新托福TPO 13综合写作详细解析：私人化石买卖的坏处

　　阅读材料：
　　Private collectors have been selling and buying fossils, the petrified remains of ancient organisms, ever since the eighteen century. In recent years, however, the sale of fossils, particularly of dinosaurs and other large vertebrates has grown into a big business. Rare and important fossils are now being sold to private ownership for millions of dollars. This is an unfortunate development for both scientists and the general public.
　　私人化石收藏家们从十八世纪就开始涉足化石买卖。所谓化石是指那些古代有机体的石化物。然而最近几年，化石买卖，尤其是恐龙和其他大型脊椎动物的化石的买卖变得繁荣起来了。稀有而重要的化石现在以百万计的价格在私人搜藏家之间流通。这种现象无论对于科学家还是对于公众来说，都不是一件好事情。
　　The public suffers because fossils that would otherwise be donated to museums where everyone can see them are sold to private collectors who do not allow the public to view their collections. Making it harder for the public to see fossils can lead to a decline in public interest in fossils, which would be a pity.
　　化石不在捐赠给博物馆而是由私人收藏家持有，而不是像过去那样捐赠给博物馆。私人收藏家不会让公众看他的藏品，而博物馆里的展品却是人人有机会看到的。这样对于公众来说是受损的。接触化石的机会变少会让大众失去对化石的兴趣的，而这一点显然是令人遗憾的。
　　More importantly, scientists are likely to lose access to some of the most important fossils and thereby miss out on potentially crucial discoveries about extinct life forms. Wealthy fossil buyers with a desire to own the rarest and most important fossils can spend virtually limitless amounts of money to acquire them. Scientists and the museums and universities they work for often cannot compete successfully for fossils against millionaire fossil buyers.
　　更重要的是，科学家将错失很多研究珍贵化石的机会，进而可能同一些关于灭绝生物的重大发现失之交臂。富有的化石购买者因为对稀有而重要化石的强烈渴望，将会不计成本地想得到这些化石。科学家和他们所服务的博物馆和大学都无力同那些身价百万的化石购买者竞争，也只能坐视失去化石。
　　Moreover, commercial fossil collectors often destroy valuable scientific evidence associated with the fossils they unearth. Most commercial fossil collectors are untrained or uninterested in carrying out the careful field work and documentation that reveal the most about animal life in the past. For example, scientists have learned about the biology of nest-building dinosaurs called oviraptors by carefully observing the exact position of oviraptors fossils in the ground and the presence of other fossils in the immediate surroundings. Commercial fossil collectors typically pay no attention to how fossils lie in the ground or to the smaller fossils that may surround bigger ones.
　　而且，商业化石收藏家常常会破坏他们挖掘出的化石中有科学价值的部分。多数商业化石收藏家常常没有接受过专业的训练，同时对谨慎研究记录化石没有兴趣。而这些研究和记录可以揭示过去生活在地球上的生命最重要的信息。科学家就是通过对筑巢的偷蛋龙的研究就是这种方法：通过对偷蛋龙化石的埋在地下的精确位置以及邻近的其他化石的状态来获知其生物特性的。私人化石搜藏家万网不关注化石埋藏的唯一以及大型化石边上那些小型的化石。
　　阅读部分需要提取的观点是：
　　- Main point: 私人化石买卖无论对科学家还是对公众都是一件坏事情
　　- Sub point 1: 公众将失去接触化石的机会，进而失去兴趣
　　- Sub point 2: 科学家也将失去接触化石的机会
　　- Sub point 3: 化石包含的珍贵数据可能遭到破坏
　　听力材料：
　　Of course, there are some negative consequences of selling fossils in the commercial market, but they have been greatly exaggerated. The benefits of commercial fossil trade greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
　　当然，在商业市场上买卖化石是有一些负面影响，但是这些负面影响在阅读部分被夸大了。化石买卖的优点大大的超过其缺点。
　　First of all, the public is likely to have greater exposure to fossils as a result of commercial fossil trade, not less exposure. Commercial fossil hunting makes a lot of fossils available for purchase, and as a result, even low-level public institutions like public schools and libraries can now routinely buy interesting fossils and display them for the public.
　　首先，私人化石买卖合法之后，公众接触化石的机会不是变少了，而是增加了。私人化石买卖让更多的化石进入流通领域。这样，甚至等级较低的公共机构，比如公立学校和图书馆也有能力通过正规渠道购买化石，并向公众展示了。
　　As for the idea that scientists will lose access to really important fossils, that’s not realistic either. Before anyone can put a value on a fossil, it needs to be scientifically identified, right? Well, the only people who can identify, who can really tell what a given fossil is or isn’t, are scientists, by performing detailed examinations and tests on the fossils themselves. So, even if a fossil is destined to go to a private collector, it has to pass through the hands of scientific experts first. This way, the scientific community is not going to miss out on anything important that’s out there.
　　至于说科学家将错失接触重要化石机会的说法，也是站不住脚的。不论是谁，在给一组化石定价之前，都一定是需要科学家来鉴定的，是不是？那么，唯一能够鉴定化石，唯一能够说出化石是否有价值的人是科学家。是科学家通过对细节的检查和测试来决定化石的价值的。所以，即使化石最终归于私人收藏家，但是还是要首先经过科学家的手的。这样，科学团体就不会错过化石上的任何重要信息了。
　　Finally, whatever damage commercial fossil collectors sometimes do, if it weren’t for them, many fossils would simply go undiscovered because there aren’t that many fossil collecting operations that are run by universities and other scientific institutions. Isn’t it better for science to at least have more fossils being found even if we don’t have all the scientific data we’d like to have about their location and surroundings than it is to have many fossils go completely undiscovered?
　　最后，私人化石收藏者的确会损坏化石，但是如果没有他们，很多化石就会永远埋在地下了。这是因为大学和其他科学研究机构没有足够多的化石采集项目。对于科学发展来说，能够发现更多的化石比让化石长眠于地下要好，不是吗？尽管我们可能确实一些诸如化石位置其周围伴生化石的信息。
　　听力部分需要提取的观点是：
　　- Main point: 私人化石买卖利大于弊
　　- Sub point 1: 公众不会失去接触化石的机会，反而更多
　　- Sub point 2: 科学家也不会失去接触化石的机会
　　- Sub point 3: 尽管化石的珍贵数据可能遭到破坏，但是要好过让大量化石长眠于地下