5.The Galapagos Islands
5.加拉帕戈斯群岛
Everyone who's taken a high school biology class knows about Charles Darwin and how he was inspired to devise his theory of evolution while studying the wildlife of these secluded islands. Nearly 9,000 species, many of which can be found nowhere else in the entire world, call these islands home. However, the wildlife that makes the Galapagos so unique is being seriously threatened.
任何一个上过高中生物课的人想必都知道达尔文的大名，以及他是如何经过启发，在这些僻静的岛屿上设计出他的研究实验并由此创作了他的巨作《进化论》。这座岛是近9000种生物生活的家园，其中很多物种在全世界的其它地方都找不到。然而现在，这些让加拉帕戈斯独具魅力的野生动物群的生存空间正受到严重的威胁。

As the number of immigrant workers and tourists has increased, the latter by more than 12 percent every year, so does the number of invasive species. Goats and pigs eat the food that the native species need to survive, and predators such as rats make off with the young and the weak. For thousands of years, there were no predators at all on the islands, and evolution works too slowly for many of these unique animals to hope to catch up in time.
由于外籍劳工和游客数量逐渐增加，尤其是后者以每年超过12％的速率增长，除此之外还有大量的入侵物种来袭。山羊和猪吃掉了本地物种赖以生存的食物，而像老鼠这样的捕食者则消灭掉了它们当中的老弱病残。千百年来，这些岛上的生物没有天敌，以致于它们进化得太慢,很容易被外来入侵物种捕食。

4.The Chersonesos Archaeological Site
4.切索尼斯考古遗址

Though it is located in modern-day Ukraine, southwest of the Crimean Peninsula, Chersoneos is actually an ancient Greek site, founded between 300 and 200 B.C. However, much like Ukraine currently, it was not a peaceful site. Though it was one of the few relatively democratic societies at the time, historical records have shown that this city-state was constantly at war against the Scythian people and the Roman Empire. It eventually lost its independence to the latter.
切索尼斯城于公元前300年至公元前200年之间被发现，虽然它坐落在现代乌克兰克里米亚半岛的西南部，但切索尼斯实际上是一座古希腊的旧城池。然而，就像当前的乌克兰一样，它曾经也并不是一个太平的地方。尽管在同时期，切索尼斯算是几个比较民主的社会之一，但据历史记载，这个城邦一直不断遭受着斯基泰人和罗马帝国之间的战争洗礼，最终落入了罗马人的手中。
In the fifth century, most of the Greek buildings and temples were destroyed as Christianity became the dominant religion. However, even becoming part of the Byzantine Empire was not enough to save the society, as nomadic tribes raided and burned it around eight centuries later.The Soviet Union discovered the site when they annexed Crimea in the 1800s. It was rigidly protected and reconstructed, becoming one of the most important sites for Russian historians and archaeologists to study. Today, it is under attack by both natural and man-made forces, as coastal erosion, pollution, and urban encroachment threaten its destruction.
在公元5世纪，大部分的希腊建筑和庙宇都由于基督教成为主流教派而被摧毁。然而，即使是辉煌的拜占庭帝国也没能拯救它，大约800年之后，它被游牧部落袭击烧毁。前苏联地盘的统治政府在1800年吞并克里米亚地区时发现了这座古城遗址。它现在受到了严格保护，政府也组织过重建，目前它已经成为俄罗斯历史学家和考古学家最重要的研究点之一。不过现在，它正饱受着大自然的销蚀和人为力量的摧残，比如海岸侵蚀，人类污染和城市化蚕食。

3.Intramuros
3.市中市

The name of this district of Manilla, which is the second largest city in the Philippines, means "within the walls." It's a very appropriate moniker, considering that it has been guarded by the same walls since they were built in the 16th century despite the horrific damage and destruction they have endured. It was the original capital of the city, when the Spanish Empire still owned the territory.
市中市，即菲律宾的第二大城市马尼拉其中一个区的名字，喻意"围墙之城"。尽管它在历史上曾经饱受战火的侵袭，但考虑到从16世纪开始它就被同样的城墙围了起来，这无疑是一个非常合适的名字。早在西班牙帝国对它殖民统治的时期，它便是这个城邦的首都。
During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines. Manilla was hit especially hard, and several historical buildings within Intramuros—such as the Santo Domingo Church and the original University of Santo Tomas—were ravaged. However, the real destruction occurred when America fought to take back the city from Japan. After this attack, only 5 percent of the original structures were left standing, and 40 percent of the walls had turned to rubble.In 1951, Intramuros was declared a historic monument. Slow progress has been made toward its restoration, including the return of its five original gates to their former glory. However, these ancient walls cannot keep out the modern world. Several franchises of Starbucks and McDonald's have been erected around the ancient city, and the moats surrounding it have been converted into golf courses. Historians tremble at what will come next.
二战期间，日本侵略军入侵了菲律宾。马尼拉市中市区毁坏尤为严重，像圣多明各教堂和原圣托马斯大学这样的一些历史建筑都遭到践踏。然而，当美国重新从日本手中夺回这座城市时，它才遭到了真正毁灭性的破坏。这次攻打之后，原先的建筑只有5%保留了下来，40％的墙壁完全变成废墟。1951年，市中市正式被列为历史古迹。重建工作缓慢地进行着，其中包括5扇曾经风光无限的大城门的修复。不幸的是，这些古老的城墙根本阻挡不了现代世界发展的大潮。星巴克和麦当劳等一些商家已经拿到了古城附近的经营权，环绕的护城河也已被修成了高尔夫球场。历史学家们很担心，也许这座古城不久后就会彻底消失。

2.Hisham's Palace
2.希沙姆宫

Hisham's Palace was buried underneath the sand in A.D. 747 and remained there until Palestinian archeologist D.C. Baramki began excavating it in 1934. Sadly, historians fear that the site might not be around in as few as 100 years.
公元747年，希沙姆宫被埋葬在沙尘之下，直到巴勒斯坦考古学家D.C. Baramki于1934年开始对它进行挖掘工作它才得以重见天日，不幸的是，历史学家们表示担心，100年之内这个古迹可能就会消失了。
Intriguingly, no one is quite sure what Hisham's Palace is supposed to be. When it vanished from sight, it also seemed to vanish from any historical text. The only hint archaeologists have found is a chunk of pottery bearing the name "Hisham." Baramki's colleague, Robert W. Hamilton, has argued that this is proof that the palace belonged to the heir of the caliph, Al-Walid II. All we really know for sure is that it was definitely built in the early eighth century and destroyed by a massive earthquake.Tragically, we might never know the palace's secrets. It's threatened by the massive expansion from the neighboring, modern Jericho as well as extremely vulnerable to the natural elements after being buried under the sand for so long. The sand appears to be seeking to claim it yet again.
有趣的是，没有一个明确的证据表明希沙姆宫到底是什么样的。当它从人们的视线中消失的时候，似乎也从历史文本里被抹杀掉了。唯一的线索可能就是考古学家发现的印有"希沙姆"字样的陶器。Baramki的同事Robert W. Hamilton解释说，宫殿应该属于哈里发瓦利德二世的继承人。我们真正能肯定的是，它建于8世纪初而毁于一次大地震。不过，我们可能永远不会知道王宫中的秘密了。它面对的主要威胁来自于邻国的军事扩张——杰里科（译者注：以色列最早于1977年开始生产两级杰里科-2弹道导弹），而且它已经被掩埋在沙土下这么长时间，更是极易受到自然因素的破坏。沙尘似乎向世人宣告着，这座古城终究会回归尘土。

1.Lamu, Kenya
1.肯尼亚拉姆岛

This city has been a World Heritage Site since 2001, but it has been around since the 14th century. Lamu was one of the original Swahili settlements, founded on the east coast of Africa, and it's still inhabited to this day. During its golden age, Lamu was one of the biggest cities around, a scholastic center of arts, politics, and literature. The city later became an important strategic location for both Germany and Britian, and it only gained its independence along with Kenya in the 1960s.
这个城市在2001年入选世界遗产目录，但其实它在14世纪时就已经存在了。拉姆原来是斯瓦希里人的定居点，位于非洲东海岸，现今他们仍居住在这个地方。在它的黄金时代，拉穆是最宏大的城市之一，一个集艺术，政治和文学于一身的学术中心。这个城市后来成为德国和英国两国争夺的一个重要战略位置，直到20世纪60年代才随着肯尼亚独立而脱离其殖民国的统治。
Although Lamu has been a bustling town filled with people for many centuries, people nowadays are doing their best to avoid or leave it. In 2011, travel to Lamu was banned due to several kidnappings carried out by the terrorist group Al Shaabab, who claims vengeance for stolen Muslim lands as its motive for the kidnappings as well as several brutal assaults on the city just this year that have left many dead. The terrorist attacks make it all but impossible to preserve historical sites such as Lamu Fort.
虽然许多世纪以来拉姆一直是一个繁华热闹的城镇，但现在，人们都想尽办法远离它。 2011年，由于恐怖组织Al Shaabab带来的影响，人们被禁止进入拉姆，恐怖分子声称要报复夺走穆斯林土地的人，对城市发动了疯狂的袭击并造成大量的人员伤亡。恐怖袭击事件使得像拉穆堡这样的遗迹不可能再得到很好的保存。

翻译:李洋 来源：前十网