【英语时差8,16】同年同月同日生，美英同庆林肯、达尔文两百周年诞辰

How weird¹ is it that the two men who may be the most influential² people to live and die in the 19th century were born on the very same day?

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin came into the world on Feb. 12, 1809.

One was born in a log cabin in Kentucky to poor parents, the other in a country estate to a wealthy British family.

The two never met. But they both changed the most basic ways that people viewed human existence and helped bring about a new era in the history of human thought.

"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."Lincoln said that and declared freedom for the South's slaves in the early 1860s, an act for which he is beloved today. But in his own time Lincoln was highly controversial, as was the emancipation³ of slaves. It may also surprise you that Lincoln's great life was filled with heartbreak and disappointment.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable⁴ to change."That was what Darwin realized after a long trip that included a stop in the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of South America. His theory that populations of living things evolve over generations through a process called natural selection was published in a famous 1859 book called "On the Origin of Species." Darwin had become popular as a naturalist⁵ but was attacked by those who saw evolution as a challenge to the creation story in the Bible.

The revolutions in thought that these men set off — emancipation and evolution — have strong links to life today. The election of Barack Obama as the first black U.S. president completed a circle that started with Lincoln's decision to free the slaves. Today most scientists agree that evolution explains human existence and life's biological complexities⁶. But for some, evolution is still very controversial.

1 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

5 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。

6 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。