外研版选修一册第五单元阅读讲解

Unit 5 Revealing nature

第50页阅读讲解

A Journey of Discovery
发现之旅

1 The captain of the ship, the Beagle, wanted someone who would “profit by the opportunity of visiting distant countries yet little known”. The person who answered the call was not the captain's first choice. It was a young man who had left medical school without completing his degree. What's more, he had recently received a letter from his father predicting that he would be “a disgrace to yourself and all your family”. Despite all this, his adventures on this ship would lead to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time.
贝格尔号的船长想要招募这样一名船员，这名船员将能“借此机会访问遥远而鲜为人知的国家并从中受益”。然而来应聘的人并不是船长心中的理想人选。这个年轻人从医学院肄业，并且在他刚收到父亲的来信，信中预言他将会成为“自己和全家人的耻辱”。尽管如此，他的这次乘船探险之旅将带来有史以来最重要的一项科学发现。

2 The young man in question, Charles Darwin, was a geologist and naturalist, fascinated by rocks, plants and animals. He left England on the ship, the Beagle, in 1831. The journey gave him the chance to study various living things in their natural environments. After Darwin had spent some time in South America, his room on the ship was crowded with samples of the plants and animals he had collected. As he studied these, he asked himself the question: how did different species come to exist?
我们提到的这个年轻人就是地质学家和博物学家查尔斯·达尔文，他对岩石和动植物有着浓厚的兴趣。1831年，他搭乘贝格尔号从英格兰启程。这次旅程给了他研究自然环境中各种生物的契机。在南美洲度过一段时间后，他的船舱里堆满了收集到的动植物样本。当他研究这些样本时，他产生了疑问：这些不同的物种是如何产生的?

3 At that time, people believed that all species had appeared on Earth at the same time, and had not changed since. But Darwin began to think differently. He noticed that some species of animals were very similar to each other. Maybe animals evolved as they adapted to their changing environments? It was just an idea, but enough to inspire Darwin to look for more evidence.
当时，人们认为所有的物种都是同时出现在地球上的，并从此再无变化。但达尔文开始有了不同的想法。他注意到，有些不同物种的动物彼此间很相似。也许动物为了适应不断变化的环境会逐渐进化？虽然这只是一个设想，但足够激励达尔文去寻求更多证据。

4 When the Beagle reached the Galápagos Islands in 1835, Darwin saw a variety of new species, but it was the birds that interested him the most. Darwin noticed that there was a difference between the finches on each of the islands. It seemed their beaks had evolved according to what food was available on that particular island.
1835年，当贝格尔号抵达加拉帕戈斯群岛时，达尔文发现了各种各样的新物种，但最令他感兴趣的是鸟类。达尔文注意到，在群岛中的每一个小岛上，雀鸟之间有所不同。它们的喙似乎是根据所在岛屿上可觅得的食物进化而来的。

5 Darwin suspected that the finches had evolved from a common ancestor, which had arrived on the islands a long time before. Over time, it had slowly evolved into many new species. And that was the answer to how new species of plants and animals came to exist: they evolved from earlier ancestors.
达尔文猜想这些雀鸟是由共同的祖先进化而来的。很久以前，雀鸟的祖先来到这片群岛，随着时间的推移，慢慢进化成许多新的种类。于是，关于动植物的新种类是如何产生的这个问题就有了答案：它们是从早期的祖先进化而来的。

6 It was a completely new idea – a theory of evolution. Darwin explained this theory in his book, On the Origin of Species. It was not published until 1859 and immediately caused a storm. Many people refused to believe that living things, including humans, had evolved from lower forms of life. They were shocked. But Darwin's scientific studies were so convincing that more and more people started to believe his theory.
这是一个全新的观点——进化论。达尔文在他的《物种起源》一书中解释了这一理论。这本书直到1859年才出版，出版后立即引起轰动。很多人拒绝相信包括人类在内的所有生命都是从更低级的生命形式进化而来的。他们对此感到震惊。然而达尔文的科学研究很有说服力，越来越多的人开始接受他的理论。

7 Today, On the Origin of Species is regarded as one of the most important works ever written. It has changed ideas about life on Earth forever. And it all began with the journey on the Beagle.
如今，《物种起源》被认为是迄今为止最重要的著作之一。它彻底地改变了人类对于地球上生命的认识。而这一切都开始于贝格尔号的探索之旅。

第56页阅读讲解

The Secret Language of Plants
植物密语

1 Talking plants have long been a thing of myths and legends. Many cultures have stories of talking trees that give advice as well as warnings to people. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were said to have visited such a tree in India. And in some modern stories, such as the film Avatar, trees can communicate with animals and people.
会说话的植物一直是神话传说中的一大元素。在许多种文化中流传下来的故事里，会说话的树给予人们忠告和警示。据说亚历山大大帝和马可·波罗曾在印度见过一棵会说话的树。在一些现代故事，例如电影《阿凡达》中，树可以与人类和动物沟通交流。

2 With us long believing that talking plants are fantasy, new research has revealed something amazing: it appears that plants can communicate after all.
我们一直认为会说话的植物只存在于幻想之中，但新研究有了令人惊奇的发现：植物间似乎确实可以交流。

3 It has been known for some time that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant, say a bean plant, gets attacked by insects. The plant releases tiny amounts of chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help: “I'm being attacked!” When another bean plant detects the chemicals from its injured neighbour, it starts to release its own, different chemicals. Some of these chemicals drive insects away. Others attract insects – the wasps! The wasps kill the insects that are eating the bean plants. Scientists hope to learn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow crops without pesticides.
人们早就知道植物可以利用化学物质相互交流。当一株植物——比如豆科植物——被昆虫袭击时，就会发生这种情况。植物从正遭受啃食的叶子中释放出微量的化学物质，这像是警示，抑或求救：“我被攻击了!” 当另一株豆类植物检测到附近受伤同伴释放的化学物质时，它自身便开始释放不同的化学物质，其中一些能驱赶昆虫，而另一些则会吸引另一种昆虫——黄蜂！黄蜂会杀死那些啃食豆类植物的昆虫。科学家希望能进一步了解这种植物警报系统，从而将其应用于种植不用使用农药的农作物。

4 More surprisingly, plants also use sound to communicate. People can't hear these sounds, but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Corn and chilli plants do this. They also “listen” to the noises from other plants. A chilli plant can tell if a neighbouring plant is helpful, or unfriendly. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water, indicating drought is arriving.
更不可思议的是，植物还能用声音进行交流。虽然人类听不到，但植物确实正在发出声音。有些植物通过根部发出声响，比如玉米和辣椒。它们还能“听见”其他植物发出的声响。由此，辣椒可以知道自己附近的植物是敌是友。还有些树木在缺水时会发出咔嗒声，以示干旱就要来了。

5 Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system the “wood wide web”. It is in some ways similar to the Internet we use. While the Internet is a worldwide network of computers linked by cables and satellites, the wood wide web is linked underground by fungi. This fungal network links the roots of different plants to each other. Using the wood wide web, plants can share information and even food with each other. For example, some pine trees can send food to smaller pine trees to help them grow. But just like our own Internet, the wood wide web has its own version of “cybercrime”. Plants can steal food from each other, or spread poisons to attack other plants. Perhaps one day scientists will learn how to create a “firewall” to help prevent these attacks within the wood wide web.
然而最令人惊奇的是，植物拥有一套神奇的信息交流系统，几乎可以连接起森林中所有的植物。科学家们称之为“植物万维网”。在某种程度上，它很像人类使用的互联网。互联网是通过电缆和卫星连接的全球计算机网络，而植物万维网则是在地下通过真菌连接而成的。这个真菌网络将不同植物的根彼此连接。通过“植物万维网”，植物可以互相分享信息甚至是食物。比如，某些松树会通过真菌网络向松树幼苗输送养分，帮助它们生长。但是，像互联网一样，植物万维网也会发生“网络犯罪”。植物会偷取同伴的养分，或散播有毒物质攻击其他植物。也许未来某一天，科学家会研究出建造“防火墙”的方法来阻止植物万维网中的这些攻击。

6 Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Who knows? Maybe one day we will know enough about plant communication to be able to “talk” with them ourselves.
科学家们每天都在增进对植物间相互沟通的秘密方式的了解。谁知道呢？说不定哪一天，我们就能足够了解植物沟通的知识，从而亲自和植物“聊天”了。