萬物簡(jiǎn)史History of Geology）
Because the British were the most active in the early years, British names are predominant in the geological lexicon. Devonian is of course from the English county of Devon. Cambrian comes from the Roman name for Wales, while Ordovician and Silurian recall ancient Welsh tribes, the Ordovices and Silures. But with the rise of geological prospecting elsewhere, names began to creep in from all over. Jurassic refers to the Jura Mountains on the border of France and Switzerland. Permian recalls the former Russian province of Perm in the Ural Mountains. For Cretaceous(from the Latin for chalk) we are indebted to a Belgian geologist with the perky name of J. J. d Omalius d Halloy.
在這門學(xué)科的早期，英國人是最活躍的，因此在地質(zhì)詞語中英國的名稱占了絕大部分。泥盆系(即德文系)當(dāng)然源自英格蘭的德文郡。寒武紀(jì)來自羅馬人對(duì)威爾士的叫法，而奧陶紀(jì)和志留紀(jì)使人想起了古代的威爾士人部落：奧陶人和志留人。但是，隨著地質(zhì)學(xué)后來在其他地方的崛起，世界各地的名稱漸漸出現(xiàn)。侏羅紀(jì)跟法國和瑞士交界處的侏羅山有關(guān)。二疊紀(jì)使人想起俄羅斯烏拉爾山脈里的彼爾姆，而白堊紀(jì)(源自拉丁文白堊)是由一位比利時(shí)地質(zhì)學(xué)家命名的，他自己也有個(gè)漂亮的名字，叫做J.J.德奧馬利馬斯·德霍洛伊。
Originally, geological history was divided into four spans of time: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The system was too neat to last, and soon geologists were contributing additional divisions while eliminating others. Primary and secondary fell out of use altogether, while quaternary was discarded by some but kept by others. Today only tertiary remains as a common designation everywhere, even though it no longer represents a third period of anything.
原先，地質(zhì)史分為4個(gè)時(shí)期：第一紀(jì)、第二紀(jì)、第三紀(jì)和第四紀(jì)。這個(gè)體系過于簡(jiǎn)單，因此壽命不太長(zhǎng)。地質(zhì)學(xué)家很快就用新的劃分方法來替代這種劃分方法。第一紀(jì)和第二紀(jì)已經(jīng)完全不用，第四紀(jì)有的人已經(jīng)不用，但有的人仍然在用。今天，只有第三紀(jì)還在廣泛使用，雖然已經(jīng)不代表第三紀(jì)任何東西。
講解:
托福閱讀中，地質(zhì)類是比較?？嫉念悇e，在地質(zhì)類中，有一個(gè)讓同學(xué)們比較頭疼的問題：地質(zhì)年代術(shù)語， 本文就一些比較常見的地質(zhì)年代名稱及其名稱由來展開討論，讓大家對(duì)這些讓人頭疼的名字有一個(gè)來源上的認(rèn)識(shí)，作者Bill Bryson是美國籍的一位暢銷書作家，他閱歷豐富，思維方式獨(dú)特，文字幽默，風(fēng)格生動(dòng)，本文選自《萬物簡(jiǎn)史》(A Short History of Nearly Everything)，同學(xué)們?cè)诹私獾刭|(zhì)學(xué)背景的同時(shí)可以附帶欣賞本文的文字的獨(dú)特魅力。
Because the British were the most active in the early years, British names are predominant in the geological lexicon. Devonian is of course from the English county of Devon. Cambrian comes from the Roman name for Wales, while Ordovician and Silurian recall ancient Welsh tribes, the Ordovices and Silures. But with the rise of geological prospecting elsewhere, names began to creep in from all over. Jurassic refers to the Jura Mountains on the border of France and Switzerland. Permian recalls the former Russian province of Perm in the Ural Mountains. For Cretaceous(from the Latin for chalk) we are indebted to a Belgian geologist with the perky name of J. J. d Omalius d Halloy.
在這門學(xué)科的早期，英國人是最活躍的，因此在地質(zhì)詞語中英國的名稱占了絕大部分。泥盆系(即德文系)當(dāng)然源自英格蘭的德文郡。寒武紀(jì)來自羅馬人對(duì)威爾士的叫法，而奧陶紀(jì)和志留紀(jì)使人想起了古代的威爾士人部落：奧陶人和志留人。但是，隨著地質(zhì)學(xué)后來在其他地方的崛起，世界各地的名稱漸漸出現(xiàn)。侏羅紀(jì)跟法國和瑞士交界處的侏羅山有關(guān)。二疊紀(jì)使人想起俄羅斯烏拉爾山脈里的彼爾姆，而白堊紀(jì)(源自拉丁文白堊)是由一位比利時(shí)地質(zhì)學(xué)家命名的，他自己也有個(gè)漂亮的名字，叫做J.J.德奧馬利馬斯·德霍洛伊。
Originally, geological history was divided into four spans of time: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. The system was too neat to last, and soon geologists were contributing additional divisions while eliminating others. Primary and secondary fell out of use altogether, while quaternary was discarded by some but kept by others. Today only tertiary remains as a common designation everywhere, even though it no longer represents a third period of anything.
原先，地質(zhì)史分為4個(gè)時(shí)期：第一紀(jì)、第二紀(jì)、第三紀(jì)和第四紀(jì)。這個(gè)體系過于簡(jiǎn)單，因此壽命不太長(zhǎng)。地質(zhì)學(xué)家很快就用新的劃分方法來替代這種劃分方法。第一紀(jì)和第二紀(jì)已經(jīng)完全不用，第四紀(jì)有的人已經(jīng)不用，但有的人仍然在用。今天，只有第三紀(jì)還在廣泛使用，雖然已經(jīng)不代表第三紀(jì)任何東西。
講解:
托福閱讀中，地質(zhì)類是比較?？嫉念悇e，在地質(zhì)類中，有一個(gè)讓同學(xué)們比較頭疼的問題：地質(zhì)年代術(shù)語， 本文就一些比較常見的地質(zhì)年代名稱及其名稱由來展開討論，讓大家對(duì)這些讓人頭疼的名字有一個(gè)來源上的認(rèn)識(shí)，作者Bill Bryson是美國籍的一位暢銷書作家，他閱歷豐富，思維方式獨(dú)特，文字幽默，風(fēng)格生動(dòng)，本文選自《萬物簡(jiǎn)史》(A Short History of Nearly Everything)，同學(xué)們?cè)诹私獾刭|(zhì)學(xué)背景的同時(shí)可以附帶欣賞本文的文字的獨(dú)特魅力。