Lesson 32 The Past Life of the Earth 古代地球上的生命-第四册笔

1、Lesson 32 The Past Life of the Earth 古代地球上的生命-第四册笔But even in the most favourable circumstances only a small fractionof the creatures that die are preserved in this way before decaysets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them. After all,all living creatures live by feeding on something e

2、lse, whether itbe plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance thatsuch a fate is avoided. The remains of plants and animals that livedon land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anythingto cover them over. When you think of the innumerable birds thatone sees flying about

3、, not to mention the equally numerous smallanimals like field mice and voles which you do not see, it is veryrarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on theroads. They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather oreaten by some other creature.It is almost always due to som

4、e very special circumstances thattraces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessiblecaves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, whenthe whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator. Thisis what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was foundpreserved

5、 and in good condition. In his mouth were the remains offir trees-the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasseand broke his back. The mammoth has now been restored in thePalaeontological Museum in Leningrad. Other animals were trappedin tar pits, like the elephants, sabretoothed cats,

6、and numerousother creatures that are found at Rancho la Brea, which is now justa suburb of Los Angeles. Apparently what happened was that watercollected on these tar pits, and the bigger animals like theelephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink,and were promptly boggedin the

7、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 alsoendless numbers of birds in the tar as well.New words and expressions 生词短语remains： 更多指人；body：人和动物都可以to pay the last respects to his r

8、emains 向遗体告辞preservation n.保存preserved vegetable 腌菜 preserved bean curdShe is well-preserved. 她保养得特别好。poorly/badly preservedset in vi.开头Winter has set in early this year. Fatigue sets in when one growsold.scavenger n.食尸动物dustman 清道夫，清洁工 2. obscene writervegetarian： 吃素的He is a vegetable, 乏味之人carnivor

9、ous： 吃肉的numerous a.很多的数量多numeric about number 关于数字的numbered a. 1. 编号的numbered card时日无多的mouse： n.as poor as a church mouseto play cat and mouse with sb. e.g. The policeman played cat andmouse with the thief.She is a mouse, 胆小的/He is a chicken.rat：cat n.猫科动物feline： 猫科的They live a cat and dog life.水火不容

10、rain cats and dogs 北欧神话中，猫是风神，狗是雷神I cat a nap only 15 minutes. cat s paw： 牺牲品， 受人利用；cat walkvole：野鼠，鼹鼠decompose vt,腐烂decay：渐渐哀老；decompose：分解；rot：腐烂inaccessible a.不能到达的accessibleThe book is accessible to beginners. /The goal is inaccessible.access n.Students should have access to a wide range of read

11、ings. attain：attainable/unattainableapproach： approachable/unapproachableSiberia： 西伯得亚 S iberian a.cold currents 寒流warm currents 暖流mammoth n. 猛玛 mammoth parade 盛大*palaeontological a.古生物学的pal(a)e=old palaeoanthropology 古人类学ontology：物种起源学palaeolith旧石器时代neolith：新石器时代palaeography 古文书，古文书学LeningradStalin

12、grad： Volgogradpit n.坑A fall in the pit, a gain in the wit.(吃一堑，长一智)pitfall：意外的挫折或困难pit (casino) boss： *老板saber： 马刀s aber-toothedNY(New York) LA (Los Angeles) Chicagoventure vi.冒险I venture to buy some stocks.Nothing Ventured, Nothing gained.(不入虎穴，焉得虎子)bog vt.&vi.joint venture 合资企业I m bogged/troubled

13、/plunged/sunk.Notes on the text 课文解释likely=possiblydeposited二saved二piled up 积累mud (from the seashore)the man and the like：就他那样的人(否认意义)cover over： 全部掩盖第一段：强调句1.加缘由状语2.加地点状语favourable=good=idealsmall fraction 小局部that die已死的或将要死的feed on： 靠为生 I feed on rice./I feed rice. (F) I feed the baby.live by： 通过1

14、 ive by the hands 自力更生 l ive by the mountainslive on=feed ondead or alive连缀形容词要做后置定语ecological chain： 生物链 the law of the jungle, survival of thefittestchance=accidental 间或 chance meeting 邂逅 chance company 萍水相逢on land 陆路 seldom二hardlyinnumerable=numeroussee sb doing sth.fly about：四外飞行go about： 转一转not to mention： 更不用说=let alone= not to speak ofit is very rarely(强调句，强调状语)come across二run into带other，一般用单数词，any