U20  Evolution and Development

进化与发展

Evolution: Fact, Theory, Controversy

       Reading Comprehension

       (包括“答案与题解”)      

       Notes

       课文参考译文

       练习

         ●Cloze

●Reading Passages(包括“疑难长句翻译与注解”)

         ●Translation

●Writing(包括“审题指导”)

Evolution: Fact, Theory, Controversy

When biologists refer to the theory of evolution, they use the word“theory” as it is used throughout science. It does not mean a mere speculation or an unsupported hypothesis. The complex body of principles that explain evolutionary change is a theory in the same sense as“quantum theory” in physics or “atomic theory” in chemistry: it has been developed from evidence, tested, and refined, and it accounts for literally thousands of observations made throughout the entirety of biological science and paleontology.

Like all scientific theories, the theory of evolution is a current best explanation. It has withstood innumerable tests and attempts to disprove it, but it is still being refined, modified in the light of new knowledge, and extended to account for newly discovered phenomena. The theory of genetics has had such a history, progressing from Mendel’s simple early principles to the complex body of molecular principles that constitute today’s theory of inheritance, and it is constantly being refined and modified, even though its core principles have remained valid for a century. So it is with the theory of evolution.

Is evolution also a fact? All but the most trivial facts begin as untested hypotheses—such as the hypothesis that the earth revolves around the sun. They acquire “facthood” as more and more evidences accrue in their favor, and as they withstand attempts to refute them. The evidence and attempt at refutation may take many forms besides simple observations; indeed, the most powerful evidence is not mere observations, but conformity to predictions that the hypothesis makes about what we should see if the hypothesis is true or false. We do not observe the earth making a circuit around the sun; we accept this hypothesis because of the numerous, verified astronomical observations—and more recently observations from spacecraft—that conform to the predictions of the hypothesis. So Copernicus’s hypothesis is now a fact—a statement supported by so much evidence that we use it as if it were true.

Biologists accept as fact that all organisms, living and extinct, have descended, with innumerable changes, from one or at most a few original forms of life. For Darwin in 1859, this was a hypothesis, for which he provided abundant evidence from comparative anatomy, embryology, behavior, agriculture, paleontology, and the geographic distributions of organisms. Since that time, all of the many thousands of observations in each of these areas have supported Darwin’s core hypothesis. To these observations has been added copious evidence that Darwin could hardly have dreamed of, especially from paleontology and molecular biology. A century’s accumulation of such evidence establishes descent, with modification, from common ancestors as a fact of science. How we explain this fact—what the principles and causes of it may be—is the theory of evolutionary process, parts of which are subject to various amounts of scientific debate, modification, and extension.

To claim evolution as a fact is to confront controversy, for probably no claim in all of science evokes as much emotional opposition as biological evolution. Nonetheless, no scientific hypothesis other than common descent with modification can account for and make predictions about the unity, diversity, and properties of living organisms. No other hypothesis of the origin of biological diversity is supported by such overwhelming evidence, and no competing hypothesis spawns such richness of scientific study and has as many implications for the biological sciences and their applications to societal needs.

1. The chief purpose of the text is to show that the theory of evolution                .

 ［A］ is a highly controversial one

 ［B］ is a well-established one

 ［C］ is the same as the quantum theory in principle

 ［D］ is still to be borne out by more evidence

2. In what way is the theory of genetics similar to that of evolution?

 ［A］ They both start from some simple principles.

 ［B］ They are both about the origin of life on the earth.

 ［C］ They both have a long controversial history.

 ［D］ They are both related to the theory of inheritance.

3. The author’s answer to the question “Is evolution also a fact” is                .

 ［A］ negative                              ［B］ hesitant

 ［C］ affirmative                                      ［D］ obscure

4. At the time it was first proposed by Darwin, the theory of evolution                .

 ［A］ assumed the status of a hypothesis

 ［B］ was supported by abundant biological evidence

 ［C］ was subjected to serious theoretical debates

 ［D］ did not conform to the then biological principles

5. The author is of the opinion that the theory that best explains the unity of all organisms is                .

 ［A］ molecular biology                              ［B］ the theory of genetics

 ［C］ the theory of inheritance                 ［D］ the theory of evolution

答案与题解

1.［B］   意为：是一个公认的理论。

第一段称进化论不是猜想，不是无根据的假设，而是像量子理论和原子理论一样，是一个产生于证据、被验证和提炼、并具有很强解释力的理论。这已经把本文的观点说得很清楚了。

［A］ 意为：是一个非常有争议的理论。

［C］ 意为：在原理上与量子理论相同。本文并没有说二者在原理上是否相同，只提到二者都是科学的理论。

 ［D］ 意为：还需要更多的证据去证明。

2.［A］意为：它们都起始于一些简单的原理。

参阅第二段，尤其是本段第三、四句。

  ［B］ 意为：它们都是有关地球上生命起源的。

  ［C］ 意为：它们长期以来都存在争议。

  ［D］ 意为：它们都与遗传理论相关。

3.［C］意为：肯定的。

实际上第三、四段都是为了回答这个问题，其中在第三段作者还举了哥白尼的例子，用以说明进化现在已经成为被验证过的事实。

［A］ 意为：否定的。

［B］ 意为：犹豫的。

  ［D］ 意为：含糊其辞的。

4.［A］意为：是一种假设。

  参阅第四段第一、二句。

  ［B］ 意为：有丰富的生物学证据的支持。

  ［C］ 意为：遭受到严重的理论置疑。

  ［D］ 意为：与当时的生物学原理不一致。

5.［D］意为：进化论。

   参阅最后一段第二句。

  ［A］ 意为：分子生物学。

  ［B］ 意为：遗传学理论。

  ［C］ 意为：遗传理论。

Notes

1. in the light of:根据。

2. account for:解释。

3. a century’s accumulation of such evidence establishes descent, with modification, from common ancestors as a fact of science. 一个世纪以来积累的这类证据表明：生物虽有变异，但起源于共同的祖先，这是一个科学事实。文中descent原意是出生，血统等意思，这里根据上下文转译为“起源、来源”。

课文参考译文

进化：事实、理论、争论

当生物学家提到进化理论的时候，他们使用“理论”这个字眼，就像整个科学界所使用的那样。理论并不意味着它仅仅是推测，或者是未经证实的假设。解释进化的一批复杂原理是理论，其道理就像物理学中的“量子理论”和化学中的“原子理论”一样：理论是从证据发展而来的，经过了试验和提炼。理论实际上可以解释整个生物科学和古生物学中成千上万的观察情况。

像所有的科学理论一样，进化论是目前最好的解释。进化论经住了无数次试图推翻它的试验和尝试，但是进化论仍在根据新的知识进行提炼和修改，并得到扩展，以解释新发现的现象。遗传学理论就有过这样的历史，从孟德尔的简单早期原理发展到构成今天遗传理论的复杂的分子原理，虽然它的核心原理在一个世纪内仍然有效，它也在不断被提炼和修改。进化论也是如此。

进化也是事实吗？差不多最琐碎的事实在开始时都是未经试验的假设，如地球围绕太阳转的假设。随着有利于假设的证据越积越多，随着那些假设经受住了试图驳倒它们的努力，假设就具有了“事实特征”。除开简单的观察之外，证据和驳斥假设的尝试可能采取许多形式：确实，最有威力的证据不仅仅是观察，而是与这个假设所作的预言一致，这个预言的内容是，如果假设为真或假，我们观测到的事实是怎样的。我们不能观察到地球围绕太阳运行；我们接受这个假设是因为许多业已证实的对天体的观察——最近从宇宙飞船上的观察——是与有关这个假设的预言一致的。所以，哥白尼的假设现在已成为事实——这个说法得到这么多证据的支持，因此我们使用它好像它是真的一样。

生物学家认为，所有活着或灭绝的有机体——尽管有无数的变化——都起源于一个或者至多也只是少数几个原有的生命形式是事实。在1895年对达尔文来说，这是一个假设，他从比较解剖学、胚胎学、行为学、农学和古生物学以及有机体的地理分布角度提供了丰富的证据。自从那时以来，在所有这些领域的每个领域的数万个观察都支持达尔文的核心假设。在这些观察之外又加上了达尔文连做梦都想不到的丰富证据，尤其是来自古生物学和分子生物学的那些证据。一个世纪以来积累的这类证据表明，生物虽有变异，但起源于共同的祖先，这是一个科学事实。我们如何解释这个事实——不管其原理和产生的原因如何——就是进化过程的理论，这个理论的一些部分都要经过各种科学辩论、修改和扩展。

断言进化过程是一个事实就会招致争议，因为在科学领域内，也许没有任何论断像生物进化那样会招致如此多情感上的抵制。虽然如此，除了生物虽然有变异但有共同的起源这一科学假设以外，还没有其他的假设能解释生物体的一致性、多样性和诸多特征，并对它们做出预测；没有其他有关生物多样性起源的假设得到如此雄辩的证据的支持；没有其他假设促进了如此丰富的科学研究的产生，对生物科学及其在满足社会需要上的应用具有如此多的意义。

练习