Question

求教英语高手！

The world which we inhabit is composed of the materials, not of the earth which was the immediate predecessor of the present, but of the earth which, in ascending from the present, we consider as the third ,and which had preceded the land that was above the surface of the sea, while our present land was yet beneath the ocean.
这句话是什么意思？“we consider as the third ,and which had preceded the land...”这句话中的“ third”是指什么，这句话中的which 是指代“we consider as the third”吗？

Answer 1

我们居住的世界是由物质组成的，可是这个物质，不是由当时地球的前身（前任）物质所构成的，而是从现在往前追溯，由我们认为的是第三代物质所构成的。那个第三代物质，出现在陆地露出海面之前，而我们现在的陆地（当时）还在海水之下。

由于定语从句的代词多，要分别搞懂指代谁，就不难理解
not of the earth which ，的which 指代地球的物质
we consider as the third ,and which had preceded the land的third 指代第三代 materials，which 指代third，就是你所理解的“we consider as the third

Answer 2

注意英文的意思是英文的，千万别用中文理解，否则理解不到位的！