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1、Unit 3:The Case Against Man状告人类1 The first mistake is to think of mankind as a thing in itself. It isnt. 第一个错误是把人看作是某种独立的事物。其实并不是。It is part of an intricate web of life. 人是复杂的生命网络系统中的 一部分。And we cant think even of life as a thing in itself. It isnt. 我们甚至不能将生命本身视为某种独立的事物。它确实不是。It is part of the intri
2、cate structure of a planet bathed by energy from the Sun. 生命是一颗沐浴着太阳能的行星上的复杂结 构的一部分。2 The Earth, in the nearly 5 billion years since it assumed approximately its present form, has undergone a vast evolution. 地球自从呈目前的形状近 50 亿年以来，已经历了一场巨大的演变。When it first came into being, it very likely lacked what we
3、 would today call an ocean and an atmosphere. 在形成的初期，地球上很可能没有我们今天 称之为海洋和大气层之类的东西。These were formed by the gradual outward movement of material as the solid interior settled together. 当地球的内部固体紧压在一起时，物质的逐渐向外运动就形成了海洋和大气层。3 Nor were ocean, atmosphere, and solid crust independent of each other after form
4、ation. 地球形成之后，海洋、大气层以及坚固的地壳之间也并非相互独立。There is interaction always: evaporation, condensation, solution, weathering. 它们之间总有相互作用：蒸发，凝结，溶 解，风化，等等。Far within the solid crust there are slow, continuing changes, too, of which hot springs, volcanoes, and earthquakes are the more noticeable manifestations he
5、re on the surface. 在坚固的地壳内很深之处也有不断的缓慢变化，其中温泉、火山、以及地震是在地球表面上较为 引人注目的地质运动。4 Between 2 billion and 3 billion years ago, portions of the surface water, bathed by the energetic radiation from the Sun, developed complicated compounds in organization sufficiently versatile to qualify as what we call “life“
6、.在 20 亿到 30 亿年前期间，一部分地球表面的水在太阳能的作用下，形成了结构复杂的化合物，这些化合物灵 活多变，足以形成我们称之为“生命”的东西。Life forms have become more complex and more various ever since.生命形式从那时起就变得更为复杂，更为丰富多彩。5 But the life forms are as much part of the structure of the Earth as any inanimate portion is. 但是生命形式和地球上许多无生命的部分一样，是地球结构中的一部分。It is al
7、l an inseparable part of a whole. 它是整个地球体系中不可分割的一部 分。If any animal is isolated totally from other forms of life, then death by starvation will surely follow. 如果把任何动物与其他的生物形式完全隔离开，那么该动物肯定要饿死。If isolated from water, death by dehydration will follow even faster. 要是没有水，由于脱水很快就会死亡。If isolated from air, w
8、hether free or dissolved in water, death by asphyxiation will follow still faster. 要是没有空气，不论是充分的空气还是溶于水的空气。动物会因窒息死得更快。If isolated from the Sun, animals will survive for a time, but plants would die, and if all plants died, all animals would starve. 要是没有太阳，动物可能会存活一 段时间，但是植物会枯死，如果所有植物枯死，那么所有的动物将会饿死。6
9、It works in reverse, too, for the inanimate portion of Earth is shaped and molded by life. 反过来情况也一样。地球的无机世界是由生命造就成形的。The nature of the atmosphere has been changed by plant activity (which adds to the air the free oxygen it could not otherwise retain). 大气层的性质已经被植物活动所改变(植物活动给空气增添了大量的游离氧气，而这是通过其他方式所不能获
10、取的)。The soil is turned by earthworms, while enormous ocean reefs are formed by coral.蚯蚓翻松土壤，珊瑚形成一 个个巨大的海礁。7 The entire planet, plus solar energy, is one enormous intricately interrelated system. 整个地球，加上太阳能，形成了一个错综复杂、相互联系的巨大系统。The entire planet is a life form made up of nonliving portions and a large
11、 variety of living portions (as our own body is made up of nonliving crystals in bones and nonliving water in blood, as well as of a large variety of living portions). 整个星球是一种由无机部分和各种各样 的有机生命构成的生命形式(正如我们自己身体那样，既是由各种各样的有机邵分构成，又是由骨骼中的无机晶体和 血液中的无机水分所构成)。8 In fact, we can pursue the analogy. 事实上，我们可以将上述
12、类推继续进行下去。A man is composed of 50 trillion cells of a variety of types, all interrelated and interdependent. 人是由各种类型的细胞构成的，这些细胞多达 50 万亿，它们之间相互 联系，相互依赖。Loss of some of those cells, such as those making up an entire leg, will seriously handicap all the rest of the organism: serious damage to a relative
13、ly few cells in an organ, such as the heart or kidneys, may end by killing all 50 trillion. 如果丧失某些细胞，比如说失去构成整条腿的那些细胞，将会严重影响有机体的其余部分；如果某一器官(如心脏或肾)中较少的细胞受到严重损害，可能会最终导致所有 50 万亿细胞的死亡。9 In the same way, on a planetary scale, the chopping down of an entire forest may not threaten Earths life in general, b
14、ut it will produce serious changes in the life forms of the region and even in the nature of the water runoff and, therefore, in the details of geological structure. 同样，从全地球的规模考虑，砍掉一整片森林不会在总体上对地球生命构成威胁，但是这样做会对该地区的生 态形式造成严重的影响，甚至会造成水的流失，因此引起地质结构的细微变化。A serious decline in the bee population will affec
15、t the numbers of those plants that depend on bees for fertilization, then the numbers of those animals that depend on those particular bee-fertilized plants, and so on. 蜜蜂数量的大量减少将影响依赖蜜 蜂授粉的那些植物的数量，然后又影响到靠蜜蜂授粉的植物生存的动物的数量，依此类推。 10 Or consider cell growth. 还可以以细胞的生长为例。Cells in those organs that suffer
16、constant wear and tearas in the skin or in the intestinal lininggrow and multiply all life long. 不断受到磨损的器官的细胞(如皮肤、肠内壁)自始至终都在不断发育、增长。Other cells, not so exposed, as in nerve and muscle, do not multiply at all in the adult, under any circumstances. 另外一些较为隐蔽的细胞，如神经细胞、肌肉细胞，在成年之后再也不会增长。Still other organs, ordinarily quiescent, as liver and bone, stand ready to grow if that is necessary to replace damage. 还有一些器官，通常为肝脏和骨骼之类的 静止器官，在需要替换受损部位的时候随时可以生长。When the proper re
