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【昨日长难句】At the beginning of century songbirds were supposed to be disappearing. Scientists jumped to the rescue with some distinctly shaky evidence to the effect that insects would eat us up if birds failed to control them. 在本世纪初，鸣禽本被认为正趋向灭绝。科学家迅速加入救援，但他们的证据显然站不住脚，这些证据的大意是：如果鸟类不能控制昆虫的数量，昆虫将会降人类吞噬。

【今日长难句】It is painful to read these roundabout accounts today. We have no land ethic yet, but we have at least drawn near the point of admitting that birds should continue as a matter of intrinsic right, regardless of the presence or absence of economic advantage to us.

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【结构解析】

1. 首句中it充当形式主语，to read these roundabout accounts 为真正的主语，译为：今天读到这些拐弯抹角的解释让人痛苦。

2. 第二句是由but连接的并列句，前半句为we have no land ethic yet, 译为：我们还没有大地伦理；

3. but之后的句子主干为we have drawn near the point of admitting that ….; 译为：“但是我们至少已经接近承认”。that引导admitting 的宾语从句， as a matter of intrinsic right和regardless of the presence or absence of economic advantage to us 为状语成分，分别译为：“作为它们与生俱来的权利”和“不管它们对我们是否具有经济价值”

【词的处理】

roundabout / ˈraundəbaut / adj. 迂回的；间接的；兜圈子的

account / əˈkaunt / n. 解释；说明

land ethic 大地伦理（详见最后）

at least 至少

draw near 接近

as a matter of sth. 事关/作为。。。的问题

intrinsic / inˈtrinsik; -zik / adj. 固有的；内在的；本身的

regardless of …不顾，不管

presence or absence of sth 有还是没有……

【参考译文】It is painful to read these roundabout accounts today. We have no land ethic yet, but we have at least drawn near the point of admitting that birds should continue as a matter of intrinsic right, regardless of the presence or absence of economic advantage to us.

今天，读到这些拐弯抹角的说明让人痛苦。我们还没有大地理论，但是我们至少已经接近承认：作为它们与生俱来的权利，鸟类应该继续生存，不管它们对我们是否具有经济价值。

【明日长难句】A parallel situation exists in respect of predatory mammals and fish-eating birds.

【备注】关于land ethic

维基百科：

A land ethic is a philosophy or theoretical framework about how, ethically, humans should regard the land. The term was coined by Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) in his A Sand County Almanac (1949), a classic text of the environmental movement. There he argues that there is a critical need for a "new ethic," an "ethic dealing with humans relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it".

百度知道：

土地的伦理范畴包含土壤、水、植物和动物，以及大地上存在的一切。土地的伦理观就是让人放弃征服者的角色，对每一个伦理范畴内的成员暗含平等和尊敬，把它们当成跟自己一样平等的分子。

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