侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第102期:统治地球的掠食者

 　　They were the elite¹, the predators² that ruled the earth.

　　它们是精英，是统治地球的掠食者。

　　They ranged from the giant T-Rex, who relied on size and long curved teeth, to the smaller Raptors, who used speed and cunning.

　　它们中有霸王龙一样的巨兽靠身强力壮和长牙弯齿称霸，也有小一些的迅猛龙以速度和狡黠见长。

　　Science expends³ the evidence to unravel⁴ how widely different these dinosaurs⁵ were.

　　科学将拓展证据揭示这些恐龙是多么地迥然不同。

　　They were the Earth's largest animals.

　　它们曾是地球上最大的动物。

　　New technology and forensic⁶ evidence helps paleontologists bring to life some of their final moments.

　　新的科技和现场证据如今帮助古生物学家们重现了它们生命中的最后时刻

　　Prehistoric⁷ earth, 350 million years ago, the continents as we know them didn't exist.

　　史前地球，三亿五千万年前，我们今天熟悉的大陆还不存在。

　　There was one major land mass called Pangaea.

　　那时只有一片主要的陆块叫做泛大陆。

　　On Pangaea, the cities of Hong Kong and New York would have been separated by only 3,000 miles.

　　在泛大陆上，如今的香港和纽约两个城市只相隔3000英尺。

　　At the end of Jurassic, the super-continent Pangaea was disintegrated⁸.

　　在侏罗纪末期，超级大陆泛大陆分崩离析。

　　The individual components⁹ that made up this huge land mass were beginning to rotate, first, at different rates, and then at different directions.

　　构成这片巨大陆地的独立部分开始旋转，开始时速度不一样，之后方向也不一样。

　　This caused huge rifts¹⁰ between these land masses and ultimately created the continents we see today.

　　这导致这些陆块间出现巨大裂缝，并且最终形成了我们今天看到的各个大陆。

　　As they continued to break apart, the environmental changes in some cases are catastrophic.

　　随着它们继续分离，某些情况下的环境变化是灾难性的。

　　156 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, the oceans were more widespread than at any time on earth.

　　一亿五千六百万年前，正值侏罗纪时期，海洋在地球上覆盖范围为史上之最。

　　Through the forces of plate tectonics, the land masses shifted and sea level rose flooding large areas.

　　通过板块构造的力量，陆块移位，海平面上升淹没了大片区域。

　　Where major American cities are now, Huston, New Orleans, Miami, even the midwest, were waters hundreds of meters deep.

　　现代的美国重要城市，休斯顿、新奥尔良、迈阿密，甚至是中西部，当时都是几百米深的水域。

　　The ocean extended all the way to central Utah.

　　海洋一直延伸到犹他州中部。

　　It was in that world that the first big killer¹¹ could be found, the terror of the Jurassic - Allosaurus.

　　就是在那片世界里人们发现了第一种大型杀手，侏罗纪的恐怖魔星——异特龙。

　　The name Allosaurus means "other reptile¹²".

　　异特龙的名字原意为“其它爬行动物”。

　　It lived in western North America during the late Jurassic period from 156 to about 145 million years ago.

　　它在一亿五千六百万年前到一亿四千五百万年前生活于晚侏罗纪时期的北美西部。

　　Its remains¹³ have been found in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.And at its time, there was nothing as bad as Allosaurus.

　　在科罗拉多州、犹他州、怀俄明州和蒙大拿州都曾发现过其遗骸。在那时，异特龙的凶残无可匹敌。

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 expends   

v.花费( expend的第三人称单数 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• The commercial value height also expends demand how many! 商业价值高低也就是消费需求多少！ 来自互联网
• The stimulation expends basis, also lies in enhances the resident income. 刺激消费的根本，还在于提高居民收入。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 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》

6 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。

7 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。

8 disintegrated   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The plane disintegrated as it fell into the sea. 飞机坠入大海时解体了。
• The box was so old;it just disintegrated when I picked it up. 那箱子太破旧了，我刚一提就散了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

10 rifts   

n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和

参考例句：

• After that, through the rifts in the inky clouds sparkled redder and yet more luminous particles. 然后在几条墨蓝色云霞的隙缝里闪出几个更红更亮的小片。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• The Destinies mend rifts in time as man etches fate. 当人类想要再次亵渎命运的时候，命运及时修正了这些裂痕。 来自互联网

11 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

12 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。

13 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。