💬 新概念英语第四册

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

But even in the most favourable circumstances only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way before decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them.

即使是在最有利的环境中，死去的生物中也只有一小部分能在开始腐烂前，或更可能在被食腐动物吃掉之前，被这样保存下来。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.

因为一切生物都是靠吃别的东西来活命的，不管这种东西是植物还是动物，死的还是活的，因此，生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over.

曾在陆地上生活过的动植物的遗体被保存下来的更为罕见，因为陆地上几乎没有什么东西覆盖它们。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying bout,

你可以想象出天上有看得见的飞来飞去、数不清的鸟，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see,

地上有不显眼的无数的老鼠和田鼠之类的小动物，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads.

但是，除非在路上，很少有人遇到这些动物的尸体，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather or eaten by some other creature.

因为它们腐败之后很快就被风化掉，或被别的动物吃掉了。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive,

几乎总是由于某些特殊的条件，陆地动物的遗体才被存下来，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths,

如掉进难以到达的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里，或者像西伯利亚长毛象那样掉进冰窟中，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator.

有时整个动物像被放在冰箱里一样被保存下来，

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved and in good condition.

著名的那林索夫卡长毛象就是这样被保存下来的，而且保存得很好。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

In his mouth were the remains of fir trees -- the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back.

它嘴里还留着冷杉 -- 它掉进冰河裂隙折断脊椎柱之前的最后一顿饭。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

The mammoth has now been restored in the Palaeontological Museum in Leningrad. Other animals were trapped in tar pits, like the elephants, sabre-toothed cats, and numerous other creatures that are found at Rancho la Brea,which is now just a suburb of Los

这头长毛象已被修复，现存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆。有的动物掉进天然沥清坑里被保存下来，如在兰桥。拉。布里 -- 现在是洛杉矶的郊区发现的大象、剑齿虎和许多其他动物。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits, and the bigger animals like the elephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar.

沥青坑里积存了水，大象那样的大动物冒险到似乎坚固的水面上去饮水，立即掉进了沥青坑。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

And then, when they were dead, the carnivores, like the sabre-toothed cats and the giant wolves, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.

大象死后，一些食肉动物，如剑齿虎和大灰狼就来吃大象，结果遭到了同样的命运。

Lesson 26 The past life of the earth

There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well.

沥青坑里还有无数只鸟的尸体。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden,

从17世纪瑞典帝国

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

the story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.

在1628年，一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个流传至今的故事无疑是航海史上最离奇的事件之一。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956.

这艘大船在斯德哥尔摩港口的海底躺了将近3个半世纪之后，直到1956年才被发现。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.

这就是"瓦萨号，帝国大舰队的皇家旗舰。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

King Gustavus Adolphus, 'The Northern Hurricane',

当时号称北方飓风的国王古斯塔夫斯·阿道尔弗斯

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

then at the height of his military success in the Thirty Years' War,had dictated her measurements and armament.

正处在"三十年战争"的军事鼎盛阶段，他亲自规定了这艘船的规模和武器配备。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon.

三层的火炮甲板上装着64门青铜加农炮，

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden.

目的就是要在不断增长的瑞典势力中起主导作用。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

As she was prepared for her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628, Stockholm was in a ferment.

在1628年8月10日，瓦萨号准备首航时，斯德哥尔摩一片欢腾。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind.

人们从斯开波斯布朗和周围的岛屿前来观看这艘美丽的战船扬帆起航，乘风前进。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art;

瑞典人辛辛苦苦干了3年才建成这件水上艺术品，

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship.

它比以往任何船只雕刻得都更加精美，装饰得都更加华丽。

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods,

高耸的船楼上雕刻着令人眼花缭乱的神仙、

Lesson 27 The 'Vasa'

demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs;

妖魔、骑士、国王、武士、美人鱼和小天使，