DOC《2011 11笔译实务 英译汉》

s more than

400 million years of fire. Fire was here long before arriviste plants like grasses;

it pre-dated the first flowers. And without wanting to get mystical about it, fire is, in many respects, a kind of animal, albeit an ethereal one. Like any animal, it consumes oxygen. Like a sheep or a slug, it eats plants. But unlike a normal animal, it'

s a shape-shifter. Sometimes, it merely nibbles a few leaves;

sometimes it kills grown trees. Sometimes it is more deadly and destructive than a swarm of locusts. 一股炭烤化石告诉我们,大火已经成为生活的一部分在地球上只要有植物在陆地上.这已经超过4亿年的火灾.火在这里多久arriviste的植物,如草,它pre-dated第一花.没有想要变得神秘,火,在很多方面,动物的一种,虽然一种永恒.就像任何动物,它消耗的氧气.像羊或一只蛞蝓,它吃的植物.但与正常的动物,这是一个shape-shifter.有时,它只是啃了几片叶子,有时它会杀死种植树木.有时它更致命的和具有一大群蝗虫. The shape-shifting nature of fire makes it hard to study, for it is not a single entity. Some fires are infernally hot;

others, relatively cool. Some stay at ground level;

others climb trees. Moreover, fire is much more likely to appear in some parts of the world than in others. Satellite images of the Earth show that wildfires are rare in, say, northern Europe, and common in parts of central Africa and Australia. (These days many wildfires are started by humans, either on purpose or by accident. But long before our ancestors began to throw torches or cigarette butts, fires were started by lightning strikes, or by sparks given off when rocks rub together in an avalanche.) 火的变形性质使得它得费很大劲来学习,因为它不是一个单一的实体.有些火焰是康华热,其他人则较为凉爽.一些呆在地面水平;

其他人爬上树.此外,火是更有可能出现在世界的某些地方比其他人.地球的卫星图像显示,森林大火是罕见的,比如说,在欧洲北部,和普通中部的非洲和澳大利亚.(这些日子以来,很多森林大火是由人启动,要么故意还是偶然.但是很久以前我们的祖先开始扔火把以及烟头,大火雷击,或火花放出岩石交往时在雪崩中.) Once a fire gets started, many factors contribute to how it will behave. The weather obviously has a huge effect: winds can fan flames, rains can quench them. The lie of the land matters, too: fire runs uphill more readily than it goes down. But another crucial factor is what type of plants the fire has to eat. 一旦真的发生火灾中开始,许多因素的影响,它会如何表现.天气很明显有一个巨大的效果:风能风扇火焰,雨也无法让他们.谎言的土地问题,太:火分比上坡更容易下去.但另一个重要的因素是什么类型的植物中,火也吃. It'

s common knowledge that plants regularly exposed to fire tend to have features that help them cope with it ― such as thick bark, or seeds that only grow after being exposed to intense heat or smoke. But what is less often remarked on is that the plants themselves affect the nature and severity of fire. 大家都知道,植物经常暴露于火灾往往具有功能,帮助他们应付――例如厚树皮,或者种子后,才会成长........