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
考研
Suppose Charles Darwin had been swept overboard and drowned during the voyage of the Beagle. What would the world be like withou
Suppose Charles Darwin had been swept overboard and drowned during the voyage of the Beagle. What would the world be like withou
admin
2014-06-13
42
问题
Suppose Charles Darwin had been swept overboard and drowned during the voyage of the Beagle. What would the world be like without him? That is the question Peter Bowler sets out to answer in Darwin Deleted. He uses the notion of a world without Darwin to explore the context of evolutionary thought in the 19th century, and examine exactly what Darwin’s contributions were.
In many ways, says Bowler, Darwin played less of a role than you might suppose. The concept of evolution was already around before Darwin’s Origin was published in 1859. Geologists were beginning to realise that Earth was much more than a few thousand years old, and palaeontologists were piecing together a fossil record that testified to vast changes in life forms over a long period of time. Darwin’s big idea was that evolution proceeded by natural selection; better-adapted individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce, and thus pass on adaptive traits to their offspring, while less well-adapted individuals die taking their failed traits with them. Others, notably Alfred Russel Wallace, came up a similar idea at about the same time, but only Darwin’s book attracted wide attention.
That concept, with its emphasis on struggle, competition and the relentless elimination out of failures, was a bombshell. How could a merciful God permit such violence, such wastefulness? Darwin’s theory instantly polarised the public, with conservative Christians rejecting it outright and anti-religionists using it as an argument against the established church. Without Darwin, Bowler says, anti-religionists might have seized another sword, perhaps using geological evidence for an ancient Earth as their weapon.
Modern opponents may argue that Darwinism laid the foundation for societal amorality, resulting in two world wars and the Nazi atrocities. So would a world without Darwin have been a kinder, gentler place? Not likely, says Bowler, who shows that the factors underlying the horrors of the past century or so, such as racism or imperialism, existed long before Darwin. True, the notion of Darwinism provided a useful rhetorical framework, as when Nazis spoke of "racial purification" as a step toward the evolution of better humans. But without Darwin they could easily have turned to another metaphor, says Bowler, such as the need to excise a cancer from society.
All this is fascinating and should have made a lively book. But Bowler is so elaborate on his historical detail, so careful to explore every angle of each point he makes, that he often leaves the reader unsure where he is going. Even so, the book is worth the effort. Bowler concludes that where Darwin really mattered was in timing. Here, ironically, the shock of his book, and the polarisation it caused, may have delayed the acceptance of evolution. The great man was ahead of his time, and science may have paid a price for that.
We learn from Paragraph 2 that the idea of evolution through natural selection ______.
选项
A、had arisen long before the publication of Origin
B、was less influential than generally supposed
C、was shared by some of Darwin’s contemporaries
D、originated from geological evidences and fossil records
答案
C
解析
第二段涉及“进化”和“自然选择推动进化”两种思想,这是两个概念,要加以区分:“进化”思想在达尔文《物种起源》出版之前早已出现(第二句),而对于生物的具体进化方式,不同学者又提出了不同观点。达尔文的主要观点是“自然选择推动进化”(第四句)。第五句接着指出,其他人(如华莱士)在同一时期也提出了相似观点。这表明“自然选择推动进化”并非达尔文独家观点,在其同时代学者中广泛存在。因此,[C]选项正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/qiO4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Youaregoingtoreadalistofheadingsandatextaboutlaughing.ChoosethemostsuitableheadingfromthelistA-Fforeach
Accordingtotheauthor,theAmericaneconomicsituationis______.Theofficialstatisticsonproductivitygrowth______.
WhichofthefollowingheadingsisthatofParagraphTwo?Whichofthefollowingstatementsisincorrect?
The(1)_____ofthefluorescenttube(2)_____amajorrevolutioninthedevelopmentofbetterandcheaperlighting.Firstshown
TheentertainmentindustryandtechnologycompanieshavebeenwarringforyearsoverthedazzlingabilityofcomputersandtheI
Formaleconomicforecastingisusuallybasedona(1)_____theoryastohowtheeconomyworks.Sometheoriesarecomplicated,an
Whatisthepassagemainlyabout?Accordingtothepassage,acourtinterpretershouldhaveallthefollowingqualitiesexcept_
Globally,recoveryisgoingslightlybetterthanexpected,accordingtotheIMF,whichreleaseditslatestWorldEconomicOutloo
OnWednesday,incomingFinancialSecretaryDonaldTsangsaidheis"committedtotheprincipleandphilosophiesenshrinedbyhis
随机试题
粘膜下脓肿形成后,炎症转化为
牙髓中的主要细胞成分是
某单位基建处项目负责人在单位工程质量验收中,对工程质量控制资料进行了核查,下列属于建筑电气的资料是()。
施工单位编制分部(分项)工程施工组织设计和季、月、旬施工计划的依据是()。
《配股说明书》刊登后,配股缴款首日需刊登配股提示性公告,缴款期内上市公司须就配股事项至少再作5次提示性公告。()
中国公民张先生是某民营非上市公司的个人大股东,同时也是一位作家。2014年5月取得的部分实物或现金收入如下:(1)公司为其购买了一辆轿车并将车辆所有权办到其名下,该车购买价为35万元。经当地主管税务机关核定,公司在代扣个人所得税税款时允许税前减除
在对流动资金贷款的管理过程中,银监会可根据《银行业监督管理法》相关规定对贷款人进行处罚的情形包括()。
一级物业管理企业所管理的物业房屋建筑面积中的高层住宅面积应当为()。
鲁迅先生在《中国小说史略》中评价明朝小说:“当神魔小说盛行的时候,讲世情的小说,也就起来了,其原因,当然也离不开那时的社会状态……这种小说,大概都叙述些风流放纵的事情,间于悲欢离合之中,写炎凉的世态。其最著名的,是《金瓶梅》。”《金瓶梅》盛行的“社会状态”
甲、乙、丙三名举重运动员,三个甲的体重相当于四个乙的体重,三个乙的体重相当于二个丙的体重,甲的体重比丙轻10千克,甲体重为多少千克?
最新回复
(
0
)