首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolutioa What principles govern the evolution of a species? And
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolutioa What principles govern the evolution of a species? And
admin
2023-01-17
59
问题
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolutioa What principles govern the evolution of a species? And what does evolution tell us about the place of Homosapiens in the grand order of things? The writer George Bernard Shaw held that a mystical guiding force impels life to evolve toward eventual perfection Modem scientists may not believe in this guiding force or in the possibility of perfection, but many would agree that life has been improving itself through evolution for billions of years. (Note that this conveniently makes Homosapiens, a very recent product of evolution, one of the newest and most improved versions of life.) In the view of these scientists, constant competition among species is the engine that drives the process of evolution and people’s life upward
To Darwin, nature was a surface covered with thousands of sharp wedges, all packed together and jostling for the same space. Those wedges that fared best moved toward the center of the surface, improving their position by knocking other wedges away with violent blows. The standard example that textbooks give of such competitive wedging is the interaction between the brachiopods and the clams. Clams were long held to be ancient undersea competitors of
brachiopods
due to the fact that the two species inhabited the same ecological niche. Clams are abundant today, whereas brachiopods (dominant in ancient times) are not. Modem clams are also physiologically more complex than brachiopods are. The standard interpretation of these facts is that the clams’ physiology was an evolutionary improvement that gave them the ability to "knock away" the brachiopods.
In recent years, however, the prominent naturalists Stephen Jay Gould and C. Brad Calloway have challenged the validity of this example as well as the model it was meant to support. Gould and Calloway found that over most geological time clams and brachiopods went their separate ways. Never did the population of brachiopods dip as that of the clams rose, or vice versa In fact, the two populations often grew simultaneously, which belies the notion that they were fighting fiercely over the same narrow turf and resources. That there are so many more clams than brachiopods today seems rather to be a consequence of mass deaths that occurred in the Permian period. Whatever caused the mass deaths—some scientists theorize that either there were massive ecological or geological changes, or a
comet
crashed down from the heavens—clams were simply able to weather the storm much better than brachiopods.
Out of these observations, Gould and Calloway drew a number of far-reaching conclusions. For instance, they suggested that direct competition between species was far less frequent than Darwin thought. Perhaps nature was really a very large surface on which there were very few wedges, and the wedges consequently did not bang incessantly against each other. Perhaps the problem facing these wedges was rather that the surface continually altered its shape, and they had to struggle independently to stay in a good position on the surface as it changed.
So where does that leave Homosapiens if evolution is a response to sudden, unpredictable and sweeping changes in the environment rather than the result of a perpetual struggle? No longer are we the kings of the mountain who clawed our way to the top by advancing beyond other species. We are instead those who looked to the mountains when floods began to rage below and then discovered that living high up has its definite advantages, so long as our mountain doesn’t decide to turn into a volcano.
What is the main idea of the passage?
选项
A、It criticizes Darwin’s evolutionary theory.
B、It discusses a new alternative to an established theory.
C、It examines the nature of the interaction between two species.
D、It demonstrates Gould and Calloway’s conclusions about clams and brachiopods.
答案
B
解析
通读全文可知,文章先是讨论了传统的进化理论,而后提出古尔德和卡罗威的不同观点,然后对这个新理论进行讨论,因此B项“讨论了一个不同于已有理论的新理论”,能高度概括全文。A项“批评了达尔文的进化论”,文中只是对其理沦跟模型质疑,并非批评,因此排除;C项“检验了两个物种相互作用的本质”,不符文意,排除;D项“论证了古和卡关于蛤类和腕足类的结论”,不够全面,也排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/LNcD777K
本试题收录于:
CATTI二级笔译综合能力题库翻译专业资格(CATTI)分类
0
CATTI二级笔译综合能力
翻译专业资格(CATTI)
相关试题推荐
Skepticsofhighereducationoftencomplainthatuniversitiesoffertoomanyboringdegreeswithlittlevalueintheworkplace.【
Skepticsofhighereducationoftencomplainthatuniversitiesoffertoomanyboringdegreeswithlittlevalueintheworkplace.【
Skepticsofhighereducationoftencomplainthatuniversitiesoffertoomanyboringdegreeswithlittlevalueintheworkplace.【
AdecadeagobiologistsidentifiedaremoteprotectedareainnorthernLaos,calledNamEt-PhouLouey,asthecountry’sprobable
Forthoseseekingtohelptheworst-offinpoorcountries,themobilephonehasbeenamagicwand.Mobile-moneyaccountshavehe
[A]Askingforparentalinvolvement[B]Settingupsmallgroups[C]Makingclassroomeventspredictable[D]Extendin
Peoplehavespeculatedforcenturiesaboutafuturewithoutwork.Todayisnodifferent,withacademics,writers,andactivists
Whilemanyworkersarewillingtolearnnewskillsorcompletelyretraintoimprovetheirfutureemployability,fewfeeltheyar
Amtrak—thelargestrailwaycompanyintheU.S.—wasexperiencingadeclininginridership.【C1】________majorconcernstoAmtraka
老舗の本質創業200年以上の企業の各国別データを見ると、第2位ドイツ800社強、第3位オランダ200社強、第4位フランス200社弱なので、日本は世界最大の老舗企業国家であるといえよう。また、企業寿命については、以前日経ビジネス誌が「企業30年説」
随机试题
简述管理咨询的特性。
支配肾上腺髓质的神经纤维是
唾液的功能不包括()
如果一审宣判后,张某对刑事部分不服提出上诉,王某对民事部分不服提出上诉,第二审法院在审理中发现本案的刑事部分和附带民事部分认定事实都没有错误,但适用法律有错误,应当如何处理?如果法院受理了附带民事诉讼,根据我国《刑事诉讼法》及司法解释相关规定,对一审过
某小企业以80万元价格对外出售一厂房,该房产的原值为100万元,已提折旧60万元,转让该房产适用的营业税率为5%。以下该项房产销售时涉及的营业税描述正确的有()。
下列各项中,能够影响企业当期损益的是()。
埋伏营销是指企业利用媒体和公众对重大事件的关注,通过举办与重大事件相关的活动,使自己与重大事件产生关联,从而引起消费者的联想和媒体的注意,这类营销通常是隐蔽的、突发的,不以赞助者的身份出现,却对自己的品牌悄无声息地进行了宣传。根据上述定义,下列不
按照数据库应用系统生命周期模型,系统设计阶段细分为概念设计、【2】设计和物理设计三个步骤。
Theautomobilehasmanyadvantages.Aboveall,itofferspeoplefreedomtogowhereverandwhenevertheywanttogo.However,to
IhopeIcan__________myselfoftherarechancetogainadeepinsightintoNewZealand’straditionandculture.
最新回复
(
0
)