英语听力：自然百科 真实的庞贝—14

And what sort of building were they in.

Yea, we found them near a tower and they were escaping during the eruption¹. 

To the trained eye of a forensic² anthropologist³, the state of the bones, even 2000 years after death, is very telling.

 

On skeleton No. 2, we have a lot of evidence of an exposure to some kind of heat. On this vertebra particularly, you can see charring on the front.And that happens on a number of these vertebra here. And the foot bone here, again, you can see charring on the inside of the bone, which indicates the bone fractured as well. 

 

It takes tremendous heat to cause damage like this. The black color indicates that the bones are exposed to a heat between 3-600 degrees Celsius⁴. That's between about 600 and 1100 Fahrenheit⁵.

 

The evidence shows that this heat comes in a sudden intense blast. We can see that these bodies were, in what's known as, a pugilistic pose, which is a boxer's pose. And this is caused because the muscles begin to shrink when exposed to extreme heat. Now the muscles that you used to clench⁶ everything and tighten⁷ everything are stronger than the ones you used to stretch everything out. So as they shrink, those muscles take over, and you adopt this stance.

1 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

2 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。

3 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

6 clench   

vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住

参考例句：

• I clenched the arms of my chair.我死死抓住椅子扶手。
• Slowly,he released his breath through clenched teeth.他从紧咬的牙缝间慢慢地舒了口气。

7 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。