英语听力：2013-04-03 恐龙之战之极限生存 Extreme Survivors—7

 Male lions defend their cubs¹ against rivals who see their offspring as future competition for food and mates. So it’s likely that an intelligent predator² like T-Rex would do the same. Compared to prehistoric³ plant eaters, its cerebrum, the part of the brain associated with strategy, is huge. So is the cerebellum which controls muscle function. This is an animal that can plan and execute a devastating⁴ attack. It’s a behavior hardwired into the brain. 

 

If you are trying to increase your evolutionary⁵ advantage, the best thing you can do is get more offspring into the future generation. And one of the best ways you can do that is to take better care of the offspring that you produce.

 

Laying eggs nearly depletes⁶ the female. She needs nourishment⁷ to stay strong. And nourishment means meat. While she searches for her next meal, the male stays behind to guard the nest. Luckily, a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the hunt is guided by some of the keenest senses in the Cretaceous. 

 

Its eyesight would actually have been very, very good. 

 

The eyes of a T-Rex are huge, the size of cricketballs. A large retina collects more light and more visual information so they can clearly see prey⁸ from as far away as six kilometers. 

 

Critically, both eyes face forwards and their line of sight overlaps⁹, so each eye looks at the same object from a slightly different angle. That means T-Rex can experience the world in 3-D.

 

There’s very little in the environment of T-Rex that would escape its attention. 

 

For the T-Rex hungry after months of growing her eggs, making a kill may mean the difference between life and death.

 

Ankylosaurus is a herbivore, but it’s built like a tank, covered in steel-like armor.

1 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 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。

6 depletes   

使大大的减少，使空虚( deplete的第三人称单数 )； 耗尽，使枯竭

参考例句：

• Stress depletes both energy and motivation. 压力不仅消耗体力而且让你丧失动力。
• Scientists refute a longstanding theory of how HIV slowly depletes the body's capacity to fight infection. 科学家驳倒一个爱滋病毒如何慢慢地耗尽身体容量对抗感染的长时间理论。

7 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 overlaps   

v.部分重叠( overlap的第三人称单数 )；（物体）部份重叠；交叠；（时间上）部份重叠

参考例句：

• The style in these two books largely overlaps. 这两本书的文体有许多处是一致的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The new office overlaps the functions of the one already in existence. 新机构的职能与那个现存机构的职能部分重叠。 来自辞典例句