首页
登录
职称英语
When less was known of animals and plants, the discovery of a new species wa
When less was known of animals and plants, the discovery of a new species wa
游客
2025-01-30
30
管理
问题
When less was known of animals and plants, the discovery of a new species was the great object. This is now almost the lowest kind of scientific work. The discovery of a new species as such does not change a feature in the science of natural history. It is merely adding to the enumeration of objects.
We should look rather for the fundamental relations among animals; the number of species we may find is of importance only if they explain the distribution and limitation of different
genera
and families, their relations to each other and to the physical conditions under which they live. The origin of life is the great question of the day. How did the organic world come to be as it is? How did Brazil come to be inhabited by the animals and plants now living there? Who were its inhabitants in past times? What reason is there to believe that the present condition of things in this country is in any sense derived from the past?
The first step in this investigation must be to ascertain the geographical
distribution
of the present animals and plants. Suppose we first examine the Rio San Francisco. The basin of this river is entirely isolated.
Are its inhabitants, like its waters, completely distinct from those of other basins
? Are its species peculiar to itself, and not repeated in any other river of the continent? Extraordinary as this result would seem, I nevertheless expect to find it so. The next water-basin we shall have to examine will be that of the Amazons, which connects through the Rio Negro with the Orinoco. It has been frequently repeated
that
the same species of fish exist in the waters of the San Francisco and in those of Guiana and of the Amazons. At all events, our works on fish constantly indicate Brazil and Guiana as the common home of many species; but this observation has never been made with sufficient accuracy.
Fifty years ago the exact locality from which any animal came seemed an unimportant fact in its scientific history, for the bearing of this question on that of origin was not then perceived. To say that any specimen came from South America was quite enough; to specify that it came from Brazil, from the Amazons, the San Francisco, or the La Plata, seemed a marvelous accuracy in the observers. In the museum at Paris, for example, there are many specimens entered as coming from New York or from Para; but all that is absolutely known about them is that they were shipped from those seaports. Nobody knows exactly where they were collected. All this kind of investigation is far too loose for our present object. Our work must be done with much more precision.
Therefore, my young friends who come with me on this expedition, let us be careful that every specimen has a label, recording locality and date. We must try not to mix the fish of different rivers, even though they flow into each other, but to keep our collections
perfectly
distinct. You will easily see the vast importance of thus ascertaining the limitation of species, and the bearing of the result on the great question of origin. [br] What is the author’s opinion on the discovery of new species?
选项
A、It is no longer particularly important.
B、It is the great aim of scientific research.
C、All species have now been classified.
D、It is no longer the feature in the natural history.
答案
A
解析
细节识别。第一段第二行明确表示“This(the discovery ofa new species)is now almost the lowest kind of scientific work”,这一表述与选项A一致。
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3934947.html
相关试题推荐
Whenlesswasknownofanimalsandplants,thediscoveryofanewspecieswa
Whenlesswasknownofanimalsandplants,thediscoveryofanewspecieswa
Whenlesswasknownofanimalsandplants,thediscoveryofanewspecieswa
Ican’trestrainmyangerwhenIhearofpeoplebeingcrueltoanimals.A、holdon
InmanypartsofEastAfricaatthattime,wildanimalswereso_____thatitwa
Foryears,noonecouldmakethisparticulartherapyworkinanimalslargerthan
Whatcausedgreatmigrationsofanimalsandplants?[br][originaltext]Duringt
Whatcausedgreatmigrationsofanimalsandplants?[originaltext]Duringthepas
GlobalWarming:PlantsMayAbsorbMoreCarbonDioxideThanPreviouslyThoughtVo
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrue?[originaltext]Whileplantsarestillcapable
随机试题
Karaokemayneverbethesame,thankstoresearchbeingpresentedinNashvil
Pygmalionisaplayby______.A、WilliamShakespeareB、OscarWildeC、GeorgeBerna
Sinceabout1800,nearthebeginningoftheindustrialrevolution,coal,pet
假设某商业银行的总资产为1500亿元,总负债为1350亿元,现金头寸为70亿元,
A.肝火亢盛B.心火上炎C.心火下移小肠D.心火亢盛E.火热内闭心神高热烦渴,神
招标人采用邀请招标方式的,应当向()个以上具备承担招标项目的能力、资信良好的特
男性,40岁,乘坐公共汽车时右腿搁在左大腿上,突遇车祸,向前冲撞倒地,右髋疼痛,
采用提高功率因数的节能措施,可达到下列哪些目的?()A.减少无功损耗 B.减
提高车间电力负荷的功率因数,可以减少车间变压器的哪些损耗?()A.有功损耗
A.高压蒸气灭菌 B.紫外线 C.干烤 D.煮沸消毒 E.滤过除菌动物免
最新回复
(
0
)