

 

那种只争朝夕的紧迫感无处不在。草如绿毯,铺满大地，一直伸向太阳；它四处伸延根须，开花结籽。森林拓展其华盖，强固其主干，给其秧苗输送养分，并使长了许久的坚果渐趋成熟。鸟雀筑巢并孵化雏鸟。甲虫在草根旁奔忙，蜜蜂在花丛中飞逐。蝴蝶则在产卵，将来孵出的小虫从爬行、吃食、化蛹到振翅飞舞 再经历一次循环。鱼儿也在产卵，田鼠则在野生的牧场上采获食物。猫头鹰和狐狸给它们的幼仔喂食。蜻蜓、燕子和夜鹰在天空中像围网似地捕食，而极小的有翼动物在空中轻快地飞来飞去，顷刻间其想暂的生命便结束了。

 

然而,人类扬亩地球属于他们,可是既不能给叶片以能量又不能给脆弱的翅臃以力量。人类只是参与其中，而其主导地位是有限的。驾御一切的是生命或生长只争朝夕的紧迫性。6月份晚些时候的初夏时节从根本上无可争辩地证明了这一点。

1 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

2 nurtures   

教养，培育( nurture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Art nurtures the soul and culture cultivates the mind. 艺术滋润心灵，文化陶冶情操。
• Who first loves and nurtures us and takes care of every need. 是谁先爱上我们，哺育我们，对我们无微不至。

3 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 ripens   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The sun ripens the crops. 太阳使庄稼成熟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then their seed ripens, and soon they turn brown and shrivel up. 随后，它们的种子熟了，不久就变枯萎。 来自辞典例句

5 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

6 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

7 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

8 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

9 glibly   

adv.流利地，流畅地；满口

参考例句：

• He glibly professed his ignorance of the affair. 他口口声声表白不知道这件事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He put ashes on his head, apologized profusely, but then went glibly about his business. 他表示忏悔，满口道歉，但接着又故态复萌了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 energizes   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的第三人称单数 )；使通电

参考例句：

• However, heating energizes the vibrational, rotational, and electronic motions all at once. 但是，加热会一下子把振动、转动和电子运动统统加强。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. 目的往往会带来热忱，没有任何东西比清晰的目的更有动力。 来自互联网