【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is the main condition for the preservation of the remains of any living creature?
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 sit have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the can be rapidly covered over and preserved.
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 bout, 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.
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 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.
ERROL WHITE The past life of the earth from Discovery
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
preservation n. 保存
silt n. 淤泥
scavenger n. 食腐动物
vole n. 野鼠，鼹鼠
decompose v. 腐烂
inaccessible adj. 不能到达的
crevasse n. 缝隙
Siberian adj.西伯利亚的
palaeontological adj. 古生物学的
St. Petersburg n. 圣彼得堡
sabre-toothed adj. 长着锐利的长牙
venture v. 冒险
bogged adj. 陷入泥沼的，陷入要困境的
【课文注释】
1. 第1段中有两个由it is ...引导的强调句。
一个是It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, 被强调的部分animals and plants which lived in or near water。另一个强调句是it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, ... that bodies and the like can be ..., 这一句中强调的是地点状语。
2.preserve v. 保护, 保存, 保持
例句：It is highly important to preserve the environment.
保护自然环境至关重要。
【错句举例与错句分析】
错句: His life and loves have been preserved at Shaw"s Corner.
订正: The record of his life and loves has been preserved at Shaw"s Corner.
翻译: 他的生活与感情记录都保存在“萧氏角落”里。
分析: 这里的错误是把“生活”与“生活的记录”混淆在了一起，意思表达不明确。
【词义辨析】
keep, retain, reserve, preserve, conserve, withhold, maintain, save , store
这些动词均有“保持，保存”之意。
keep: 最常用词，指长时间牢固地保持或保存。
retain: 指继续保持。
reserve: 正式用词，指为了将来的用途或其他用途而保存、保留。
preserve: 主要指为防止损害、变质等而保存。
conserve: 一般指保存自然资源，保全人的精力、力量等。
withhold: 指扣住不放，暗示有阻碍。
maintain: 指保持原样，不增不减
save: 普通用词，指尽量少用，以争取数量上有所增加。
store: 普通用词，指将物品存放，以备将来使用。
3.set in 到来，开始
例句：The moist season has set in.
雨季已来临。
The rot set in when we lost that important customer in Japan.
我们失去了日本的那家重要客户後，情况越来越糟了。
4.whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive这是让步状语从句，用的是虚拟语气形式。
5.come across
①碰到, 遇到
例句：I, came across an old school friend in Oxford Street this morning.
今天早上我在牛津大街碰见一位老校友。
②被理解
例句：He spoke for a long time but his meaning did not really come across.
他讲了很长时间，但他的意思没有人真正理解。
③无意中发现
例句：I came across this book in an old bookstore in London.
我在伦敦一家旧书店里发现了这本书。
【同义词】
encounter n.意外的相见, 邂逅,...
happen upon 偶然碰到(偶然发现)
chance on 偶然碰到(不期而遇)
6.decompose vt. 腐烂
例句：Most animals decompose very quickly after death.
大多数动物死后很快腐烂。
Bacteria can decompose organic matter.
细菌能使有机物腐烂。
7.inaccessible adj. 难接近的, 难达到的, 难达成的
例句：His busy schedule made him completely inaccessible to his students.
他的时间排得很满，学生根本无法和他接触。
inaccessibility n. 难接近, 难达到, 难达成
【反义词】accessible adj.可得到的, 易接近的...
8.apparently adv.
①表面上
例句：Beneath that apparently calm surface is a man of fierce temper.
文静的外表掩盖着的是一个火暴脾气的人。
②似乎, 显然
例句：Apparently they"re intending to put up the price of water.
看来他们要提高水费了。
9.venture
① v.冒险, 敢于
例句：Venture a small fish to catch a great one.
[谚]欲钓大鱼，先舍小鱼。
He ventured his life to save a little girl from drowning.
他冒生命危险救起了一个小女孩，使她免于淹死。
②n. 冒险(事业), 风险, 投机
例句：All our hopes rested upon this venture.
我们所有的希望都寄托在这次冒险上了。
【词义辨析】
venture, chance, dare, hazard, risk这些动词均含有“敢于冒险”之意。
venture: 指冒风险试一试，或指有礼貌的反抗或反对。
chance: 指碰运气、冒风险试试。
dare: 可与venture换用，但语气较强，着重挑战或违抗。
hazard: 主要指冒险作出某个选择，隐含碰运气意味。
risk: 指不顾个人安危去干某事，侧重主动承担风险。
10.bogged adj. 陷入泥沼的, 陷于困境的
例句：The tank (got) bogged down in the mud.
坦克陷入泥沼之中。
Our discussions got bogged down in irrelevant detail.
我们的讨论纠缠在无关紧要的细节上。
【参考译文】
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，因为保存的必要条件之一是迅速掩埋，所以只有在泥沙不停淤积的海洋和江河里，有时在湖泊里，尸体之类的东西才能被迅速地覆盖而保存下来。
即使是在最有利的环境中，死去的生物中也只有一小部分能在开始腐烂前，或更可能在被食腐动物吃掉之前，被这样保存下来。因为一切生物都是靠吃别的东西来活命的，不管这种东西是植物还是动物，死的还是活的，因此，生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运。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，因为陆地上几乎没有什么东西覆盖它们。你可以想象出天上有看得见的飞来飞去、数不清的鸟，地上有不显眼的无数的老鼠和田鼠之类的小动物，但是，除非在路上，很少有人遇到这些动物的尸体，因为它们腐败之后很快就被风化掉，或被别的动物吃掉了。
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，如掉进难以到达的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里，或者像西伯利亚长毛象那样掉进冰窟中，有时整个动物像被放在冰箱里一样被保存下来，著名的那林索夫卡长毛象就是这样被保存下来的，而且保存得很好。它嘴里还留着冷杉 -- 它掉进冰河裂隙折断脊椎柱之前的最后一顿饭。这头长毛象已被修复，现存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆。有的动物掉进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水面上去饮水，立即掉进了沥青坑。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。沥青坑里还有无数只鸟的尸体。
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