侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第2期:东方霸王龙

 　　In 1996, 25 miles from the city of Mahajanga in northwest Madagascar, paleontologist were working on a routine excavation¹.

　　1996年，在离马达加斯加西北的马哈姜嘎市不到四十公里处古生物学家们在做例行挖掘。

　　But as they continued to dig, it became clear that there were something strange about this particular find.

　　随着挖掘的进行，这里的奇特发现越来越清楚。

　　As scientists unearthed² more remains³, forensic⁴ and anatomical clues began to paint a picture of the unidentified dinosaur⁵.

　　科学家们挖出了更多的遗骸，现场和解剖学线索描绘出了一种未知恐龙的图画。

　　And these bones did not belong to a plant eater. They belonged to a predator⁶.

　　这些骨头不是植食性恐龙的。它们属于一种掠食者。

　　We can very often tell whether bones belong to carnivores or herbivores just by looking at them.

　　我们经常只要看上一眼就知道它们是食肉还是食草恐龙。

　　In the big carnivorous dinosaurs⁷, you have hollow bones.

　　大型的食肉恐龙的骨头是中空的。

　　And hollow bones, of course, can support the animals as long as the bone around the outside is dense⁸ enough to support the weight of the animal.

　　当然对于中空的骨头来说只要外部够结实就能够撑起动物的重量。

　　In the lab, paleontologists observed something peculiar⁹, marks and deep gashes¹⁰ in the bone.

　　古生物学家们在实验室里有了特殊的发现，就是骨头上深深的沟痕。

　　The gashes were spaced 10 to 17 millimeters apart. These were probably bite marks.

　　这些沟痕的间距是10到17毫米。很可能是咬痕。

　　The scientists were eager to unravel¹¹ the cause of death.

　　科学家们很想揭开它的死因。

　　At first the paleontologists had no idea who or what had made these markings on the bone.

　　一开始，古生物学家们不知道有什么能在骨头上留下这样的痕迹。

　　But using some of the same techniques that modern forensic scientists do today,不过通过使用现代犯罪现场科学家所使用的科技，they were able to solve the mystery of who it was that made these injuries over 70 million years ago.

　　他们解开了这一谜团，知道了七千万年前这些伤痕的元凶。

　　First, they needed to identify the dinosaur. They turned to the local fossil evidence.

　　首先，他们要鉴别恐龙。他们转向了当地的化石证据。

　　Found nearby was a remarkably¹² well-preserved skull¹³ of a large predatory dinosaur, a meat-eating dinosaur called Majungasaurus.

　　在附近就发现过一个保存得很好的大型掠食恐龙头骨，这种食肉恐龙叫做玛君龙。

　　It was the T-Rex of the east.

　　它是东方的霸王龙。

 

1 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

2 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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》

8 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

9 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

10 gashes   

n.深长的切口（或伤口）( gash的名词复数 )v.划伤，割破( gash的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The classmates' hearts ached for him and they begged him to wear gloves to prevent any more gashes. 同学们都心疼他，劝他干活时戴上手套，免得再弄破手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stripped himself, and I counted twenty-seven separate scars and gashes. 他脱去衣服，我在他身上数出了二十七处瘢痕和深深的伤口。 来自辞典例句

11 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

12 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

13 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。