英语听力：自然百科 追寻达尔文的踪迹

 In 1831, naturalist¹ Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin arrived in Brazil in 1832, and began documenting the enormous biodiversity of the rainforest of Rio de Janeiro province.

 

In his diary, he mentions parasite² plants like the lianas and bromeliads that hang from trees. After observing the differences between mockingbirds on the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere in Latin America, the scientist began to develop his Theory of Evolution. His work would change the way most people think about nature and the origins of humans.

 

Now two hundred years after his birth, a great-great-grandson of Darwin is retracing³ his steps in Brazil. The expedition organized by Rio’s Federal University visited twelve municipalities in Rio de Janeiro state, inaugurating signs along the path of Darwin’s voyage.

 

At one of the first stops, visitors were treated to a performance of capoeira, a combination of dance and martial-art-style fighting. On many occasions, Darwin writes about the cruelties of slavery, which was only abolished in Brazil in 1888.

 

‘This experience of the reality of slavery, motivated him to include this critical notion of the importance of understanding how other people are feeling, and if they are suffering, understanding that suffering and trying to do what you can to minimize it. It made those feelings central to his theories throughout his life.’

 

It was in Rio de Janeiro that Darwin encountered the great biodiversity of the tropical forest. In his autobiography⁴ Darwin wrote that “the glories of the vegetation of the tropics rise before my mind more vividly⁵ than anything else” .

 

‘His arrival in Brazil had a great impact on him when he saw the diversity of Brazilian flora⁶ and fauna⁷. So issues he already had in his mind and previous readings about the origin of species became much more real.’

 

However much of the forest that Darwin explored in Rio no longer exists due to illegal logging and forest destruction. It is estimated that of the Atlantic rainforest that Darwin knew, less than 10% remains⁸.

 

1 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

2 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

3 retracing   

v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We're retracing the route of a deep explorer mission. 我们将折回一个深入的探险路线中去。 来自电影对白
• Retracing my steps was certainly not an option. 回顾我的脚步并不是个办法。 来自互联网

4 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

5 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

6 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

7 fauna   

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

• This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
• Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。