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
Humans have lost the evolutionary race. We are born without wings. It’s a crucial omission and we are making the environment pay
Humans have lost the evolutionary race. We are born without wings. It’s a crucial omission and we are making the environment pay
admin
2019-07-05
84
问题
Humans have lost the evolutionary race. We are born without wings. It’s a crucial omission and we are making the environment pay for it.
We like to think we’re the bee’s knees of the natural world but we’re nothing more than bumbling flatfoots. That’s why kookaburras laugh and midges torment us. We are grounded for life and, in our frustration, we’re wrecking the planet.
Wings might seem just fun and frippery, but they would also save the environment, If we could fly, we would not be trampling ecosystems underfoot. Natural habitats that now get bulldozed would flourish because we wouldn’t need roads. There would be no demand for cars, so there wouldn’t be emissions problems.
The common housefly travels 300 times its body length in one second. (91)
If in a few generations we could match that, we would reach 2,000 kilometres per hour, which would make ozone-destroying aircraft and land-grabbing airports unnecessary:
Society would benefit enormously if we could fly. Our philosophy about the private ownership of land would have to change because fences would become useless. (92)
Nets wouldn’t stop people flying into your garden--as anyone knows who has tried in vain to keep birds out of fruit crops.
And domestic rooftops would become public resting places.
The justice system would not need to guard expensive prisons because felons would simply have their wings clipped. Sports stadia would consist of only the pitch, with spectators hovering over the action. Stairs escalators and lifts would be as superfluous as bridges and tunnels. Buildings would have smaller ground plans and, instead, rise upwards, with entrance porches on every level.
(93)
If we had wings, not only would we not need to plunder so much of the Earth’s resources, but we’d also be better guardians of the environment.
Woodland would not be cut down because trees would be vital resting places as we flitted through the troposphere. We’d be more aware of the changes to Earth as we survived it daily from on high. And we’d soon appreciate any changes to air quality at all heights.
There would be some drawbacks. (94)
Clothing would have to be tight and aerodynamic--but our perception of human beauty would soon change so that we’d delight at a glimpse of wings with colorful feathers.
Demand for the best addresses would push the prices of mountain eyries sky-high. Electricity pylons and overhead cables would have to go. There would, inevitably, be the occasional crash landing in rush hour as soaring commuters got spun by the wing-tip vortices of others.
But it would be worth these minor hassles. The dinosaurs clearly recognised . the merits of wings, and went so far as to evolve into birds. That left us to inherit the Earth--an inheritance we seem determined to fritter away.
Humans clearly have an intuitive inkling of the need to fly. It comes up again and again, in nursery tales and sophisticated mythology from all over the world.
If we had evolved wings, the world would have been blessed. (95)
For the sake of the planet, biologists should stop growing ears on the backs of mice and start putting feathers between our shoulders, before it’s too late.
Time’s running out. Must fly.
选项
答案
如果长了翅膀,我们不仅用不着大量耗费地球上的资源,还可以更好地保护环境。
解析
(本题关键在于虚拟语气的翻译,特别是对过去事实的虚拟;另外还有not only…but also的译法。“plunder”的含义是“抢劫”,在此译为“耗费”。“guardian”保护人,在此是名词动译。)
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/OzfK777K
本试题收录于:
A类竞赛(研究生)题库大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)分类
0
A类竞赛(研究生)
大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)
相关试题推荐
50多年前,在我上大学的那个时代,就有不少的中国年轻的中国学子向往到剑桥负笈求学。(longfor)
Theannalsofnaturalhistorycontainmanyastonishingexamplesoftheabilityofanimalstofindtheirwayhomeaftermakingdi
环境变化导致全人类灭亡不太可能,但若维系现有的文明却非常困难。(extinguish)
2015年那所著名的英国大学将举行750周年校庆。(witness)
旅游是全球经济中一个快速增长的领域。【T1】因而发展中国家正努力从这一产业中获利,以促进海外投资、增加金融储备。(cashinon)联合国一方面承认,该产业的无序发展会造成严重的环境和社会问题,另一方面却坚持认为这些负面影响可以得到控制和减小。最近我在
Thehistoryofteahasancientroots,steepedingenerationsofAsiancultureandtraditionsbeginningasearlyas2,000BC.Ind
Gary:Lily,quick.Ifyoudon’thurry,we’regoingtomissthebeginningofthekungfumovie.Lily:______Gary:Don’tyouwant
ThesamewordcanbeaddedtotheendofGRASSandthebeginningofSCAPEtoformtwootherEnglishwords,whatistheword?
虽然等离子(plasma)电视的价格已经降了许多,但宣告笨重(bulky)的晶体管(tube)电视的终结为时尚早。(obituary)
随机试题
阅读欧.亨利《麦琪的礼物》中的一段文字,回答问题:一块八角七分钱全在这儿了。其中六角还是零钱凑起来的。这些小钱是每次一个两个向杂货店、菜贩和肉店的老板硬扣下来的。人家虽然没有明说,自己总觉得这种掂斤播两的交易未免落个吝啬的恶名,当时羞得脸红。德拉
女性,58岁。9个月来皮肤瘙痒,1个月前经旁人发现皮肤有黄染而住院。无腹痛,胃纳尚可,大便正常。体检皮肤有明显黄染,皮肤有搔痕,肝肋下3cm,质硬充实,脾肋下6cm。TB85.5μmol/L,CB46.8μmol/L。白蛋白30g/L,球蛋白42g/L,A
梅女士,29岁,未婚,无明显症状,但自己摸到下腹一肿块来妇科就诊。根据病人的主诉和妇科检查,初步印象为子宫肌瘤。张医生建议进一步做实验室检查的项目应该是
某大学附属小学教师王某,周日下午带领几名一年级学生外出郊游,途中一学生张某失足掉人路旁水池,王某见状只高声呼喊求救,不肯跳入水池救人。农民黄某路过见状过来观看,共同卞某在路旁拿来竹竿一根,探测得知水约有80公分深,但二人均嫌天气太冷,不肯跳下水池救人,只是
幼儿园安装挂式小便器(至受水部分上边缘)离地高度为()mm。
下面说法不正确的是()。
简述如何培养学习动机。
在有关占星术方面的一个电视节目中,调查员在社区里找到了20名出生在双子星座并且愿意在该电视节目中被采访并接受性格测试的志愿者。测试证实了调查员的个人印象,即每一个志愿参加者在性格上都比一般的人更善于交际。该调查支持了这样一种观点,即人所属的星座影响人的性格
下列关于多值依赖的叙述中,不正确的是
A、22percentofmoviedirectorswerepeopleofcolor.B、HalfoftheTVprogramswereethnicallybalanced.C、Onlyone-fifthofTV
最新回复
(
0
)