評(píng)論
打印
144 Calamities may befall the world
第144課 災(zāi)難即將降臨于世界
The mighty mammoth once was the largest mammal of them all, a sight of magnificence,
巨大的猛犸象曾經(jīng)是最大的哺乳動(dòng)物，
if not to say majesty, as it strolled across the primordial of landscape.
它在原始的土地上大步行走時(shí)看上去十分地壯觀（如果不用威嚴(yán)來形容的話）。
But where have they gone, those mighty beasts?
但是，這些巨大的動(dòng)物去哪兒了呢？
One theory is that some malign organism caused that majestic mammoth demise.
有一種理論認(rèn)為某些有害的生物體造成了這種威嚴(yán)的哺乳動(dòng)物的死亡。
Another is that there was some serious flaw in the mammoth's genetic makeup,
另外一種理論認(rèn)為猛犸象的遺傳結(jié)構(gòu)有嚴(yán)重缺陷，
leading to a gradual decrease in fertility rates.
從而導(dǎo)致繁殖量逐漸減少。
Yet another is that a medial of large magnitude struck earth.
還有一種觀點(diǎn)認(rèn) 為是一顆體積龐大的流星擊中了地球。
The resulting dust cloud hit the planet in darkness lasting for many years.
帶來的塵霧使整個(gè)星球籠罩于黑暗之中，這種現(xiàn)象持續(xù)了很多年，
This magnified devastation by leading to a major decline in the yield of wild maze, their major source of protein.
這使得野生玉米的產(chǎn)量嚴(yán)重下降，玉米是它們蛋白質(zhì)的主要來源，從而加劇了猛犸象的滅亡。
If that be so, the beasts would have gradually and painfully died of malnutrition.
如果真的是那樣，這些動(dòng)物肯定是由于營養(yǎng)不良而逐漸痛苦地死去的。
Natural calamities such as medial strikes luckily are rare occurrences.
令人慶幸的是，諸如流星撞擊之類的自然災(zāi)害極其偶然。
Much more frequent are malicious attacks by the arranged people who, for some reason or other, have become seriously malcontent,
更為頻繁的是一些發(fā)狂的、帶著嚴(yán)重不滿的情緒的人因?yàn)檫@樣或那樣的原因而進(jìn)行的惡意的攻擊。
in days of old a simple tool such as a mallet would often be those maniacs' means of attack.
在古老的年代，像槌棒這樣簡單的工具都可以成為那些瘋子進(jìn)攻的工具。
With increasing scientific and technological progress alas,
隨著科技的進(jìn)步，天哪！
they increasingly went their malevolent intent by the release of poisonous gas or organisms,
他們越來越多地利用毒氣或者生物武器來發(fā)泄他們的惡意，
resulting in serious malady or even death for many, in some crowded mall or station concourse,
從而在一些擁擠的購物商場或車站大廳造成了很多人得嚴(yán)重的疾病甚至死亡。
what could be the causes for such acts of malice? One wonders.
這種惡意攻擊的原因是什么呢？人們想知道答案。
Mercifully, those criminals spent most of their energy and ideological in doctrination,
幸運(yùn)的是，罪犯們將大量的心血花在意識(shí)形態(tài)的教化上，
leaving insufficient time for the maintenance of their equipment.
留下少量時(shí)間去保養(yǎng)他們的裝備。
Cases of malfunction are therefore fairly common, causing the attackers designed to be thwarted.
因此，故障很常見，導(dǎo)致罪犯的計(jì)劃受到挫折。
