Lesson 26 The past life of the earth地球上的昔日生命

It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.

It is（强调句） animals and plants which lived in or near water（which...定语从句） whose（强调句，强调属格） remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial（for... 原因状语从句）, and（大并列）it is（强调句） only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited（where... 非限定性定语从句）, that（强调句，强调状语） bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.

知识点（1）

语法：强调句；强调属格（特殊句型）

it is / was … whose …

※ 不强调：

※ The remains of animals and plants which lived in or near water are most likely to be preserved.

※ 强调：animals and plants

※ It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved

※ I lost uncle Bill’s address

※ It was uncle Bill whose address I lost. 

知识点（2）

remains n. 含义1. [pl.]  残余物，遗址，废墟

※ The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the fifteenth century B.C.

※ In his mouth were the remains of fir trees ― the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back.

remains n. 含义2. [pl.] [fml.] 尸体，遗骸

※ His mortal remains are buried in the churchyard.

知识点（3）

be likely / unlikely to do sth. 可能…

※ This is a pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause, and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to be associated with bad science.

※ As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans.

※ It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance to this disease, so that the rabbit population was unlikely to be completely exterminated.

知识点（4）【课文仿写】  前半段

※ 造句：住在叙利亚 (Syria) 及附近的难民的申请最有可能获得批准。

※ It is refugees who live in or near Syria whose applications are most likely to be approved.

知识点（5）

写作：书面语正式表达；使用名词

… for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, …

※ 不地道表达：

※ for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is that they are quickly buried, …（1. 比较啰嗦；2.不符合书面语的语言特征）

※ 警察及时到来阻止了局面进一步恶化。

※ The timely arrival of the police prevented the situation from becoming worse.

※ 他在他妻子不知道的情况下卖掉了房子。

※ He sold the house without his wife's knowledge.

知识点（6）

silt n. 英文解释：sand, mud, etc carried by flowing water and left at the mouth of a river, in a harbour, etc. 淤泥

知识点（7）Lesson03-18、42、49、54、57

【辨析】

continually               adv. 不断地；频繁地；（含贬义，不希望发生的事总是发生）

continuously           adv. 连续不断地 （强调一刻不停，一直持续下去的）

※ He is continually being late.

※ He is continually asking me for money.

※ They're continually arguing.

※ Everything around him was full of her presence, continually reopening the wound.

※ He has lived and worked in France almost continuously since 1961. 

※ These lights flickered continuously like traffic lights which have gone mad.

※ Almost immediately he began to complain about the weather, for even though it was still summer, it rained continually and it was often bitterly cold.

be continually / always doing 老做某事（03-Lesson2） 

知识点（8）

deposit v. 英文解释：to leave a layer of a substance on the surface of something, especially gradually 沉积

※ layers of sediment that were deposited on the ocean floor

知识点（9）

and the like / and such like: and similar things 等等 ， 诸如此类 

※ Soldiers, policemen, and the like were all called in to help with the emergency.

= and what not [infml.]

※ tools, machines and what not 

= and so on

= and so forth 

= etc. (et cetera)

But even in the most favourable circumstances only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way before decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them.

But even in the most favourable circumstances（方面状语） only a small fraction of the creatures that die（定语从句） are preserved in this way before decay sets in（时间状语从句） or, even more likely（插入语）, before scavengers eat them（时间状语从句）.

知识点（1）

circumstances n. 条件；环境；状况

※ favourable circumstances  有利的条件

※ adverse / unfavorable circumstances  不利的条件

※ exceptional / special / unusual circumstances  例外的条件

※ unavoidable / unforeseen circumstances  无法避免的情况

※ economic / financial / political / social circumstances …状况

in / under … circumstances  在…的情况下

due to … circumstances 由于…情况

※ It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of and anima s survive, …

※ A man without an education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim of adverse circumstances, deprived of one of the greatest twentieth-century opportunities.

※ Under no circumstances should you leave the door unlocked. 

知识点（2）

fraction: a small amount of sth. …的一小部分

a fraction of … ……的一小部分

a small / tiny / mere fraction of …

※ His shares are now worth a fraction of their former value. 

※ We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders. 

※ A mere fraction of available wind energy is currently utilized.

※ Only a small fraction of a bank's total deposits will be withdrawn at any one time.

※ Although sexual and violent crimes have increased by 10%, they remain only a tiny fraction of the total number of crimes committed each year.  

【近义词】【辨析】

proportion / percentage 一部分

a high / large proportion / percentage of … 一大部分

a small / tiny proportion / percentage of … 一小部分

※ Lesson03-56

※ We are lucky in that only the lower fields, which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are effected by flooding, …

知识点（3）

set in 英文解释：if sth. sets in, especially sth. unpleasant, it begins and seems likely to continue for a long time （不愉快的事物）开始并可能继续下去

※ Further economic decline set in during the 1930s.

※ Despair seems to have set in among the England team.

After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.

After all（毕竟）, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive（whether... 引导让步状语从句）, and（大并列）it is（强调句） only by chance that（强调句，强调状语） such a fate is avoided.

知识点（1）Lesson03-27

live by doing live by means of doing sth.靠某种职业为生

※ He lives by writing.

※ He lives by sewing.

※ The nomads who made these markings lived by hunting and fishing during the last Ice Age which began about 35,000 B.C. and ended about 10,000 B.C.

【辨析】

live sth. live according to … 按照……生活

※ I have always tried to live by my faith.

※ We still do; living in a world in which undeclared aggression, war, hypocrisy, chicanery, anarchy and impending immolation are part of our daily lives, we all want a code to live by.

【近义词组】

live on sth. 靠某种食物或生活来源为生（指人）

※ He lives on meat and milk.

※ He lives on salary.

※ He lives on his parents. 啃老

feed on sth. 动物以……为主食

※ Cows feed on hay.

※ It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles—or locate flying insects on which they feed.

prey on sth. 肉食性动物以别的动物为食

※ Owls prey on mice.

知识点（2）Lesson04-18

语法：让步状语从句中，be型虚拟

※ Whether it be bird, fish or beast, the porpoise is intrigued with anything that is alive.

※ Though he be the President himself, he shall listen to us.

【复习】Lesson03-26

语法：强调句；让步状语从句中，把被强调的词放到句首；书面语

※ After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, be it plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.

※ Be it bird, fish or beast, the porpoise is intrigued with anything that is alive.

※ Be he the President himself, he shall listen to us.

※ Gre写作范文：

※ Once the educators, be they administrators or teachers, are under the control of students, even a democratic situation would be like holding royalty accountable to the mob.

知识点（3）

【近义词组】表达“随便地、意外地、偶然地”：做状语

by chance

on purpose

be accident

intentionally

accidentally

deliberately

The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over.

The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over（for... 原因状语从句）.

知识点（1）

cover sth. ⇔ over  英文解释：to put sth. on top of sth. else so that it is completely hidden

※ The female lays a single egg and covers it over.

When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about, not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see, it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads. 

When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about（that ...定语从句）, not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see（which...定语从句）（when... 时间状语从句）, it（形式主语）is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads. （that...主语从句）

知识点（1）

【近义词组】表达“无数的，数不清的”：

innumerable

numerous 

countless

a host of …

a mass of … 

a great man …

a large number of …

知识点（2）

let alone … 更不用说…（可接各种词性）（用于否定句）

not to mention …（只能接名词或宾语从句）（用于肯定句）

※ The baby can’t talk, let alone run.

※ He can’t run a hundred yards, let alone a mile.

※ I don’t suspect him of theft, let alone of robbery. 

※ They own two houses, not to mention a yacht.

※ The dampness is unpleasant, not to mention the cold.

※ Similarly, our own present primitive chemical rockets, though good enough to orbit men, have no chance of transporting us to the nearest other star, four light years away, let alone distances of tens or hundreds of light years.

※ Gre写作范文：    

※ In short, without better evidence that the survey is statistically reliable the chairperson cannot rely on it to draw any firm conclusion about the overall recycling commitment of West Egg residents（介词短语）—let alone about how quickly the landfill will reach capacity（介词短语）. 

※ Moreover, the author has not shown any correlation（名词）, let alone a cause-and-effect relationship（名词）, between the number of hours a person spends watching television and that industry's profits.

※ Without ruling out all other possible explanations for the grade-average increase, the dean cannot convince me that by terminating the evaluation procedure Omega would curb its perceived grade inflation（动词）, let alone help its graduates get jobs（动词）.

※ In short, without ruling out other possible reasons for the strong sales the vice president cannot convince me that Plainsville residents are exercising regularly（宾语从句）, let alone that they would be interested in buying the sorts of food and other products that NW sells（宾语从句）.

【扩展】

much less / still less = let alone 更不用说…（可接各种词性）（用于否定句）

※ Tony can barely boil an egg, much less cook dinner. 

※ I've never seen the man, much less spoken to him.

※ No living person seemed to notice him, still less to like him.

to say nothing of = not to mention （只能接名词或宾语从句）（用于肯定句）

※ It would be an enormous amount of work, to say nothing of the cost. 

※ We will need more time, to say nothing of money.

知识点（3）

come across = encounter v. 英文解释：If you come across sth. or sb., you find them or meet them by chance. 偶遇，邂逅

※ I came across a group of children playing.

知识点（4）Lesson03-10、Lesson03-11
语法：副词和介词短语都可以作介词的宾语

※ Staff are not permitted to make personal phone calls except in an emergency.

※ The weather has been fine except in the north.

※ The store is open every day from 9:00 to 5:00, except on Sundays.

They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather or eaten by some other creature.

They decompose（并列谓语1） and are（并列谓语2） quickly destroyed by the weather（方式状语） or eaten（并列谓语3） by some other creature（方式状语）.

It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator.

It is（强调句，被强调部分看作原因状语） almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is

sometimes preserved, (as in a refrigerator 方式状语从句) （when... 时间状语从句） （like… 介词短语做状语）. （as... 方式状语从句）

知识点（1）

课文补全：状语从句的省略

※ It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as (traces of land animals survive) by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as (the whole animal is preserved) in a refrigerator.

Lesson04-18

※ On the occasions when they have pushed to shore an unconscious human being they have much more likely done it out of curiosity or for sport, as (they have done it out of curiosity or for sport) in riding the bow waves of a ship.

知识点（2）

crevasse n. 英文解释：deep open crack in the ice of a glacier （冰川的）裂缝

mammoth n. 英文解释：an animal similar to an elephant with long hair that lived a very long time ago 猛犸象

This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved and in good condition.

This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved（主语补足语） and in good condition（主语补足语）（which...定语从句）. （what… 表语从句）

In his mouth were the remains of fir trees -- the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back.

In his mouth were the remains of fir trees （全部倒装）― the last meal （同位语）that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back（时间状语从句）. （that ...定语从句）

正常语序：

The remains of fir trees ― the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back ― were in his mouth.

知识点（1）Lesson03-10、03-17、03-56 全部倒装

在主语较长时，常使用 表语 + 系动词 + 主语 的倒装结构。

※ On the floor were piles of books, magazines and newspapers. 

※ Happy is he who has a sound mind in a sound body.

※ Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay.

The mammoth has now been restored in the Palaeontological Museum in St. Petersburg. 

The mammoth has now been restored in the Paleontological（地点状语） Museum in St. Petersburg（地点状语）.

Other animals were trapped in tar pits, like the elephants, sabre-toothed cats, and numerous other creatures that are found at Rancho la Brea, which is now just a suburb of Los Angeles.

Other animals were trapped in tar pits, like the elephants, sabre-toothed cats, and numerous other creatures（like… 介词短语做状语） that are found at Rancho la Brea, which is now just a suburb of Los Angeles（which... 非限定性定语从句）. （that ...定语从句）

知识点（1）

trap v. 英文解释： to prevent sb. from leaving a place, especially a dangerous place使困在某处

※ Twenty miners were trapped underground.

※ Dozens of people were trapped in the rubble when the building collapsed. 

※ There's no way out! We're trapped!

※ After chipping through a wall which was eighteen inches thick, they found that a man had been trapped in the chimney.

知识点（2）

tar n. 英文解释： thick black sticky liquid, hard when cold, obtained from coal, etc. and used in making roads, to preserve timber, etc 焦油，沥青

pit n. 英文解释： a large deep hole in the ground 地表的大坑

tar pit n. 英文解释：an accumulation of natura tar at the earth’s  surface, especial one that acts as a trap for animals and preserves their bones 沥青坑：地表中天然沥青的集聚场所，尤指使动物不慎陷入其中并保存了它们的骨骼的天然沥青聚集点

知识点（3）知识扩展：剑齿虎

saber-toothed cat / sabre-toothed cat (42 million years ago ~ 11,000 years ago)

A saber-toothed cat, also called saber-toothed tiger, is any member of various extinct groups of predatory mammals that were characterized by long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth. The large maxillary canine teeth extended from the mouth even when it was closed.

Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits and the bigger animals like the elephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar.

Apparently what happened（主语从句） was that water collected on these tar pits, and the bigger animals like the elephants（后置定语） ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar. （that… 表语从句）

知识点（1）

collect v. 英文解释：if a substance collects somewhere, it gradually goes there（ 物

体）聚集

※ Rain collected in pools on the road. 

※ Dust had collected on the window-sill.

知识点（2）

bog n. 英文解释：(area of) wet spongy ground formed of decaying vegetation 沼泽

bog v. 英文解释：to make sth. sink into mud or wet ground（使某物）陷入泥沼

※ The tank got bogged down in mud.

And then, when they were dead, the carnivores, like the sabretoothed cats and the giant wolves, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.

And then, when they were dead（时间状语从句）, the carnivores, like the sabre-toothed cats and the giant wolves（插入语）, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.

知识点（1）知识扩展：恐狼

giant wolf / dire wolf n. a large wolf-like mammal that inhabited North America during the Pleistocene epoch (2,000,000 years ago ~10,000 years ago) 恐狼

知识点（2）

suffer a … fate 遭遇了……命运

※ The refugees have suffered an appalling fate.

※ The Casino, where she had often danced, had suffered a similar fate.

※ The disciples were terrified that they would suffer the same fate as Jesus. 

There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well.

There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar（后置定语） as well.