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
2023-12-31
37
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:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3320387.html
相关试题推荐
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
ASports体育运动Manyanimalsengageinplay,butho
随机试题
WhichofthefollowingisTRUEaboutthegeneralmanagerandhisassistants?[br
Almosteveryonewithorwithoutacomputerisawareofthelatesttechnologi
AccordingtoUNICEF,around564millionIndians,nearlyhalfthepopulation,
对于艾滋病,哪项是不恰当的A.可通过胎盘感染胎儿、软产道、母乳感染新生儿 B.
《证券投资顾问业务风险揭示书》至少应包含的内容() Ⅰ.提示投资者在接受
某服装店销售一款新款服装,分三阶段销售。第一阶段按原价出售,共售出总数的40%;
(2015年真题)期货公司应当提示客户可以通过(),查询期货交易结算结果和
2021年2月王某在某房产公司举办的有奖购房活动中中奖获得一辆小汽车,房产公司提
下列造成质量数据波动的原因中,属于偶然性原因的是( )。A.现场温湿度的微小变
某地下工程合同约定:计划1月份开挖土方80000m3,2月份开挖160000m3
最新回复
(
0
)