--- url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/26-the-past-life-of-the-earth.md description: 新概念英语第四册：The Past Life of the Earth。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。 --- # 地球上的昔日生命 ## 课文学习台 {#study} ### 第1段 It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved. 中文理解：生活在水中或水域附近的动植物，其遗骸最有可能保存下来，因为保存的一个必要条件是迅速掩埋。所以只有在泥沙不停淤积的海河湖泊里，尸体之类的东西才可能被迅速地覆盖从而得以保存下来。 #### 这一段的读法与用法 1-1. It is… whose… 复合句，我们分成两个句子予以分析. 第一句为it is… whose 的强调句，强调的是生活在水中或水域附近的动植物，被强调部分以which 所引导的定语从句修饰动植物. 该强调句还原为非强调句可写为The remains (of animals and plants) (which lived \[in or near water]) are \[most] likely to be preserved. for 引导的原因状语从句中，为主系表结构. 1-2. and it is only… that… 本句是it is… that 强调句，强调地点海河湖泊，第一句为it is whose 的强调句，中间带有一个where 引导的地点状语从句，该从句是主谓结构. that 后面这句可以看成主系表结构，表语由过去分词（词组）担任. ### 第2段 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. 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. The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over. When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about, not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see, it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads. They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather or eaten by some other creature. 中文理解：即使是在最有利的环境下，死去的生物中也只有一小部分能抢在开始腐烂前，或更可能是在被食腐动物吃掉之前，被迅速覆盖而保存下来。毕竟，一切生物都以其它东西而生存，不管这种东西是植物还是动物，是死是活。因此，生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运。陆生动植物的遗体罕有保存下来的，因为陆地上几乎没有可以覆盖它们的东西。 你一想到天上有无数飞来飞去的鸟，更不用说地上有无数不显眼的老鼠和田鼠之类的小动物，但是，除非在路上（被撞死的），很少有人遇到这些动物的尸体。它们腐败之后很快就随雨打风吹去，或被其它生物吃掉了。 * **in this way**：拾起或接人 / 用这种办法；pick up 的意义取决于宾语和情境，不能只记“捡起”。 * **whether**：不仅 / 两者都不 / 是否；找齐成对结构的两端；不是看见 not only 就一律倒装。 #### 1. fraction are preserved…before…or before… 复合句，主句主谓结构，后面有两个before 引导的时间状语从句，两个状语从句是并列关系. #### 2. creatures live…, and it is… that… 并列复合句，第一句主句为主谓结构，后面接了whether 引导的让步状语从句. 第二句and 后面为it is that 强调句型，主句为主系表结构. #### 3. The remains are preserved… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，后面有for 引导的原因状语从句. #### 4. When you think of…, it is rarely that… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，it 为形式主语，that 从句为真正的主语. 前面的时间状语从句为主谓宾结构，包含that 引导的定语从句修饰birds，该句为主谓宾+宾补结构，另外还有一个which 引导的定语从句修饰small animals. #### 5. They decompose and (they) are destroyed or eaten… 并列句，第一句为主谓结构，就是they decompose，第二句为省略了they 的主谓结构. ### 第3段 It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator. This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved and in good condition. 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. The mammoth has now been restored in the Paleontological Museum in St. Petersburg. 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 Angeles. 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. 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. There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well. 中文理解：几乎总是由于某些特殊的情况，陆生动物的遗体才得以保存，比如掉进难以进入的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里。就像西伯利亚长毛象，有时动物像被放在冰箱里一样被完整地保存了下来。著名的别林索夫卡长毛象就是这样被保存下来的，而且保存得很好。它嘴里还残留着冷杉树——它掉进冰河裂缝摔折脊椎之前的最后一餐。这头长毛象现已转存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆。 有的动物困在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。 显然，事情的经过是这样：沥青坑里积存了水，大象那样的大动物冒险到似乎坚固的沥青表面上去饮水，然后当场被沥青坑所缠住。 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。沥青坑里那些数不清多少只的鸟儿，也遭受了同样的命运。 * **due to**：由于；先确认后面是名词性内容；because 后才可以直接接句子。 #### 1. traces survive, when animal is preserved… 复合句，主句为主谓结构，后面有when 引导的时间状语从句. 主句为it is that 强调句，里面含有as 引导的方式状语从句，as by 中间省了as they survive by… 时间状语从句中，主句为主系表结构，含有一个as 引导的方式状语从句，as in 中 间省略了as it is preserved in… #### 2. This is what… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，表语由what 引导的从句担任，该表语从句中，含有一个which 引导的定语从句，定语从句为主谓+主补结构. #### 3. the remains were in his mouth, …that… 复合句，主句为主系表倒装结构，后面是一个同位语，该同位语由that 引导的定语从句修饰，后面还有一个before 引导的时间状语从句. #### 4. The mammoth has been restored… 简单句，主谓结构. 教材翻译平白无故冒出了已修复，可是英语中并没有交待. #### 5. Other animals were trapped…that… 复合句，主谓结构. 后面that 引导的定语从句修饰like 引导的定语，一系列的动物. that 引导的定语从句是主谓+地点状语. 后面which 引导的定语从句为主系表结构，修饰that 从句的地点状语. #### 6. what happened was that water collected…, and the bigger animals ventured out…, and were bogged… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，主语为what 引导的主语从句担任，为主谓结构. 表语由that 引导的从句担任. 该表语从句中含有两个独立的句子，其中第二个句子为并列句，主语均为the bigger animals. #### 7. when…the carnivores came out and suffered fate… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，为并列句，第二个谓语suffered 省略了主语the carnivores. 前面有一个由when 引导的时间状语从句，为主系表结构. #### 8. There are… there be 句型. also 和as well 两个表达“也”的词语连用，一般来说在语法上算重复，但这里as well 可以理解为一个省略句，还原为There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar which suffered the same fate as well. ## 学完这一课 选一个可以讨论的判断，说明依据，再加上一句限制或不同情况。 [Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-4/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/) *译文与解析据吴应时整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第104—107页，2022年2月第2版。*