1、中英文对照字幕请听我说Listen to me, please.你跟我一样，是智人Youre like me, a Homo sapiens.一个有智慧的人A wise human.生命是宇宙的奇迹Life, a miracle in the universe,出现于约四十亿年前appeared around four billion years ago,而我们人类只有二十万年历史and we humans only 200,000 years ago.但是我们却破坏了Yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance.地球生命赖以生存的平衡that
2、 is so essential to life on Earth.请细听这个不寻常的的故事，你的故事Listen carefully to this extraordinary story, which is yours,然后决定你应该做什么and decide what you want to do with it.这是我们的起源的轨迹These are traces of our origins.最初，我们的星球不过是一个浑沌的火球At the beginning, our planet was no more than a chaos of fire,伴随它的恒星-太阳诞生而形成的fo
3、rmed in the wake of its star, the sun.一团粘聚的尘埃颗粒A cloud of agglutinated dust particles,就像宇宙里面许多类似的星云similar to so many similar clusters in the universe.然而生命的奇迹就在此诞生Yet this was where the miracle of life occurred.今天，我们的生命Today, life- our life-是地球上无数生物形成的生命链中的一环is just a link in a chain of innumerable
4、living beings.在近 40 亿年里，这些生物被彼此继承取代that have succeeded one another on Earth over nearly four billion years.即使到了今天，新的火山继续改变我们的景观And even today, new volcanoes continue to sculpt our landscapes.它们让我们目睹了盘古初开时地球的样子They offer a glimpse of what our Earth was like at its birth熔石从深处涌出molten rock surging from
5、 the depths,开始凝固，裂开solidifying, cracking,冒着泡，或摊开形成薄的外壳blistering or spreading in a thin crust,然后再休眠一段时间before fabling dormant for a time.这些从地球内部吐出缭绕的烟圈These wreaths of smoke curling from the bowels of the Earth.是地球原始大气层的见证bear witness to the Earths original atmosphere.一个没有氧气的大气层An atmosphere devoid
6、of oxygen.稠密的大气层，充满水蒸气和二氧化碳A dense atmosphere, thick with water vapor,full of carbon dioxide.一个熔炉A furnace.因为有水，地球有了一个与众不同的未来But the Earth had an exceptional future, offered to it by water.地球与太阳之间的距离适中 不太远，不太近At the right distance from the sun not too far, not too near因此地球上的水能够处于液体状态the Earth was ab
7、le to conserve water in liquid form.水蒸气凝结后形成滂沱大雨降落在地球上Water vapor condensed and fell in torrential downpours on Earth,河流出现了and rivers appeared.河流改变了地球表面The rivers shaped the surface of the Earth,刻削着河道cutting their channels,并冲刷出山谷furrowing out valleys.它们流向地球上最低洼的地方形成海洋They ran toward the lowest place
8、s on the globe to form the oceans.水溶解了岩石的矿物质They tore minerals from the rocks,渐渐的，海洋中的淡水and gradually the freshwater of the oceans.变成了咸水became heavy with salt.水是生命必需的液体Water is a vital liquid.它灌溉了这些广阔的不毛之地It irrigated these sterile expanses.水流就像人体的血管The paths it traced are like the veins of a body,树
9、木的枝丫，是让大地苏醒的液体导管the branches of a tree, the vessels of the sap that it brought to the Earth.40 亿年后Nearly four billion years later,地球上的某些地方还能找到这样的艺术创作somewhere on Earth can still be found these works of art,火山灰混合着来自冰岛冰川的水left by the volcanoes ash, mixed with water from Icelands glaciers.就是它们，物质和水Ther
10、e they are- matter and water,水和物质water and matter-软硬组合，这对地球上所有生物都是至关重要的soft and hard combined, the crucial alliance shared by every life-form on our planet.金属矿物元素比地球还要古老Minerals and metals are even older than the Earth.它们是星尘They are stardust.它们让地球五彩斑斓They provide the Earths colors.红色是铁，黑色是碳Red from
11、iron, black from carbon,蓝色是铜，黄色则是硫blue from copper, yellow from sulfur.我们来自什么哪里？Where do we come from?生命火花从哪里迸发？Where did life first spark into being?一个时光奇迹A miracle of time,地球上的温泉仍然有原始的生命存活primitive life-forms still exist in the globes hot springs.它们赋予温泉颜色They give them their colors.它们叫做“古细菌”Theyre
12、 called archaeobacteria.它们都依靠地球热能生存They all feed off the Earths heat除了蓝细菌，或是蓝绿藻以外all except the cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae.只有它们可以向着太阳来吸取其能量They alone have the capacity to turn to the sun to capture its energy.它们是古今所有植种的最重要的祖先They are a vital ancestor of all yesterdays and todays plant specie
13、s.这些微小的细菌These tiny bacteria.及其数以亿计的后代and their billions of descendants.改变了地球的命运changed the destiny of our planet.是它们改造了地球的大气层They transformed its atmosphere.毒害大气层的碳去了哪里？What happened to the carbon that poisoned the atmosphere?它还存在，只是被“囚禁”在地壳Its still here, imprisoned in the Earths crust.想要了解地球历史的这一
14、篇章We can read this chapter of the Earths history.卡罗拉多大峡谷的峭壁是最好的选择nowhere better than on the walls of Colorados Grand Canyon.它们展现了地球近 20 亿年的历史They reveal nearby two billion years of the Earths history.大峡谷曾经是一个聚居着微生物的海洋Once upon a time, the Grand Canyon was a sea inhabited by microorganisms.它们汲取从大气层溶解
15、到海洋里的碳They grew their shells by tapping into carbon from the atmosphere.并长出外壳dissolved in the ocean.它们死后When they died, the shells sank.外壳沉到海床堆叠起来and accumulated on the sealed.这些地层就是它们无数的外壳构成的These strata are the product of those billions and billions of shells.因为有了它们，碳从大气层中排出Thanks to them, the car
16、bon drained from the atmosphere,其他生物才能得以发展and other life-forms could develop.生命改变了大气层It is life that altered the atmosphere.植物靠太阳能存活Plant life fed off the suns energy,这能量使植物分离水分子which enabled it to break apart the water molecule.并释放出来氧气and take the oxygen.空气因而充满氧气And oxygen filled the air.地球的水不断更新循环
17、The Earths water cycle is a process of constant renewal.瀑布，水蒸气，Waterfalls, water vapor,云、雨、泉clouds, rain, springs,河流、海洋、冰川rivers, seas, oceans, glaciers.这个循环从未间断The cycle is never broken.地球的水量恒久不变Theres always the same quantity of water on Earth.历来的生物都喝同样的水All the successive species on Earth have dr
18、unk the same water.水是令人惊叹的物质The astonishing matter that is water.是最不稳定的一种One of the most unstable of all.它可以是液态的流水It takes a liquid form as running water,气态的蒸汽gaseous as vapor.或是固态的冰or solid as ice.在西伯利亚，冬季结冰的湖面In Siberia, the frozen surfaces of the lakes in winter.蕴含着水在结冰时展现的力量contain the traces of
19、 the forces that water deploys when it freezes.冰比水轻因而浮于水面Lighter than water, the ice floats,不会沉到湖底rather than sinking to the bottom.它形成御寒的保护罩It forms a protective mantle against the cold,冰下的生命可以延续under which life can go on.生命的引擎连锁结合The engine of life is linkage.一切都连结起来Everything is linked.没有东西是自给自足的
20、Nothing is self-sufficient.水和空气不可分割Water and air are inseparable,为了地球上的生命而结合united in life and for our life on Earth.于是，形成于海洋上的云给陆地带来降雨Thus, clouds form over the oceans and bring rain to the landmasses,河流再将水带回海洋whose rivers carry water back to the oceans.分享就是一切Sharing is everything.从云层窥望的大片绿色是空气中的氧气
21、The green expanse peeking through the clouds is the source of oxygen in the air.七成氧气来自海藻Seventy percent of this gas, without which our lungs cannot function,这些海藻给海洋表面染上了颜色comes from the algae that tint the surface of the oceans.地球要依赖Our Earth relies on a balance.万物各司其职in which every being has a role
22、 to play.互相依存的生态平衡and exists only through the existence of another being.一种敏感而脆弱的和谐，极易破碎A subtle, fragile harmony that is easily shattered.于是海藻和贝壳的结合形成了珊瑚Thus, corals are born from the marriage of algae and shells.澳大利亚沿海的大堡礁The Great Barrier Reef, Off the coast of Australia,绵延三十五万平方公里stretches over
23、350,000 square kilometers.哺育着一千五百种鱼类，and is home to 1,500 species of fish,四千种软体动物4,000 species of mollusks.和四百种珊瑚and 400 species of coral.每个海洋的生态平衡都依靠这些珊瑚The equilibrium of every ocean depends on these corals.地球计算时间以十亿年计The Earth counts time in billions of years.它花了四十多亿年创造了树木It took more than four b
24、illion years for it to make trees.在物种的链条中In the chain of species,树木是至高无上的trees are a pinnacle,是完美的活的雕塑a perfect living sculpture.它们蔑视地心吸力Trees defy gravity.它们是唯一永恒地朝向天空的自然元素They are the only natural element in perpetual movement toward the sky.它们的枝叶不疾不徐地向着太阳生长They grow unhurriedly toward the sun tha
25、t nourishes their foliage.它们从微小的古细菌继承了They have inherited from those minuscule cyanobacteria.吸收光线能量的能力the power to capture lights energy.它们储存并利用此能量They store it and feed off it,并使其变成木材和树叶turning it into wood and leaves,然后又分解成水，矿物，植物which then decompose into a mixture of water,和生命物质的混合体mineral, veget
26、able and living matter.就这样And so, gradually,生命不可或缺的土壤逐渐形成the soils that are indispensable to life are formed.土壤是生物多样性的工厂Soils are the factory of biodiversity.它们是不断活动的世界They are a world of incessant activity.微生物觅食，挖掘，透气，蜕变where microorganisms feed, dig, aerate and transform.它们制造腐植土，在这肥沃的土层上所有生命互相紧扣Th
27、ey make the humus, the fertile layer to which all life on land is linked.地球上的生命我们知道什么？What do we know about life on Earth?我们认识多少品种？How many species are we aware of?十分之一？还是百分之一？A 10th of them? A hundredth perhaps?对于它们之间的相互关系我们知道什么？What do we know about the bonds that link them?地球是个奇迹The Earth is a miracle.生命仍是个谜Life remains a mystery.动物的家族得以形成Families of animals form,至今仍存的习惯和仪式使它们凝聚united by customs and rituals that survive today.有些适应了环境Some adapt to the nature of their pasture,有些是环境适应它们and their pasture adapts to them.
