one of the items or another= on or another of the items

in all the less controversial fields… 在不太令人争论的一些领域

nebulae 星云

all that we know of…

that we know 做all的后置定语

of 做all的后置定语

social insects群居生活的昆虫

let us say = so to speak

major social sciences主要的社会学

substitute替换，替代

that of 作同位语

In all the less controversial fields like the study of cacti or termites or the nature of nebulae, the necessary method of study is to group the relevant material and to take note of all possible variant forms and conditions. In this way we have learned all that we know of the laws of astronomy, or of the habits of the social insects, let us say. It is only in the study of man himself that the major social sciences have substituted the study of one local variation, that of Western civilization. 省略谓语

group 种族 = race

born into 出生于

globe = earth

no—— 整体否定

cultural transmission 文化传递

it is more incumbent upon us to understand… 插入语

incumbent 只能使用上面的结构.

until 直到

as to +名词 = about 关于

complicating = difficult 复杂

unintelligible 难以理解的

not until 直到……才

until 直到……为止

profitable 有利可图的 = beneficial 有意义

preliminary 基本，基础 = basic

have been 的用法：后面的动作，一定是要和前面构成一个完成，后面的完成才能引发前面

的动作

violently opposed 强烈的反对

require 虚拟 后面要求: there be no= there should be no

weighting 称重 考虑

item 选择的课题，项目

preferential weighting 厚此薄彼

Every child that is born into his group will share them with him, and no child born into one on the opposite side of the globe can ever achieve the thousandth part. There is no social problem it is more incumbent upon us to understand than this of the role of custom. Until we are intelligent as to its laws and varieties, the main complicating facts of human life must remain unintelligible.

The study of custom can be profitable only after certain preliminary propositions have been accepted, and some of these propositions have been violently opposed. In the first place any scientific study requires that there be no preferential weighting of one or another of the items in the series it selects for its consideration.