达尔文生物进化书籍（20万物简史吃遍天下动物的古生物学家布克兰）
达尔文生物进化书籍（20万物简史吃遍天下动物的古生物学家布克兰）Together they hurried to the kitchen in their night clothes. Mrs Buckland made a flour paste which she spread across the table while the Reverend Buckland fetched the family tortoise. Plunking it onto the paste they goaded it forward and discovered to their delight that its footprints did indeed match those of the fossil Buckland had been studying.甚至在研究严肃的科学时，他的方法也稀奇古怪。有一次，布克兰夫人在半夜被叫醒，只听她的丈夫兴奋地
很多小伙伴都想读英文原著学英语，可每次看两页就放弃。为了帮助大家从阅读中找到乐趣，晓梅老师就带大家一起读英文原著，看看有意思的故事，学学地道表达。先从A Short History of Nearly Everything《万物简史》开始。这本书从宇宙大爆炸开始讲现代科学史，穿插了很多科学家的生平故事，妙趣横生。本书作者Bill Bryson喜欢用口语化的语言叙述，因而里面的英语要比一般的原著通俗易懂。
今天读第5章关于地质学家威廉·布克兰 (William Buckland) 的片段。威廉·布克兰是英国神学家，也是一位地质学家和古生物学家。他撰写了第一篇关于恐龙化石的认定论文，并将之命名为斑龙属。
William Buckland was a bit of a charming oddity. He had some real achievements but he is remembered at least as much for his eccentricities. He was particularly noted for a managerie of wild animals some large and dangerous that were allowed to wander through his house and garden and for his desire to eat his way through every animal in creation.
威廉·布克兰是个令人着迷的怪人。他取得过一些不俗的成就，但人们记住他一半也是因为他古怪的行为。尤为出名的是，他豢养了一群野生动物（有些又大又危险），任由它们在房子和花园里走来走去，他还着迷于吃遍天下每一种动物。
Depending on whim and availability guests to Buckland's house might be served baked guinea pig mice in batter roasted hedgehog or boiled southeast Asia sea slug. Buckland was able to find merit in them all except the common garden mole which he declared disgusting. Almost inevitably he became the leading authority on coprolites - fossilized faeces - and had a table made entirely out of his collection of specimens.
根据布克兰的心情和是否有货，他可能会给客人提供烤豚鼠、面糊鼠、烤刺猬或煮东南亚海鼻涕虫。布克兰觉得这些动物都很美味，除了花园鼹鼠，他觉得很恶心。几乎命中注定般地，布克兰成为研究粪化石（即变成化石的粪便）的泰斗，他有一张完全用收集的化石样本做的桌子。
Even when conducting serious science his manner was generally singular. Once Mrs Buckland found herself being shaken awake in the middle of the night her husband crying in excitement: "My dear I believe that Cheirotherium's footsteps are undoubtedly testudinal."
甚至在研究严肃的科学时，他的方法也稀奇古怪。有一次，布克兰夫人在半夜被叫醒，只听她的丈夫兴奋地叫道：“亲爱的，我觉得蟾蜍兽的脚印肯定和乌龟的一样。”
Together they hurried to the kitchen in their night clothes. Mrs Buckland made a flour paste which she spread across the table while the Reverend Buckland fetched the family tortoise. Plunking it onto the paste they goaded it forward and discovered to their delight that its footprints did indeed match those of the fossil Buckland had been studying.
他们赶紧一起去了厨房，身上还穿着睡衣。布克兰夫人做了面糊，糊在桌上，而威廉·布克兰教士则抓来了家里的乌龟。把乌龟放到面糊上，赶着走了几步后，他们高兴地发现它的脚印和布克兰一直在研究的化石吻合。
1. 这个片断用了三个词描述布克兰的古怪。
oddity [ˈɒdəti]，n. 怪人或怪事；古怪。eccentricity [ˌeksenˈtrɪsəti]，n. 古怪；怪癖。singular [ˈsɪŋɡjələ(r)]，adj. 奇怪的。
2. be made (out) of something，用……（材料）做成的，可以看出材料，看不出材料用be made from something。
a shirt made of silk 丝绸衬衫
3. flour paste，面糊，即面粉做的浆糊。
Wheat paste (also known as flour paste or simply paste) is a gel or liquid adhesive made from wheat flour or starch and water. 麦糊（也称为面糊，或只是糊糊）是一种由小麦粉或淀粉和水做成的凝胶或液体粘合剂。
4. spread， [spred]，v. 传播，蔓延，铺开。
Fire quickly spread through the building. 大火很快蔓延到整幢大楼。
He spread plaster on the walls. 他把灰泥涂在墙上。
5. footprint，[ˈfʊtprɪnt]，n. 脚印，也叫footmark。
We followed the footprints of a deer in the snow. 我们在雪地里追踪一只鹿的脚印。
