纪录片《地球劫难日》 第02期 卡鲁盆地

The Karroo Basin in South Africa.

南非的卡鲁盆地。

A region of hunting and inhospitable beauty.

一片神秘莫测与荒凉凄美的土地。

This is an area where little grows and man and beast struggle to survive.

植物和动物以及人类只能在此挣扎求生。

But it hasn't always been like this.

但它以前并不是这样。

Almost 300 million years ago, during what scientists called the Permian period, it was an oasis¹.

大约是在3亿年前，也就是科学家们称为二叠纪的时代，它还是一块绿洲。

The scene would have been low-lying plains, perhaps with mountains in the distance meandering² rivers,

当时的景象应该是一片低洼平原，远处环绕着群山，近处有蜿蜒的河流，

lots of plants around the sides of those rivers low plants like ferns and so on

河岸边植被葱郁，生长着像蕨类植物这样的低矮植物，

and then in the background some trees of very unusual type.

背景则是许多千奇百怪的树木。

This was a time millions of years before the dinosaurs³ when strange and half forgotten creatures walked the earth.

这是一个比恐龙还要早亿万年的时期，统治地球的是一些几乎被遗忘的奇特生物。

They were called thorapsids half mammal, half reptile⁴.

它们叫做兽孔类，兼具哺乳类和爬行类的特征。

The first creatures ever to fullly conquer life on land.

是第一类完全称霸陆地的动物。

1 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

2 meandering   

蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天

参考例句：

• The village seemed deserted except for small boys and a meandering donkey. 整个村子的人都像是逃光了，只留下了几个小男孩和一头正在游游荡荡的小毛驴。 来自教父部分
• We often took a walk along the meandering river after supper. 晚饭后我们常沿着那条弯弯曲曲的小河散步。

3 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。