英语听力文摘 English Digest 299、恐龙灭绝有关石油危机？

　　Dinosaur¹ Oil Crisis
恐龙灭绝有关石油危机？
恐龙是距今1亿3千万年前地球上爬行动物的总称。它们的种类很多，身体大小、形状、生活习性各不相同，陆地、海洋、空中都是恐龙类爬行动物的活动场所。最早出现在约2亿4千万年前的三叠纪，灭亡于约6500万年前的白垩纪所发生的白垩纪末灭绝事件，最终灭绝于6300万年前的新生代第三纪古新世，普遍被认可的是陨石撞击说。
w:What killed the dinosaurs²？
m:She is again？I mean have we done this one like a hundred times。A giantmeteor smashed into the Earth and blocked out the sun，so the dinosaurs had nothing to eat and died。
W：But not all scientists agree with that theory.  There’s some evidence that a giant oil fire might have had something to do with the dinosaurs’ demise³.
m:Oh，OK,sorry.
W:No problem，because you are right。Scientists still agree that around sixty-five million years ago, a meteor or comet or something was the instigator⁴. But it’s not clear that the impact alone would have been enough to end the reign⁵ of the dinosaurs. So one theory is that the explosion started global forest fires. All that fire shot so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the planet heated up like an oven and baked the dinos to death.
m:I heard that theory but problem is that there isn’t as much charred⁶ plant debris⁷ as you’d expect if there really were such giant fires.
W:Right，so what sparked a new theory was the discovery of tiny carbon spheres at dozens of dinosaur dig sites around the world. The spheres are created from burning fossil fuels like oil. So maybe the meteor exploded in the midst of a huge oil field in the Gulf⁸ of Mexico. First it would have vaporized the oil, then ignited it in the atmosphere, creating a huge, sky-bound fireball. The combination of fire, soot⁹ and global warming may have been enough to kill the dinosaurs.
m:Wow，and we think we've got an oil crisis。

　　译文：
w:什么让恐龙灭绝的？
m:怎么又是这个问题？我的意思是我们已经讨论过上百次啦。一巨型行星撞击地球，遮挡了阳光，恐龙赖以生存的食物无法生长，由此恐龙便走向衰亡。
w:但并不是所有的科学家都同意这种观点，相关证据表明一场巨大的石油火灾可能与恐龙的灭绝有关联。
m:好吧，是我错了。
w:你也没有说错。科学家依旧认为约六千五百万年前撞击地球的行星抑或彗星是始作俑者，只是不确信其影响是否足以导致恐龙时代结束。于是另外一种理论称其始于一场全球森林火灾。这场火向大气释放大量的二氧化碳，地球温度升高，热得像一个烤炉，恐龙被炙烤至死。
m:我听过这种理论。问题是如你所说有一场巨大的火灾，但并没有像你期望的那么多的烧焦植物碎片发现。
w:这个理论源于在世界各地很多恐龙挖掘地址所发现的微小碳球。这些碳球是由类似石油的化石燃料燃烧而产生的。可能行星在墨西哥湾一巨大油田中部爆炸，石油蒸发，并在大气中着火，形成巨大的火球驶向天空。火灾，烟雾以及全球变暖共同导致了恐龙的灭绝。
m：噢，我们已经遭遇了石油危机。

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 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

4 instigator   

n.煽动者

参考例句：

• It is not a and differs from instigator in nature. 在刑法理论中，通常将教唆犯作为共犯的一种类型加以探究。 来自互联网
• If we are really the instigator, we are awaiting punishment. 如果我们真的是煽动者，那我们愿意接受惩罚。 来自互联网

5 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

6 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

8 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

9 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。