纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第05期 寻找化石场

Single bones will not do.

一块骨骼是没有用的

This window on the mid-Jurassic would have to contain more than just dinosaurs².

这个中侏罗世“窗口”必须包含恐龙之外的东西

We need fossils of all the other animals that lived with the dinosaurs.

我们还需要与恐龙一起生活的其它动物的化石

And not just the animals.

而且不仅只是动物

You want to look at the plants so you can actually try and work out what was around,

我们还想找到植物，这样就能试着推想当时周围的环境

what these animals might have been eating

这些动物可能吃些什么

and start building up more of a, how can I say, a piece of that ecosystem³.

然后开始构建，怎么说呢，整个生态系统的场景

So not only can we piece together the puzzle of dinosaur¹ evolution in the middle Jurassic,

所以我们不光只是拼凑中侏罗世的恐龙进化历程

but we can look at all the environmental changes that might have happened as well.

我们还能设想当时整个生态环境的变化过程

But despite years of searching they couldn't find this perfect site

可是经过数年的搜寻，他们仍然没有找到理想的地点

and without it the evolutionary⁴ master key to the mid-Jurassic remained elusive⁵.

没有了这把进化密钥，中侏罗世依旧神秘莫测

Finding a mid-Jurassic site became a great quest of dinosaur palaeontology

研究恐龙的古生物学家们迫切需要找到中侏罗世化石场

and then from Argentina came an unusual discovery.

后来，阿根廷有了不寻常的发现

A worker in the nuclear industry was prospecting⁶ for uranium in the heart of Patagonia.

一位核工业工作人员正在巴塔哥尼亚中心地带勘探铀矿。

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 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》

3 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

4 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

5 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

6 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。