【英语时差8,16】蚯蚓（下）

 Some scientists disputed Darwin’s claim, arguing that the small, weak creatures weren’t capable of moving such massive¹ amounts of material to the surface. Darwin responded to the criticism by conducting a more careful experiment. This time rather than measuring the rate at which objects were buried, he weighed all the worm castings thrown up to the surface each day. He found that in a single acre of farmland over eleven tons of earth passes to the surface through the bodies of worms every year! In the words of Charles Darwin: “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.”

1 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。