听力文本

East London in South Africa.
这里是南非的东伦敦
63 years ago, just before Christmas,
63年前，就在圣诞节前夕
the curator of the local museum was idly sifting through a fisherman's catch down on the waterfront.
当地博物馆的馆长正漫不经心地挑选着渔民们从海滨捕来的东西
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was then just 31 years old.
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer当时才31岁
22nd December 1938 was a wonderful day.
1938年12月22日是一个美妙的日子
I came upon this most beautiful fish. It was just on, just on 5ft.
我无意之中得到了这条最漂亮的鱼，它有5英尺长

It was silver and gold and green and blue and had white kind of flecks on it
体色是金、银、蓝、绿错杂，还有白色的斑点
and to my horror it had these slim-like fins
我感到震惊的是它竟然长着瘦长的鳍
and I thought to myself what on earth can this be, I've never seen a fish like this.
我在想地球上怎么会有这样的动物，我从没看到过这样的鱼
She rushed the fish off to have it preserved. Then she asked Dr. J.L.B. Smith, a South African academic, to identify it.
她赶紧把鱼带回去保存起来，然后邀请J.L.B. Smith博士，一位南非学者，对它进行鉴定
He stood at the head of the table and he said, "Well lass," he said,
他站在桌子一头说：“啊，小姑娘”
"this fish will be on the lips of every scientist in the world. It's a coelacanth."
“这条鱼将成为全世界科学家谈论的焦点，它是一条腔棘鱼”
Coelacanths were a breed of Devonian lobe-finned fish that were thought to have been extinct for over 76 million years.
腔棘鱼是泥盆纪肉鳍鱼的一种，人们以为它早在7600万年前就已灭绝
It was absolutely fantastic because it was... it's living
这实在太奇怪了，因为它还活着
and it, it's exactly like having found a live dinosaur or a live archaeopteryx.
这种兴奋的感觉好比找到了一只活的恐龙或是一只活的始祖鸟。

词汇解析

1.sift through 筛选
Due to the vast amounts of data stored, technology is needed to sift through it, make sense of it, and draw conclusions from it.
由于储存数据量非常巨大，因此需要通过技术手段从中筛选出有意义的数据并得出结论。

2.come upon 邂逅；碰到
When they come upon someone who can command their own silence, they understand, "This person is serious."
如果他们碰到的演讲者能让他们沉默，就会明白，“这个人是认真的。”

3.just on 将近，差不多
Eve, squinting at the clock, saw it was just on 7 a.m.
伊夫眯着眼瞥了一下钟，看到差不多是早上7点钟。

4.to one's horror 使某人恐惧、惊讶的是
Nevertheless, I was still measured and, to my horror, exceeded the limit.
尽管如此，我还是接受了检测。结果吓了我一大跳，我居然超标了。

视频及简介

19世纪，英国生物学家赫胥黎在研究了尼安德特人的头骨以后，认为是一个具有猿脸的头骨，但决不是人与猿之间的中间缺环。这就告诉我们，人与猿之间的亲缘关系，似乎还应该有一环。1891年发现直立猿人（爪哇猿人）的骨胳，证明这个缺环确实是存在的。可是，日本的人类学家认为爪哇猿人尚不是真正的中间缺环。那么，在猿与人之间到底应该是什么样的一环呢？在埃塞俄比亚发现的早期人科动物化石，很可能是过渡物种。这一发现，弥补了原始人类进化中的一个“缺环”。