Разговорные слова и выражения
apology дословно
извинение
a very bad example of something
This is just an apology for a letter.
- Это не письмо, а какое-то жалкое подобие.
apoplectic апоплексический
violently excited and angry, and often having a red face
He gets apoplectic if he's contradicted.
- Когда ему противоречат, кажется, что его вот-вот хватит удар.
appaling ужасный, ужасающий
very bad
appaling food - ужасная/отвратительная
еда.
apron strings дословно
завязки фартука
the strings of an apron regarded as a sign of the control of
a boy or a man by his mother or wife
He's tied to his wife's apron strings
- Он у жены под башмаком.
Although he's nearly 40 he's still tied to
his mother's apron strings - Хотя ему
уже около 40, он все еще держится за материну юбку/не может без
матери шагу ступить.
to be up in arms (about something)
принять что-либо в штыки, быть возмущенным чем-л.
to be very angry and ready to argue or fight
They were up in arms about the introduction
of new rules - Они приняли в штыки новые правила.
The women are up in arms over/about their low rate
of pay - Женщины возмущены низким уровнем своей заработной
платы.
How Evolution Works
Question 2: How Can Evolution Be
So Quick? (continued)
Example: The Evolution of Mammals
65 million years ago, mammals were much simpler than they are today.
A representative (типичный представитель) mammal of the time was
the species Didelphodon,
a smallish, four-legged creature similar to today's opossum.
In 65 million years, according to the theory of evolution, every
mammal that we see today (over 4,000 species) evolved from small,
four-legged creatures like Didelphodon. Through random mutations
and natural selection, evolution has produced mammals of striking
diversity (поразительного разнообразия) from that humble (робкий,
скромный) starting point:
- Humans
- Dogs
- Moles (кроты)
- Bats
- Whales
(киты)
- Elephants
- Giraffes
- Panda bears
- Horses
Evolution has created thousands of different species that range (различаются)
in size and shape (форма) from a small
brown bat that weighs a few grams to a blue whale that is nearly
100 feet (30.5 m) long.
Let's take Carl Sagan's statement (утверждение) that "A characteristic
period for the emergence of one advanced species from another is
perhaps a hundred thousand years, and very often the difference
in behavior between closely related species -- say, lions and tigers
-- does not seem very great." In 65 million years, there are only
650 periods of 100,000 years -- that's 650 "ticks" of the evolutionary
clock.
Imagine trying to start with an opossum and get to an elephant
in 650 increments (шаги) or less, even if every increment were perfect.
An elephant's brain is hundreds of times bigger than an opossum's,
containing hundreds of times more neurons,
all perfectly wired. An elephant's trunk (хобот) is a perfectly
formed prehensile appendage (хватательный придаток) containing 150,000
muscle elements (reference).
Starting with a snout (рыло, морда) like that of an opossum, evolution
used random mutations to design the elephant's snout in only 650
ticks (зд. шаги). Imagine trying to get from an opossum to
a brown bat in 650 increments. Or from an opossum to a whale. Whales
have no pelvis (таз), have flukes (хвостовые плавники), have very
weird (странные) skulls (черепа) (especially the sperm whale (кашалот)),
have blow holes up top, have temperature control that allows them
to swim in arctic waters and they consume salt water rather than
fresh. It is difficult for many people to imagine that sort of speed
given the current theory.
Example: The Evolution of the Human
Brain
Here is another example of the speed problem. Current fossil
(ископаемое) evidence (данные, свидетельства) indicates that modern
humans evolved from a species called Homo erectus. Homo erectus
appeared about 2 million years ago. Looking at the skull of Homo
erectus, we know that its brain size was on the order of 800 or
900 cubic centimeters (CCs).
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Modern human
brain size averages (составляет в среднем) about 1,500 CCs or
so. In other words, in about 2 million years, evolution roughly
doubled the size of the Homo erectus brain to create the human brain
that we have today. Our brains contain approximately 100
billion neurons today, so in 2 million years, evolution added
(добавила) 50 billion neurons to the Homo erectus brain (while at
the same time redesigning (переделывая) the skull to accommodate
(чтобы вместить) all of those neurons and redesigning the female
pelvis (таз самки) to let (чтобы пропустить) the larger skull through
during birth, etc.).
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* In an absolutely
fascinating (удивительный) experiment first reported (о котором
впервые сообщалось) in July 2002, scientists modified a single
(один) mouse gene and created mice with brains 50% larger than
normal. See this
article for details. This experiment shows that a point
mutation can, in fact, have an immense (огромный) effect on
brain size. It is still unknown whether the larger brains make
the mice smarter or not, but it is easy to imagine later mutations
refining (улучшающий, совершенствующий) the wiring (связи) of
these millions of new neurons.
In another
fascinating study, researches have identified minimal
changes in an amino acid (аминокислота) on a single gene that
have a profound (глубокий) effect on speech processing (обработка)
in humans.
It does appear (действительно,
похоже) that tiny (крохотные) changes in single genes can
have very large effects on the species.
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Let's assume (давайте предположим) that Homo erectus was able (был
способен) to reproduce (воспроизводиться) every 10 years. That means
that, in 2 million years, there were 200,000 generations (поколения)
of Homo erectus possible. There are four possible explanations for
where the 50 billion new neurons came from in 200,000 generations:
- Every generation, 250,000 new neurons were added to the Homo
erectus brain (250,000 * 200,000 = 50 billion).
- Every 100,000 years, 2.5 billion new neurons were added to the
Homo erectus brain (2,500,000,000 * 20 = 50 billion).
- Perhaps 500,000 years ago, there was a spurt (всплеск, рывок)
of 20 or so closely-spaced (находящихся близко друг к другу) generations
that added 2.5 billion neurons per generation.
- One day, spontaneously, 50 billion new neurons were added to
the Homo erectus brain to create the Homo sapiens brain.
HSW
Home
Table of Contents:
Introduction
to How Evolution Works
The
Basic Process of Evolution
How
Life Works: DNA and Enzymes
The
Simplest Example of Evolution
The
Speed of Mutations
Natural
Selection
Creating
a New Species
Holes
in the Theory
Question
1: How Does Evolution Add Information?
Question 2: How Can Evolution Be So Quick?
Question
3: Where Did the First Living Cell Come From?
The
Future of Evolution
Lots
More Information!
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