Lesson 26 The past life of the earth-英语听力

[00:01.51]Lesson 26 [00:03.68]The past life of the earth
地球上的昔日生命 [00:12.17]What is the main condition for the preservation of the remains of any living creature?
什么是任何生灵遗迹保存的主要条件？ [00:19.84]It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved,
只有生活在水中或水边的动植物尸体最有可能被保存下来 [00:26.93]for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial,
因为保存的必要条件之一是迅速掩埋 [00:31.97]and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes,
所以只有在海洋和江河里，有时在湖泊里 [00:36.10]where mud and silt have been continuously deposited,
在那里泥沙不停淤积 [00:39.68]that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.
尸体之类的东西才能被迅速地覆盖而保存下来 [00:45.37]But even in the most favourable circumstances
即使是在最有利的环境中 [00:48.33]only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way
死去的生物中也只有一小部分 [00:52.96]before decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them.
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 [00:59.09]After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else,
因为一切生物都是靠吃别的东西来活命的 [01:04.21]whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive,
不管这种东西是植物还是动物，死的还是活的 [01:08.09]and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.
因此，生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运 [01:12.95]The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved,
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 [01:18.68]for there is seldom anything to cover them over.
因为陆地上几乎没有什么东西覆盖它们 [01:22.41]When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about,
你可以想象出天上有看得见的飞来飞去，数不清的鸟 [01:26.84]not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles
更不用说同样众多的老鼠和田鼠之类的 [01:32.14]which you do not see,
那些不显眼的小动物 [01:34.00]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 [01:41.03]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。 [01:48.57]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 [01:55.47]as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse,
如掉进难以到达的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里 [02:01.63]like the Siberian mammoths,
就像这些西伯利亚长毛象 [02:03.85]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 [02:09.58]This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth
著名的那林索夫卡长毛象就是这样被保存下来的 [02:13.45]which was found preserved and in good condition.
而且保存得很好 [02:17.24]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-- 它掉进冰河裂隙折断脊椎柱之前的最后一顿饭 [02:25.79]The mammoth has now been restored in the Palaeontological Museum in St.Petersburg.
这头长毛象已被修复，现存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆 [02:32.42]Other animals were trapped in tar pits,
有的动物掉进天然沥清坑里被保存下来 [02:34.95]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 Angeles.
如在兰桥.拉.布里 -- 现在是洛杉矶的郊区发现的大象现在是洛杉矶的郊区发现的大象、剑齿虎和许多其他动物 [02:45.86]Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits
显然，事情的经过是这样：沥青坑里积存了水， [02:50.59]and the bigger animals like the elephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink,
大象那样的大动物冒险到似乎坚固的水面上去饮水 [02:57.01]and were promptly bogged in the tar.
立即掉进了沥青坑 [03:00.12]And then, when they were dead, the carnivores,
大象死后，一些食肉动物 [03:03.85]like the sabretoothed cats and the giant wolves,
如剑齿虎和大灰狼 [03:07.53]came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.
就来吃大象，结果遭到了同样的命运 [03:11.71]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