剑桥大学校园英语情景对话20：物种起源与达尔文（mp3+中英）

W： Do you believe that human beings are created by God?

W：你相信人类是由上帝创造的吗？

A: I'm an antitheist, so I can’t say yes to that. It is now generally believed that men have evolved from the ape-men.

A：我是个无神论者，所以不赞同这个说法。今天大家普遍相信人是由猿人进化而来 的。

W: I'm not a Christian either. I tend to agree with what Darwin wrote in his book Origin of Species.

W:我也不是一个基督徒，所以我比较认同达尔文在《物种起源》中的说法。

A: Darwin was really a genius. His natural selection theory was a very radical thought at that time.

A:达尔文真是一个天才。他的自然选择学说在当时是一个很激进的学说。

W: At the 19th century, almost everyone believed in religion and Darwin’s theory was a real thunderbolt to them. And there were people who try to deny Darwin’s theory,

W:在19世纪，几平每一个人都有宗教信仰，达尔文的理论对他们来说真是一个晴天 霹雳。所以有人试图否定达尔文的学说。

A: It had been supposed that Darwin renounced evolution on his deathbed. Shortly after his death, temperance campaigner and evangelist Lady Elizabeth Hope claimed she visited Darwin on his deathbed, and witnessed the renunciation. Her story was printed in a Boston newspaper and subsequently spread.

A:据说达尔文在临终前宣布放弃进化论学说。他死 后不久，禁欲活动者和福音传道者伊丽莎白霍 普女士宣称她在达尔文临终前拜访了他，并亲眼 目睹了上述那一幕。她的故事被刊登在波士顿的 一家报纸上，随后传播开来。

W: But Lady Hope’s story was refuted by Darwin’s daughter Henrietta. Henrietta stated, “I was present at his deathbed. He never recanted any of his scientific views, either then or earlier?”

W:但是达尔文的女儿亨利埃塔反驳了霍普女士的说 法。亨利埃塔声明：‘‘父亲临终前我在场，他从来 没有放弃过他的科学见解，以前没有，临死前也 没有”

A: Darwin truly believed in his theory. Though he avoided arguing the evolution, natural selection and the origins of species with people, he never gave up his thought.

A:达尔文对自己的理论深信不疑。虽然他避免和别人争论进化论、自然选择和物种 起源等学说，但他从来没有放弃过自己的观点。

W: By the way, Darwin entered the Christ’s College, Cambridge when he was a youth. How would he become a naturalist and antitheist?

W:对了，达尔文年轻时曾在剑桥大学基督学院念书。他怎么会成为一个博物学者和 无神论者呢？

A： It was his father’s idea to go to Cambridge. He was not interested in medicine and he neglected to study when he was in the University of Edinburgh Medical School. This annoyed his father, who shrewdly sent him to Christ’s College, Cambridge, for a Bachelor of Arts degree as the first step towards becoming an Anglican parson.

A:去剑桥是他父亲的主意。当达尔文在爱丁堡大学医学院念书时他对医学并不感兴 趣，荒废了学业，这使他父亲感到苦恼。但他父亲灵机一动，把达尔文送到了剑 桥大学基督学院，想让他获得一个文学学士学位，成为英国国教教区牧师。

W： Darwin wasn’t interested in religion either. But his studies at the University of Cambridge encouraged his passion for natural science.

W:达尔文对宗教也不感兴趣。但是，在剑桥大学的学习激发了他对自然科学的热情。

A： That’s true. And he met two influential scholars who helped him a lot in his research on species in Cambridge.

A：的确是这样。而且他在剑桥遇到了两位颇具影响力的学者，他们对达尔文的物种 研究帮助很大。

W: But Darwin’s research was not a plain sailing. When he was going to join Beagle to conduct a scientific expedition around the world, his father objected to this two-year planned voyage. His father regarded it as a waste of time，but was at last persuaded by his brother-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood, to agree to his son’s participation.

W:但是达尔文的研究并不是一帆风顺的。当他准备加人贝格尔号进行环游世界的科 学探险时，他的父亲反对这个预期两年的航行。他的父亲认为这是浪费时间，但 最后他父亲还是被达尔文的舅舅乔舒亚威基伍德说服了，最后同意他参加科学 探险。

A: This scientific expedition laid the first stone for Darwin’s future study. Without the specimens he collected during the expedition, he couldn’t have come up with the theory of natural selection and evolution.

A:这次科学探险为达尔文后来的研究打下了基础。设有这次科学探险收集的标本， 他就不会提出自然选择和进化论学说。

W： Darwin’s work had a tremendous impact on religious thought. Many people strongly opposed the idea of evolution because it conflicted with their religious convictions.

w：达尔文的学说极大地影响了人们的宗教观念。许多人强烈反对进化论，因为这和 他们的宗教信仰相冲突。

A: Darwin avoided talking about the theological and sociological aspects of his work, but other writers used his theories to support their own ideas.
 

A:达尔文避免谈论他工作中有关神学和社会学的方面。但是其他学者会运用达尔文 的学说来支撑自己的观点。