万物简史 第251期:大地在移动(5)

 　　When it was realized that ancient tapirs had existed simultaneously¹ in South America and Southeast Asia a land bridge was drawn² there, too. Soon maps of prehistoric³ seas were almost solid with hypothesized land bridges—from North America to Europe, from Brazil to Africa, from Southeast Asia to Australia, from Australia to Antarctica. These connective tendrils had not only conveniently appeared whenever it was necessary to move a living organism from one landmass to another, but then obligingly vanished without leaving a trace of their former existence. None of this, of course, was supported by so much as a grain of actual evidence—nothing so wrong could be—yet it was geological orthodoxy for the next half century.

　　当发现古代的貘同时存在于南美洲和东南亚，他们又架起了一座陆桥。过不多久，史前海洋的地图上几乎到处都是假想的陆桥──从北美洲到欧洲，从巴西到非洲，从东南亚到澳大利亚，从澳大利亚到南极洲。这种鬈须状的连接物出现得很快，只要需要，把一种生物从一个大陆搬到另一个大陆，消失得也很快，最后就无影无踪了。当然，这种东西没有一丝一毫的根据──是大错特错的。然而，在此后的半个世纪里，它是地质学的正统观念。

　　大陆漂移

　　Even land bridges couldn't explain some things. One species of trilobite that was well known in Europe was also found to have lived on Newfoundland—but only on one side. No one could persuasively⁴ explain how it had managed to cross two thousand miles of hostile ocean but then failed to find its way around the corner of a 200-mile-wide island. Even more awkwardly anomalous⁵ was another species of trilobite found in Europe and the Pacific Northwest but nowhere in between, which would have required not so much a land bridge as a flyover⁶. Yet as late as 1964 when the Encyclopaedia⁷ Britannica discussed the rival theories, it was Wegener's that was held to be full of "numerous grave theoretical difficulties."

　　有的事情，即使陆桥也无法解释。人们发现，有一种在欧洲很著名的三叶虫在纽芬兰也生活过──但只是在该岛的一侧。谁也无法令人信服地解释，三叶虫怎么能跨越3000公里的汹涌大海，却又绕不过那个300公里宽的岛角。另一种三叶虫的情况更是反常，它出现在欧洲和美国西北部的太平洋沿岸，而中间地带却不见踪影。这与其说需要一座陆桥，不如说需要一座立交桥。然而，直到1964年，《大英百科全书》在讨论各种不同的理论时，倒是把魏格纳的理论说成是“充满了许多严重的理论问题”。

1 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

4 persuasively   

adv.口才好地；令人信服地

参考例句：

• Students find that all historians argue reasonably and persuasively. 学生们发现所有的历史学家都争论得有条有理，并且很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
• He spoke a very persuasively but I smelled a rat and refused his offer. 他说得头头是道，但我觉得有些可疑，于是拒绝了他的建议。 来自辞典例句

5 anomalous   

adj.反常的；不规则的

参考例句：

• For years this anomalous behaviour has baffled scientists.几年来这种反常行为让科学家们很困惑。
• The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。

6 flyover   

n.立交桥，天桥

参考例句：

• It took workers more than one year to build this flyover.建造这座立交桥破费工人一年多时间。
• All that came to his bakery should go over a flyover first.所有来他店的人都必须先经过一座立交桥。

7 encyclopaedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• An encyclopaedia contains a lot of knowledge.百科全书包含很多知识。
• This is an encyclopaedia of philosophy.这是本哲学百科全书。