Vocabulary: Evolution?詞匯：進化

You’ve heard of Charles Darwin, right? The?celebrated?scientist who proposed a?theory of evolution. You might have just about heard of Alfred Russel Wallace, who co-authored, with Darwin, the revolutionary work On the Origin of?Species, published in 1859. But what about Patrick Matthew? ‘Patrick who?’ you might ask. Well, Darwin and Wallace got the fame but Matthew?did the legwork?too.

你聽說過查爾斯·達爾文吧?提出進化論的著名科學(xué)家。你可能聽說過阿爾弗雷德·羅素·華萊士，他與達爾文合著了1859年出版的革命性著作《物種起源》。那帕特里克·馬修呢?“帕特里克誰?你可能會問。達爾文和華萊士出名了，但馬修也跑腿了。

This British?horticulturalist?actually thought about evolution first, as Dr Mike Weale, geneticist at King’s College London, explains. He says: "Matthew published a brief?outline?of the idea of species being able to change into other species through?natural selection. And he did that 27 years before Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. And they recognized that he did so but other people since have simplified the story and tended to concentrate just on Darwin."

正如倫敦國王學(xué)院的遺傳學(xué)家邁克·威爾博士解釋的那樣，這位英國園藝學(xué)家實際上首先想到了進化。他說:“馬修發(fā)表了一篇關(guān)于物種能夠通過自然選擇轉(zhuǎn)變成其他物種的簡要概述。他比達爾文和阿爾弗雷德·羅素·華萊士早了27年。他們認識到他確實是這樣做的，但其他人已經(jīng)簡化了這個故事，并傾向于只關(guān)注達爾文。”

So Patrick Matthew's relative?obscurity?may simply be down to us – the general public – wanting to simplify things. But Dr Patricia Fara, senior tutor at Clare College Cambridge, points out that Darwin's work might have received more attention because he had powerful friends.

所以帕特里克·馬修相對默默無聞可能只是因為我們——普通大眾——想要簡化事情。但是劍橋大學(xué)克萊爾學(xué)院的高級導(dǎo)師帕特麗夏·法拉博士指出，達爾文的研究之所以受到更多關(guān)注，可能是因為他有權(quán)勢的朋友。

"He brought his?allies?on board", she says. The academic explains that "although he was publishing from his?stronghold?down in Kent he had the most famous, most?prominent??members of the scientific society in Victorian times, who were pushing?on his behalf. Having a scientific theory being accepted is not just a matter of whether the theory’s right."

她說:“他拉攏了盟友?！边@位學(xué)者解釋說:“盡管他在肯特郡的大本營發(fā)表文章，但他擁有維多利亞時代科學(xué)界最著名、最杰出的成員，他們代表他推動。一種科學(xué)理論是否被接受，不僅僅是理論是否正確的問題?！?/p>

Maybe it is time for us to remember Patrick Matthew, a pioneer of the story of?survival?through?adaptation?that is at the heart of evolution.

也許是時候讓我們記住帕特里克·馬修了，他是通過適應(yīng)生存的故事的先驅(qū)，而適應(yīng)是進化的核心。

詞匯表

celebrated 著名的，受人敬仰的
theory of evolution 進化論
species 物種
to do the legwork 做跑腿的活兒
horticulturalist 園藝學(xué)家
outline 概論，概述
natural selection 物競天擇
obscurity 無名，默默無聞
allies 支持者，盟友
stronghold 大本營，居住地
prominent 著名的，重要的
on one’s behalf 代表某人，為某人的利益
survival 生存
adaptation 改編

測驗與練習(xí)

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。?

1.?What changed the way people thought about the development of?living things?in the 19th?century?

2.?What did Matthew work with?

3.?True or false??Darwin claimed that he was the only person who had come up with a theory of natural selection.

4. What helped Darwin to become more famous than Matthew?

5. What’s the central idea of the theory of evolution??

2.?請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習(xí)。從每個表格中選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. The professor published the book but it was his assistant who _________. He collected the evidence which finally proved the theories.

pushed on his behalf ?????? ????was down to us ?????????? did the legwork?????????? recognised

2. On the Origin of Species is too complicated for my students to read. I’ve decided to _________ it and gave them a summary of this book on evolution.

simplify???????????????????????????? ?? concentrate ?????????????????? point out???????????????????? co-author

3. It’s through _________ that some animals evolve while others just die out.

evolution????????????????????????? ?? survival ?????????????????????????? adaptation?????????????????? Darwin

4. Ann is such a good student of English that her teachers decided to ask the principal _________ to allow her to jump one semester.

to do her legwork ???? ???????on her behalf??????? ???? ?????to do her work ??????????? to behalf

5. When I have an exam to do, I _________ to do the easy questions first and leave the difficult ones for later.?

tend????????????????????????????????? think????????????????????????????????? recognise??????????????????? point out

答案

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1.?What changed the way people thought about the development of living things in the 19th century?
The publication of On the Origin of Species by Darwin and Wallace in 1859.

2.??What did Matthew work with?
Plants and trees – he was a horticulturalist.

3.? True or false??Darwin claimed that he was the only person who had come up with a theory of natural selection.
False. ?Dr Mike Weale, geneticist at King’s College London, says that Darwin recognised that Matthew thought of it first.

4.??What helped Darwin to become more famous than Matthew?
Dr Patricia Fara, senior tutor at Clare College Cambridge, says he had influential people in the scientific society defending his ideas.?

5.? What’s the central idea of the theory of evolution?
The central idea of the theory of?evolution is that species adapted to their environment to survive – the ones which didn’t adapt, disappeared.

2.?請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習(xí)。從每個表格中選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1.? The professor published the book but it was his assistant who?did the legwork. He collected the evidence which finally proved the theories.

2.??On the Origin of Species is too complicated for my students to read. I’ve decided to?simplify?it and gave them a summary of this book on evolution.

3.??It’s through?adaptation?that some animals evolve while others just die out.

4.??Ann is such a good student of English that her teachers decided to ask the principal?on her behalf?to allow her to jump one semester.

5.??When I have an exam to do, I?tend?to do the easy questions first and leave the difficult ones for later.

文章來源BBC，侵權(quán)刪，本文僅用于英語學(xué)習(xí)。