今天小编给大家带来了关于考研英语的文章阅读欣赏，文章围绕一直以来人们对进化论理论中“自然选择”和“适者生存”这两个术语的误解进行讨论，追溯了误解产生的起源，并解释其真正的含义。本文属于观点论证型文章中的驳论文，在驳斥错误观点的同时树立正确的观点。
　　Part 1
　　原文
　　ⅠOn July 2, 1866, Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, wrote to Charles Darwin to mournhow he had been “so repeatedly struck bythe utter inability of numbers of intelligent persons to see clearly or at all, the self acting and necessary effects of Natural Selection, that I am led to conclude that the term itself and your mode of illustratingit, however clear and beautiful to many of us, are yet not the best adaptedto impress it on the general naturalist public.” The source of the misunderstanding, Wallace continued, was the name itself, in that it implies “the constant watching of an intelligent ‘chooser’ like man's selection to which you so often compare it,” and that “thought and direction are essential to the action of ‘Natural Selection.’” Wallace suggested re-defining the term and adopting Herbert Spencer's phrase “survival of the fittest.”
　　ⅡUnfortunately, that is what happened, and it led to two myths about evolution that persisttoday: that there is a predictable directionalityto evolution and that survival depends entirely on cutthroat competitive fitness.
　　ⅢContrary to the first myth, natural selection is a deion of a process, not a force. No one is “selecting” organismsfor survival in the benignsense of pigeon breedersselecting for desirable traits in show breedsor for extinction in the malignantsense of Nazis selecting prisoners at death camps. Natural selection is unpredictable—it cannot look forwardto anticipate what changes are going to be needed for survival.
　　ⅣNatural selection simply means that those individuals with variationsbetter suited to their environment leave behind more offspring than individuals that are less well adapted. This outcome is known as “differential reproductive success.”It may be, as the second myth holds, that organisms that are bigger, stronger, faster and brutishlycompetitive will reproduce more successfully, but it is just as likely that organisms that are smaller, weaker, slower and socially cooperative will do so as well.
　　ⅤThis second notion in particular makes evolution disagreeable for many people, because it covers the theory with darkness reminding us of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's “nature, red in tooth and claw.” Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's “ bulldog” defender, promoted this “ gladiatorial” view of life in a series of popular essays on nature “whereby the strongest, the swiftest, and the cunningestlive to fight another day.” The myth persists. Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling misread biologist Richard Dawkins's book The Selfish Gene to mean that evolution is driven solely by ruthless competition, both between corporations and within Enron, leading to his notorious“ rank and yank” employee evaluation system, which resulted in massive layoffs and competitive resentment.
　　ⅥThis view of life need not have become the dominant one. In 1902 the Russian anarchistPetr Kropotkin published a denial to Huxley and Spencer in his book Mutual Aid. Calling outSpencer by phrase, Kropotkin observed: “If we... ask Nature: ‘who are the fittest: those who are continually at war with each other, or those who support one another?’ we at once see that those animals which acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest.” Since that time science has revealed that species practice both mutual struggle and mutual aid. Darwinism, properly understood, gives us a dual dispositionof selfishness and selflessness, competitiveness and cooperativeness.
　　Part 2
　　词汇短语
　　1.mourn [m?:n] v. 哀悼, 忧伤
　　2.be struck by 惊讶于……
　　3.illustrate [??l?stre?t] v. 阐述
　　4.adapted [?'d?pt?d] a. 适合的
　　5.persist [p??s?st] v. 存留、持续
　　6.directionality [d??rek??'n?l?t?] n. 方向性
　　7.organism [??:g?n?z?m] n. 生物体、有机体
　　8.benign [b??na?n] a. 善良的, 温和的
　　9.breeder [?bri:d?(r)] n. 饲养员
　　10.breed [bri:d] n. 品种
　　11.malignant [m??l?gn?nt] a. 邪恶的
　　12.look forward 向前看
　　13.variation [?ve?ri?e??n] n. 变异、变种
　　14.differential reproductive success 差别繁殖成功
　　15.brutishly [b'ru:t??l?] ad. 粗野地，残酷地
　　16.bulldog [?b?ld?g] n. 斗牛犬
　　17.cunning [?k?n??] a. 狡猾的
　　18.notorious [n???t?:ri?s] a. 臭名昭著的
　　19.resentment [r??zentm?nt] n. 愤恨，怨恨
　　20.call out 向（某人）提出挑战
　　21.dual [?dju:?l] a. 双重的
　　22.disposition [?d?sp??z??n] n. 性情、性格
　　23.*gladiatorial [?ɡl?d??'t?:r??l] a. 角斗士的
　　24.*rank and yank 评级与，指的是一种把人分等次的考核制度
　　25.*anarchist [??n?k?st] n. 无者
　　（标*的为超纲词）
　　Part 3
　　翻译点评
　　ⅠOn July 2, 1866, Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, wrote to Charles Darwin to mournhow he had been “so repeatedly struck bythe utter inability of numbers of intelligent persons to see clearly or at all, the self acting and necessary effects of Natural Selection, that I am led to conclude that the term itself and your mode of illustratingit, however clear and beautiful to many of us, are yet not the best adaptedto impress it on the general naturalist public.” The source of the misunderstanding, Wallace continued, was the name itself, in that it implies “the constant watching of an intelligent ‘chooser’ like man's selection to which you so often compare it,” and that “thought and direction are essential to the action of ‘Natural Selection.’” Wallace suggested re-defining the term and adopting Herbert Spencer's phrase “survival of the fittest.”
　　翻译：1866年7月2日，自然选择的共同发现者阿尔弗莱德·路瑟尔·华莱士在写给查尔斯·达尔文的信中哀叹，他“再三地惊异于许多聪明人都完全无法清楚了解或根本不了解自然选择自动自发且不可避免的效果，这使得我断定，这个术语本身及你阐释它的方式，不论对我们中的许多人来说是如何地清晰优美，仍然不是令普通自然大众认识它的————合适的方法。”华莱士继续说道，产生误解的源头就是这一名称本身，因为它暗示了“智慧的选择者的长期关注，就如你经常拿来作比较的人类选择一样”，它还暗示“思考与方向对于‘自然选择’这一行为而言非常重要。”华莱士建议修订这一术语，采用赫伯特·斯宾塞的“适者生存”这个表述。
　　点评：Ⅰ段追溯进化论两个误解的起源：华莱士建议达尔文将进化论的名字由“自然选择”改为“适者生存”。其中关键词有：①source of misunderstanding(误解的来源)；②Natural Selection(自然选择)；③survival of the fittest(适者生存)。衔接手段 本段关键人物Wallace多次复现，观点表述词wrote、continued、suggested步步深入，阐明Wallace观点和提议。
　　ⅡUnfortunately, that is what happened, and it led to two myths about evolution that persisttoday: that there is a predictable directionalityto evolution and that survival depends entirely on cutthroat competitive fitness.
　　翻译：不幸的是，事实正是如此（达尔文把“自然选择”改成了“适者生存”），而且这引发了如今依然持续的关于进化的两个误解：一是进化具有预知方向性；二是生存完全有赖于残酷的竞争适应性。
　　点评：Ⅱ段承接上段，交代进化论名字的改变引起的两个误解。其中关键词有：two myths(两个误解)。衔接手段 ①Unfortunately对上述行为进行评价，作者的遗憾不言而喻：华莱士弄巧成拙，他的提议原本是为了避免误解，结果却造成更深的、一直延续至今的误解；②that回指首段华莱士“改名”的提议，it指代that is what happened,即“已改名”的事实；③predictable directionality和competitive fitness分别对应Natural Selection和survival of the fittest，揭示两个误解的内容。
　　ⅢContrary to the first myth, natural selection is a deion of a process, not a force. No one is “selecting” organismsfor survival in the benignsense of pigeon breedersselecting for desirable traits in show breedsor for extinction in the malignantsense of Nazis selecting prisoners at death camps. Natural selection is unpredictable—it cannot look forwardto anticipate what changes are going to be needed for survival.
　　翻译：与一个误解相反，自然选择描述的是一个过程而非一种掌控力。养鸽人出于善的本意在参与展示的鸽种中选择合意的特征，没有人能像他们那样“选择”生物体的生存；分子出于邪恶的本意，在死亡集中营中选择犯人，也没有人能像他们一样“选择”生物的灭绝。自然选择不可预知，它无法向前看去预测生存所需的改变会是什么。
　　点评：Ⅲ段批驳并解读对“自然选择”之误解。其中关键词有：①first myth(一个误解)；②process (描述过程)；③unpredictable(不可预测)。衔接手段 ①首句中contrary to the first myth表明本段将针对一种误解进行批驳；②首句指出“自然选择”描述的是一种过程，而非一种掌控力，第二句立即从善恶两个方面举例论证，第三句进行总结：自然选择是不可预测的（unpredictable）。这一结论与第二段的predictable形成鲜明对比，彻底反驳了一种误解；③本段中否定意义词contrary to、no one、cannot连续出现，传达出作者坚定的语气，也从反面表现出一种误解的荒谬性。
　　ⅣNatural selection simply means that those individuals with variationsbetter suited to their environment leave behind more offspring than individuals that are less well adapted. This outcome is known as “differential reproductive success.”It may be, as the second myth holds, that organisms that are bigger, stronger, faster and brutishlycompetitive will reproduce more successfully, but it is just as likely that organisms that are smaller, weaker, slower and socially cooperative will do so as well.
　　翻译：自然选择仅仅意味着，那些拥有更适应环境的变异的个体比不大适应环境的个体留下更多的后代。这种结果被认为是“差别繁殖成功”。或许，正如第二个误解所说，更大、更壮、更快及更具野蛮竞争力的生物体将繁殖得更为成功，但是较小、较弱、较慢及更具社会合作性的生物也一样有可能成功繁育。
　　点评：Ⅳ段解读“自然选择”的真实意义。其中关键词有：better suited(更适应环境)。衔接手段 ①首句National selection与上段原词复现，保持了话题的一致性。本段与上段之间为驳论→立论关系：上段指出自然选择“不是主观选择性力量，不可预测”，本段阐明自然选择是“更适应环境的生物更能成功繁殖”；②第三句借助第二种误解来阐释“自然选择”深层含义，其中It may be, as...与 but it is just as...一方面揭示了“自然选择”的真正内容，另一方面也映射了第二种误解的片面性：只强调“强者成功繁衍”，未看到“弱者也可能成功繁衍”。
　　ⅤThis second notion in particular makes evolution disagreeable for many people, because it covers the theory with darkness reminding us of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's “nature, red in tooth and claw.” Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's “ bulldog” defender, promoted this “ gladiatorial” view of life in a series of popular essays on nature “whereby the strongest, the swiftest, and the cunningestlive to fight another day.” The myth persists. Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling misread biologist Richard Dawkins's book The Selfish Gene to mean that evolution is driven solely by ruthless competition, both between corporations and within Enron, leading to his notorious“ rank and yank” employee evaluation system, which resulted in massive layoffs and competitive resentment.
　　点评：Ⅴ段介绍对“适者生存”的误解：将之等同于“弱肉强食”。其中关键词有：①second notion(第二点)；②competition (竞争)。衔接手段 ①首句的This second notion回应上段末的the second myth，同时与第三段的the first myth遥相呼应，表明本段将针对第二种误解进行批驳；②前两句引用丁尼生和赫胥黎关于“适者生存”的表述（red in tooth and claw，the strongest, the swiftest, and the cunningest），深深传达出“适者生存”理论中敌对、竞争、厮杀等“弱肉强食”的思想；③第二句中this “gladiatorial” view of life回指首句中丁尼生的观点；④第三句为过渡句，指出上述理论一直延续至今，第四句立即进行例证，介绍这种理论在现实中造成的危害。
　　ⅥThis view of life need not have become the dominant one. In 1902 the Russian anarchistPetr Kropotkin published a denial to Huxley and Spencer in his book Mutual Aid. Calling outSpencer by phrase, Kropotkin observed: “If we... ask Nature: ‘who are the fittest: those who are continually at war with each other, or those who support one another?’ we at once see that those animals which acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest.” Since that time science has revealed that species practice both mutual struggle and mutual aid. Darwinism, properly understood, gives us a dual dispositionof selfishness and selflessness, competitiveness and cooperativeness.
　　翻译：这种生命观点并不需要成为主导。1902年，俄罗斯无者彼得·克魯波特金在其《互助》一书中对赫胥黎与斯宾塞进行了驳斥。克魯波特金用言语向斯宾塞挑战，他说，“如果我们……询问自然：‘谁比较具适应性：那些彼此之间常年处于战争中的，还是那些彼此互相支持的？’我们即刻可以看出那些具有互助习惯的动物无疑是比较具适应性的。”自那时起，科学就揭示出，物种既进行互斗也进行互助。达尔文进化论，如果正确地理解，赋予了我们一种自私与无私、竞争与协作的双重性格。
　　点评：Ⅵ段树立与“弱肉强食”相反的观点：进化论竞争和合作的两面性。其中关键词有：①both mutual struggle and mutual aid (既有竞争也有合作)；②a dual disposition (双重性格)。衔接手段 ①首句This view of life回指上段讨论的弱肉强食的观点，旋即指出那样的观点不一定成为主导，为下文提出相反见解做铺垫；②continually at war，mutual struggle， selfishness，competitiveness为近义表达，揭示进化论竞争的一面；support one another，mutual aid，selflessness，cooperativeness为近义表达，揭示进化论合作的一面。同时两组词互为反义表达，表明了进化论的两面性。