Passage 1

Topic

英国工业发展时期黑蛾子和灰蛾子的数量增减      历史/生物

Mindmap

Glossary

camouflage  n.

(动物的)伪装手段，保护色。

The Industrial Revolution 

工业革命,又称产业革命或技术革命，指资本主义工业化的早期历程，即资本主义生产完成了从工场手工业向机器大工业过渡的阶段。是以机器生产逐步取代手工劳动，以大规模工厂化生产取代个体工场手工生产的一场生产与科技革命，后来又扩充到其他行业。工业化及其随同的变化增高了世界多数人们的生活标准,但也带来了工业社会时代的贫困、环境污染、犯罪等新的社会问题。

soot  n.

煤烟灰；烟垢 

morph   v./n.

改变，变化

carbonaria   n.

     黑化型飞蛾

Darwin's theory of evolution

19世纪中叶，达尔文创立了科学的生物进化学说，以自然选择为核心的达尔文进化论，第一次对整个生物界的发生、发展，作出了唯物的、规律性的解释，推翻了特创论等唯心主义形而上学在生物学中的统治地位，使生物学发生了一个革命变革。

natural selection

自然选择,物竞天择说.。达尔文认为，生物之间存在着生存斗争，适应者生存下来，不适者则被淘汰，这就是自然的选择。生物正是通过遗传、变异和自然选择，从低级到高级，从简单到复杂，种类由少到多地进化着、发展着。

industrial melanism

工业黑化现象，是指在工业化过程中，蛾类的灰色类型逐渐为黑色类型所取代的现象

Clean Air Act 1956

1956 清洁空气法案。为响应1952年大烟雾 ，在英国国会提出的1956年清洁空气法案 。

Supplementary

reading

The light-colored form of the moth, known as typica, was the predominant form in England prior to the beginning of the industrial revolution. Shown at left, the typica moth's speckled wings are easy to spot against a dark background, but would be difficult to pick out against the light-colored bark of many trees common in England.

Around the middle of the 19th century, however, a new form of the moth began to appear. The first report of a dark-colored peppered moth was made in 1848. By 1895, the frequency in Manchester had reached a reported level of 98% of the moths.

This dark-colored form is known as carbonaria, and (as shown at right), it is easiest to see against a light background. As you can well imagine, carbonaria would be almost invisible against a dark background, just as typica would be difficult to see against a light background. The increase in carbonaria moths was so dramatic that many naturalists made the immediate suggestion that it had to be the result of the effects of industrial activity on the local landscape.

As noted on page 297 of the Elephant Book, coal burned during the early decades of the industrial revolution produced soot that blanketed the countryside of the industrial areas of England between London and Manchester. Several naturalists noted that the typica form was more common in the countryside, while the carbonaria moth prevailed in the sooty regions. Not surprisingly, many jumped to the conclusion that the darker moths had some sort of survival advantage in the newly-darkened landscape.

In recent years, the burning of cleaner fuels and the advent of Clean Air laws has changed the countryside even in industrial areas, and the sootiness that prevailed during the 19th century is all but gone from urban England. Coincidentally, the prevalence of the carbonaria form has declined dramatically.

Passage 2

Topic

生物多样性               生物

Mindmap

Glossary

equator    n.

赤道

North / South Pole

北/南极

zoologist   n.

    动物学家

substrate  n.

    (有机体的)培养基，是发酵过程或动植物细胞大量培养中供微生物或动、植物细胞的生长、繁殖或积累代谢产物，以合成生物化工产品所必需的营养基质。

generalist species.

广食性物种

specialist species

专食性物种

omnivore    n.

     杂食动物

herbivore    n.

     草食动物

carnivore    n.

     食肉动物

biodiversity  n

生物多样性。

parasite  n.

寄生虫

organism  n.

     有机体；生物

lineage   n.

     家系，家族

phylum  n.

(生物分类学上的)门

Passage 3

Topic

欧洲中世纪行会制度             政治/历史

Mindmap

Glossary

guild  n.

欧洲封建社会城市中的行会组织。同一行业的手工业者或商人，为保障本行业的利益而建立的封建性团体。行会有严密细致的章程,对内保证会员权利义务均等,对外实行垄断。通常所说的行会，主要指手工业行会。
　　西欧的行会，产生于12～13世纪城市公社起义时期。当时,西欧行会最普遍、最发达的是在一些一万多人口的中等城市，而在只有一二千人口的小城市，以及对外贸易发达的口岸大城市，行会则不普遍。

master    n.

    （组织）控制人，主宰者

apprentice  n.

学徒

hierarchy  n.

等价制度

monopoly  n.

垄断

Supplementary

reading

The Guilds of Medieval Europe

The Middle Ages (500 – 1500 A.D.) saw the growth of highly specialized trades, many of which persisted into the modern era (blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, etc).  Skilled craftsmen became a distinct economic class in Europe during the Middle Ages, as towns and cities emerged as population centers. The business district of a medieval town was typically divided by craft: a single street might be occupied by fishmongers, fullers, or haberdashers. 

Craftsmen in medieval Europe were largely self-employed. They did business from small workshops and storefronts, often hiring a handful of apprentices and assistants. They were not, however, completely independent economic entities. Skilled crafts in the Middle Ages were dominated by organizations known as guilds. 

The medieval guild had more in common with modern labor union than with a modern corporation. A guild was a professional association that maintained formal guidelines for each craft. The guild set and enforced price levels, established rules of employment and apprenticeship, and mandated the tools and processes that would be used by practitioners of the particular craft. 

The guild also provided a rudimentary social support system. If a guild member met an untimely death, his fellow members would look after his surviving wife and children. Guild members celebrated their wedding feasts in the guild’s hall; and the vast majority of a guild member’s friends would have consisted of his professional associates. 

Over the years, the guilds became highly politicized organizations. Many guild leaders attained wealth by exploiting their positions. The guilds’ rigid hierarchies and price controls drew criticism from various sectors of society. Although a wide range of technological breakthroughs occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the guilds often prohibited their members from adopting them. The guilds’ first priorities were promoting stability and maintaining existing pricing structures. They frequently process innovations out of the workshops in order to preserve the status quo.