美国学生人类历史第11期:史前人类(2)

 　　When they tried to stay more than a few days there was a terrible battle with claw-like hands and feet and whole families were killed.

　　当过了几天他们还赖着不走，于是一场可怕的战斗发生了。人们相互撕咬，发疯般地肉搏。有的全家被杀死，

　　The others fled back to their mountain slopes and died in the next blizzard¹.

　　其他人则逃回山区，死于下一场袭来的暴风雪。

　　But the people in the forest were greatly frightened.

　　可住在森林里的居民也吓坏了。

　　All the time the days grew shorter and the nights grew colder than they ought to have been.

　　现在，白昼变得一天比一天短，而夜晚却冷得异乎寻常。

　　Finally, in a gap between two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck² of greenish ice.

　　最后，在两山之间的裂缝里，出现了星星点点的绿色小冰块。

　　Rapidly it increased in size.

　　它们迅速地变大，

　　A gigantic glacier³ came sliding downhill.

　　长成巨大的冰川，沿山坡滑下来，

　　Huge stones were being pushed into the valley.

　　把巨大的石块推进山谷。

　　With the noise of a dozen thunderstorms torrents⁴ of ice and mud and blocks of granite⁵ suddenly tumbled among the people of the forest and killed them while they slept.

　　在雷鸣般的响声中，裹挟着冰块、泥浆和花岗岩的巨流呼啸着卷过森林，许多人在睡梦中就遭受了灭顶之灾。

　　Century old trees were crushed into kindling⁶ wood. And then it began to snow.

　　百年的老树被齐腰折断，倒在燃烧起来的森林里。随后，大雪纷纷扬扬地下了起来。

　　It snowed for months and months.

　　绵绵不绝的大雪下了一个又一个月。

　　All the plants died and the animals fled in search of the southern sun.

　　所有的植物都冻死了，大批动物逃往南方，去寻找温暖的太阳。

　　Man hoisted⁷ his young upon his back and followed them.

　　人类肩挑手打，背起年幼的孩子，跟动物一起踏上了逃难的旅程。

　　But he could not travel as fast as the wilder creatures and he was forced to choose between quick thinking or quick dying.

　　可他们跋涉的速度比用四肢奔跑的动物慢了许多，严寒却毫不留情地在身后紧紧追赶。他们不得不迅速想出办法，否则只能坐以待毙。

　　He seems to have preferred the former for he has managed to survive the terrible glacial periods which upon four different occasions threatened to kill every human being on the face of the earth.

　　事实证明，他们更情愿开动脑子。在冰川纪，有四种情形对地球上的人类构成了致命的威胁，可他们都—一想出了对付的办法，使自己幸免于难。

　　In the first place it was necessary that man clothe himself lest he freeze to death.

　　首先，人类必须穿衣服御寒，否则只能冻死。

　　He learned how to dig holes and cover them with branches and leaves and in these traps he caught bears and hyenas⁸,

　　于是，他们学会了怎样制造捕猎的陷阶：挖一些大坑，上面覆以枝条和树叶，一俟熊和鬣狗掉下去，

　　which he then killed with heavy stones and whose skins he used as coats for himself and his family.

　　便用石块砸死它们，用它们的毛皮做大衣。

1 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

2 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

3 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

4 torrents   

n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断

参考例句：

• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Sudden rainstorms would bring the mountain torrents rushing down. 突然的暴雨会使山洪暴发。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

6 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

7 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

8 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句