纪录片《恐龙的战争》 顽强防御（10）

When a Goliath like this is fully¹ grown, even the most vicious predators² keep their distance,

当这样的庞然大物发育成熟，即使最凶恶的食肉动物也要避让三分

even the most ferocious³ raptor of the Cretaceous--Deinonychus.

包括白垩纪最凶猛的猛禽--恐爪龙。

At 90 kilos, this raptor pales in comparison to its 50-ton quarry⁴.

它体重只有九十千克，这样的猛禽与50吨重的猎物相比苍白无力。

If we're talking about a single adult Deinonychus and a single adult Sauroposeidon,

如果有一只恐爪龙与一只波塞东龙，

the story would go something like this.

故事大概会这样发展。

"Hi! I'm a Deinonychus." "I'm a Sauroposeidon." Kuh!

"你好，我是恐爪龙"。"我是波塞东龙"。踩扁！

But for a Sauroposeidon, reaching full size can take years.

但对于波塞东龙来说，发育成熟需要数年时间。

To make things worse, fossil evidence shows that juveniles⁵ live alone,

更糟的是化石证据表明，幼龙是独居的，

separated from the herd⁶ until they reach at least a third of their adult weight.

它们远离兽群直到体重达到成年龙的三分之一以上。

That means for nearly a decade, they wander the forest alone.

这意味着在近十年的时间里，它们不得不在森林里自力更生。

And that forest is crawling with Deinonychus.

而森林恰恰是恐爪龙的天下。

Intelligent and well armed, they hunt on their own or sometimes in packs.

它们聪明而又装备齐全，有时候独猎，有时候群体出动。

They run with a top speed of 65 kilometers per hour. These raptors can take on a youngster.

它们的最快时度能达到六十五公里。这些猛禽能捕食幼龙。

For a young Sauroposeidon, there's just one solution. Get big quickly.

对波塞东龙幼龙来说，办法只有一个。快速变大。

And that's going to take a lot of fuel.

而变大需要很多能量。

The number-one concern in life would be feeding the beast.

当务之急就是如何填饱肚子。

The land is covered in vast forests of ferns, pines, and monkey puzzle trees.

森林茂密，遍布蕨类，松树以及智利南美杉。

Many of these plants have almost no nutritional⁷ value.

很多植物几乎没有任何营养价值。

The hardest job in the animal world, the dinosaur⁸ world, was not T. Rex's job.

在动物世界，恐龙世界生存对于雷克斯霸王龙来说并不是最艰难的。

Digesting meat is a piece of cake. It's very, very simple.

消化肉食根本就是小菜一碟。简单至极。

Digesting plant fiber⁹ is the hardest job in the world.

消化植物纤维才是最困难的事情。

To gain enough nutrients¹⁰ to grow indestructibly large,

为了获得足够的营养长成无人能欺的庞然大物，

Sauroposeidon has to consume huge amounts of vegetation.

波塞东龙必须吞食大量植被。

They were like walking vacuum cleaners.

它们就像行走的吸尘器。

If you've got 40 or 50 tons of flesh to feed and you eat low-quality food,

如果要长到四五十吨，光靠吃劣质食物的话

you have to put away hundreds of pounds, maybe a ton of this stuff, every day.

每天必须消耗数百磅或许一吨食物。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

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 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

4 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

5 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

6 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

7 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

8 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。

9 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

10 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》