2008年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解B

Domestic horses now pull ploughs, race in the Kentucky Derby, and carry loads. But early horses weren’t tame enough to perform these kinds of tasks. Scientists think the first interactions humans had with horses were far different from those today.
驯养的马现在拉犁，参加肯塔基赛马会，驮重物。但早期没有足够驯服的马不能完成这些任务。科学家们认为，人类与马的最初互动和今天完全不同。

Thousands of years ago, people killed the wild horses that lived around them for food. Over time, people began to catch the animals and raise them. This was the first step in domestication.
数千年前，人们将生活在他们周围的野马杀死作为食物。随着时间的推移，人们开始捕捉马匹并饲养它们。这是驯化的第一步。

As people began to tame and ride horses, they chose to keep those animals that had more desirable characteristics. For example, people may have chosen to keep horses that had a gentle personality so they could be ridden more easily. People who used horses to pull heavy loads would have chosen to keep stronger animals. Characteristics like strength are partly controlled by the animals’ genes. So as the domesticated horses reproduced, they passed the characteristics on to their young. Each new generation of horses would show more of these chosen characteristics.
人们开始驯马、骑马，选择保留那些具有更理想特征的马。例如，人们可能会选择饲养个性温和的马，以便更容易骑马。用马拉重物的人会选择饲养更强壮的马。力量这些特征部分由动物基因控制。因此，当驯养的马繁殖时，它们会将这些特征传给幼马。每一代的新马都会显示出更多这些选择的特征。

Modern day horse breeds come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This variety didn’t exist in the horse population before domestication. The Shetland horse is one of the smallest breeds—typically reaching only one meter tall. With short, strong legs, the animals were bred to pull coal out of mine shafts with low ceilings. Huge horses like the Clydesdale came on the scene around 1700. People bred these heavy, tall horses to pull large vehicles used for carrying heavy loads.
现代的马品种有各种各样的形状和大小。在驯化之前，这些品种并不存在。设得兰马是最小的品种之一——通常只有一米高。这些马的腿短而强壮，被用来从低矮的矿井里挖煤。1700年左右，出现了像克莱德斯代尔这样的巨型马，人们饲养这些又重又高的马用来拉运装载重物的大型车辆。

The domestication of horses has had great effects on societies. For example, horses were important tools in the advancement of modern agriculture. Using them to pull ploughs and carry heavy loads allowed people to farm more efficiently. Before they were able to ride horses, humans had to cross the land on foot. Riding horses allowed people to travel far greater distance in much less time. That encouraged populations living in different areas to interact with one another. The new form of rapid transportation helped cultures spread around the world.
马的驯化对社会产生了巨大的影响。例如，马是现代农业发展的重要工具。使用它们来拉犁和搬运重物可以让人们更高效地耕种。在可以骑马之前，人类穿越陆地只能依靠步行。骑马可以让人们在更短的时间内走得更远，这有助于生活在不同地区的人们相互交流，新形式的快速交通让文化在世界各地传播。