they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds, if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.

昆虫会吞食我们的全部庄稼，杀死我们的成群的牛羊。

A French physician decided to get rid of the wild rabbits on his own estate and introduced myxomatosis.

一位法国内科医生决定除掉自己庄园内的野兔子，于是引进了这种多发性粘液瘤疾病。

One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness.

常见的一种指责是，噪音能引起精神病。

In his own lifetime Galileo was the centre of violent controversy;

伽利略在世时是激烈论战的中心。

but the scientific dust has long since settled,

但是，自他逝世以来，那场科学上的纷争早已平息了下来，

He is also, incidentally, an unforgivable bore.

顺便说一句，他也是个不可饶恕的令人厌烦的人。