纪录片《巨龙的奥秘》 第23期 阿尔伯脱龙

There is always one telltale feature of all predator¹ traps.

所有掠食动物陷阱都有一个标志性的特点

They trap and kill every animal that is unlucky enough to cross their path.

它们困住并杀死不幸落入其中的动物

They contain the bones of many different species of animal that lived for miles around.

因而肯定埋有相隔很远的许多不同物种的骨骼

Over the last century, we've recovered more than three and a half million fossils,

在上个世纪，我们发掘了350万块化石

representing more than 650 species of animals and plants.

它们属于650多种动植物

And they include a great diversity of animals,

其中包括多种大型动物，

mammoths, mastadons, sabre-tooth cats, lions, dire² wolves and so on.

猛犸象、乳齿象、剑齿虎、 狮子、恐狼等等

If Currie's team discovered many different species of animal at their site,

如果Currie的研究小组在化石场发现多种不同的动物

they would have to consider whether they were simply the leftovers³ of a deadly predator trap.

他们就必须承认这里只不过是一个掠食动物陷阱的遗迹

But after three years of painstaking⁴ digging, there's been one extraordinary finding about this site.

不过经过3年的艰苦挖掘，他们在此有了重大发现

So far, all of the animals that we've found in here as parts of skeletons

目前我们在这里找到的所有动物骨骼

are one species, and that's this big meat-eater, a tyrannosaur known as Albertosaurus.

都来自同一物种，它是大型食肉恐龙，一种叫阿尔伯脱龙的暴龙

There are no other carnivorous dinosaurs⁵ in this bone bed.

化石场中并没有其它食肉恐龙

And given that we're dealing⁶ with only one type of carnivore, we can rule out things like predator traps.

这说明我们是在挖一种食肉恐龙，我们可以排除掠食动物陷阱之类的情况

It's almost certain that these dinosaurs died here together because they were living together.

几乎可以肯定这些恐龙是在这里一起死去，因为它们也在一起生活

1 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。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

4 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。