TED演讲:树木之间如何交流(1)

 Imagine you're walking through a forest.  想象你正穿行在森林中。

I'm guessing you're thinking of a collection of trees,  我猜你想的是一大片树，

what we foresters call a stand, with their rugged¹ stems and their beautiful crowns. 我们林业工作者称之为“林分”，它们有着遒劲的枝干，和美丽的树冠。

Yes, trees are the foundation of forests, but a forest is much more than what you see, 是的，树是森林的基础，但是森林可比你看到的复杂多了，

and today I want to change the way you think about forests.  而今天我想改变一下你们对森林的看法。

You see, underground there is this other world,  你知道吗，森林的地下是另外一个世界，

a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate 一个拥有无限的生物通路的世界，这些通路把树木连接起来，使得它们可以彼此沟通，

and allow the forest to behave as though it's a single organism.  也使森林表现得好像一个单独的有机体。

It might remind you of a sort of intelligence.  这可能会让你想到某种程度的智慧。

How do I know this? Here's my story. 我是怎么知道这些的呢？来听听我的故事吧。

I grew up in the forests of British Columbia.  我是在不列颠哥伦比亚省（加拿大）的森林中长大的。

I used to lay on the forest floor and stare up at the tree crowns.  那时我总喜欢躺在森林的地面上，向上望着那些树冠。

They were giants. My grandfather was a giant, too. 它们都是巨人。我的祖父也是个巨人。

He was a horse logger, and he used to selectively cut cedar² poles from the inland rainforest. 他是一名伐木工，他以前曾在内陆雨林有选择性地砍伐杉木。

Grandpa taught me about the quiet and cohesive³ ways of the woods, and how my family was knit into it. 爷爷教会我了解树木间安静而紧密连接的沟通方式，以及我们家族是如何融入其中的。

So I followed in grandpa's footsteps.  所以我也追随了爷爷的脚步。

He and I had this curiosity about forests,  他和我都有关于森林的好奇心，

and my first big "aha" moment was at the outhouse by our lake. 我的第一次“顿悟”时刻是在我们湖边的外屋的时候。

1 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

2 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

3 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。