32 Botany
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar1 position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness2 about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but form what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist a detailed3 learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally4 hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of “ knowledge” at all.
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid5. When our Neolithic6 ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel7 of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild- and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy8 with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.
植物學(xué)
植物學(xué)，即對植物的研究，在人類知識的歷史中占據(jù)了特殊的地位。這是人類幾千年來超越模糊的認(rèn)知而真正有所了解的領(lǐng)域之一。
我們今天不可能知道新石器時代的祖先們對植物到底了解多少，但我們在至今仍存在的前工業(yè)化社會觀察到：人類對植物及其特性的詳細(xì)了解應(yīng)該是非常古老的。
這是理所當(dāng)然的。植物是其他生物甚至其他植物食物金字塔的基礎(chǔ)。它們對人們的生活至關(guān)重要，不僅在食物上，而且在衣物、武器、工具、染料、
藥物、住所和許許多多其他的用途上。至今仍生活在亞馬遜河叢林中的部落確實能夠辨識幾百種植物并知道每一種的許多特性。
對他們來說，植物學(xué)沒有專門的名稱，甚至可能根本未被認(rèn)為是一種專門知識。不幸的是，工業(yè)化的程度越高，我們距直接與植物接觸就越
遠(yuǎn)，我們的植物學(xué)知識的增加也就越微不足道。然而每個人在不知不覺中擁有大量的植物學(xué)知識，很少有人認(rèn)不出玫瑰、蘋果或蘭花。
大約一萬年前居住在中東的新時代的祖先們發(fā)現(xiàn)某些草能被收獲，它們的種子下一季耕種會收獲更多時，人類就邁出了人和植物之間的新關(guān)系第一大步。
谷子被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，農(nóng)業(yè)的奇跡從此誕生：這就是可栽培的谷物。從那時起，人類越來越依賴少數(shù)可控制的作物生存，而不再是從眾多的野生種類中這里獲取一點，那里
獲取一點。這樣在千萬年中對于野生植物的經(jīng)驗和密切聯(lián)系中積累起來的知識就開始消失了。
1 peculiar
adj.古怪的，異常的；特殊的，特有的
參考例句：
He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的樣子很奇特。
He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一種很奇怪的表情看著我。
2 awareness
n.意識，覺悟，懂事，明智
參考例句：
There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人們普遍認(rèn)識到吸煙有害健康。
Environmental awareness has increased over the years.這些年來人們的環(huán)境意識增強(qiáng)了。
3 detailed
adj.詳細(xì)的，詳盡的，極注意細(xì)節(jié)的，完全的
參考例句：
He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他對地形作了縝密的研究。
A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我們的出版物有一份詳細(xì)的目錄備索。
4 literally
adv.照字面意義，逐字地；確實
參考例句：
He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻譯這段文字。
Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有時候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，決不肯坐下來。
5 orchid
n.蘭花，淡紫色
參考例句：
The orchid is a class of plant which I have never tried to grow.蘭花這類植物我從來沒種過。
There are over 35 000 species of orchid distributed throughout the world.有35,000多種蘭花分布在世界各地。
6 neolithic
adj.新石器時代的
參考例句：
Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器時代有人開始馴養(yǎng)牛。
The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.該紀(jì)念碑是屬于石器時代或新石器時代的。
7 marvel
vi.(at)驚嘆vt.感到驚異；n.令人驚異的事
參考例句：
The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.機(jī)器人是現(xiàn)代工程技術(shù)的奇跡。
The operation was a marvel of medical skill.這次手術(shù)是醫(yī)術(shù)上的一個奇跡。
8 intimacy
n.熟悉，親密，密切關(guān)系，親昵的言行
參考例句：
His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他聲稱自己與總統(tǒng)關(guān)系密切，這有點言過其實。
I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有個關(guān)于親密的規(guī)則。
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar1 position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness2 about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but form what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist a detailed3 learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally4 hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of “ knowledge” at all.
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid5. When our Neolithic6 ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel7 of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild- and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy8 with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.
植物學(xué)
植物學(xué)，即對植物的研究，在人類知識的歷史中占據(jù)了特殊的地位。這是人類幾千年來超越模糊的認(rèn)知而真正有所了解的領(lǐng)域之一。
我們今天不可能知道新石器時代的祖先們對植物到底了解多少，但我們在至今仍存在的前工業(yè)化社會觀察到：人類對植物及其特性的詳細(xì)了解應(yīng)該是非常古老的。
這是理所當(dāng)然的。植物是其他生物甚至其他植物食物金字塔的基礎(chǔ)。它們對人們的生活至關(guān)重要，不僅在食物上，而且在衣物、武器、工具、染料、
藥物、住所和許許多多其他的用途上。至今仍生活在亞馬遜河叢林中的部落確實能夠辨識幾百種植物并知道每一種的許多特性。
對他們來說，植物學(xué)沒有專門的名稱，甚至可能根本未被認(rèn)為是一種專門知識。不幸的是，工業(yè)化的程度越高，我們距直接與植物接觸就越
遠(yuǎn)，我們的植物學(xué)知識的增加也就越微不足道。然而每個人在不知不覺中擁有大量的植物學(xué)知識，很少有人認(rèn)不出玫瑰、蘋果或蘭花。
大約一萬年前居住在中東的新時代的祖先們發(fā)現(xiàn)某些草能被收獲，它們的種子下一季耕種會收獲更多時，人類就邁出了人和植物之間的新關(guān)系第一大步。
谷子被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，農(nóng)業(yè)的奇跡從此誕生：這就是可栽培的谷物。從那時起，人類越來越依賴少數(shù)可控制的作物生存，而不再是從眾多的野生種類中這里獲取一點，那里
獲取一點。這樣在千萬年中對于野生植物的經(jīng)驗和密切聯(lián)系中積累起來的知識就開始消失了。
1 peculiar
adj.古怪的，異常的；特殊的，特有的
參考例句：
He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的樣子很奇特。
He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一種很奇怪的表情看著我。
2 awareness
n.意識，覺悟，懂事，明智
參考例句：
There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人們普遍認(rèn)識到吸煙有害健康。
Environmental awareness has increased over the years.這些年來人們的環(huán)境意識增強(qiáng)了。
3 detailed
adj.詳細(xì)的，詳盡的，極注意細(xì)節(jié)的，完全的
參考例句：
He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他對地形作了縝密的研究。
A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我們的出版物有一份詳細(xì)的目錄備索。
4 literally
adv.照字面意義，逐字地；確實
參考例句：
He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻譯這段文字。
Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有時候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，決不肯坐下來。
5 orchid
n.蘭花，淡紫色
參考例句：
The orchid is a class of plant which I have never tried to grow.蘭花這類植物我從來沒種過。
There are over 35 000 species of orchid distributed throughout the world.有35,000多種蘭花分布在世界各地。
6 neolithic
adj.新石器時代的
參考例句：
Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器時代有人開始馴養(yǎng)牛。
The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.該紀(jì)念碑是屬于石器時代或新石器時代的。
7 marvel
vi.(at)驚嘆vt.感到驚異；n.令人驚異的事
參考例句：
The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.機(jī)器人是現(xiàn)代工程技術(shù)的奇跡。
The operation was a marvel of medical skill.這次手術(shù)是醫(yī)術(shù)上的一個奇跡。
8 intimacy
n.熟悉，親密，密切關(guān)系，親昵的言行
參考例句：
His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他聲稱自己與總統(tǒng)關(guān)系密切，這有點言過其實。
I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有個關(guān)于親密的規(guī)則。