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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
[00:00.00]Man Is Altering the Balance of Nature
[00:05.68]The balance of nature is a very elaborate
[00:09.66]and very delicate system of checks and counterchecks.
[00:13.60]It is continually being altered as climates change,
[00:16.66]as new organisms evolve,
[00:18.74]as animals or plants permeate1 to new area.
[00:22.68]But the alternations have in the past,
[00:25.95]for the most part,
[00:27.49]been slow, whereas with the arrival of civilized2 man,
[00:31.09]their speed has been multiplied many fold:
[00:33.83]From the evolutionary3 time scale where change
[00:37.66]is measured by periods of ten or a hundred thousand years,
[00:41.58]they have been transferred to the human time scale
[00:44.67]in which centuries and even decades count.
[00:47.38]Everywhere man is altering the balance of nature.
[00:51.65]He is facilitating the spread of plants and animals into new regions,
[00:56.79]sometimes deliberately4,
[00:58.44]sometimes unconsciously.
[01:00.31]He is covering huge areas with new kinds of plants,
[01:04.24]or with houses, factories,
[01:06.75]slagheaps and other products of the civilization.
[01:10.26]He exterminates5 some species on a large scale,
[01:13.97]but favours the multiplication6 of others.
[01:16.91]In brief, he has done more in five thousand years
[01:20.65]to alter the biological aspect of the planet
[01:23.38]than has nature in five million.
[01:25.79]Many of these changes
[01:27.64]which he has brought about have had unforeseen consequences.
[01:31.79]Who would have thought that
[01:34.09]the throwing away of a piece of Canadian waterweed
[01:36.81]would have caused half the waterways of Britain to be blocked for a decade?
[01:40.88]Or that the provision of pot cacti7 for lonely settlers’ wives
[01:45.36]would have led to Eastern Australia
[01:47.53]being overrun with forest of Prickly Pear?
[01:50.29]Who would have prophesied8 that the cutting down of forests
[01:54.11]on the Adriatic coasts,
[01:55.98]or in the parts of Central Africa,
[01:58.04]could have reached the land to semi desert,
[02:01.11]with the very soil washed away from the bare rock?
[02:04.50]Who would have thought that improved communications
[02:08.10]would have changed history
[02:09.86]by the spreading of disease—
[02:11.62]sleeping sickness into East Africa,
[02:14.01]measles into Oceania,
[02:16.13]very possibly malaria9 into ancient Greece?
[02:19.73]These are spectacular examples;
[02:22.34]but examples on a smaller scale are everywhere to be found.
[02:26.30]We make a nature sanctuary10 for rare birds,
[02:29.68]prescribing absolute security for all species;
[02:33.18]and we may find that some common
[02:35.48]and hardy11 kind of bird multiplies beyond measure
[02:39.31]and ousts12 the rare kinds in which we are particularly interested.
[02:43.13]We see, owing to some little change brought about by civilization,
[02:47.72]the startling spread over the English countryside in hordes13.
[02:52.22]We improve the yielding capacities of our cattle;
[02:55.50]and find that now they exhaust the pastures
[02:58.88]which sufficed for less exigent stock.
[03:01.63]We gaily14 set about killing15 the carnivores that molest16 our domestic animals,
[03:06.44]the hawks17 that eat our fowls18 and game-birds;
[03:09.49]and find that in so doing we are also removing the brake
[03:13.75]that restrains the multiplication of mice
[03:16.28]and other little rodents19 that gnaw20 away the farmer’s profits.
1 permeate | |
v.弥漫,遍布,散布;渗入,渗透 | |
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2 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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3 evolutionary | |
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的 | |
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4 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
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5 exterminates | |
n.消灭,根绝( exterminate的名词复数 )v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6 multiplication | |
n.增加,增多,倍增;增殖,繁殖;乘法 | |
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7 cacti | |
n.(复)仙人掌 | |
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8 prophesied | |
v.预告,预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9 malaria | |
n.疟疾 | |
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10 sanctuary | |
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区 | |
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11 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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12 ousts | |
驱逐( oust的第三人称单数 ); 革职; 罢黜; 剥夺 | |
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13 hordes | |
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落 | |
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14 gaily | |
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
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15 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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16 molest | |
vt.骚扰,干扰,调戏 | |
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17 hawks | |
鹰( hawk的名词复数 ); 鹰派人物,主战派人物 | |
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18 fowls | |
鸟( fowl的名词复数 ); 禽肉; 既不是这; 非驴非马 | |
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19 rodents | |
n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 ) | |
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20 gnaw | |
v.不断地啃、咬;使苦恼,折磨 | |
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