纪录片《恐龙灭绝真相》 第24期 碰撞冬天

This little tree frog, like all amphibians¹, is very susceptible² to acid rain.

这种小树蛙和所有的两栖动物一样，很容易受到酸雨的影响。

They have problems with their metabolism³ and finally they can't breed in the water.

它们的新陈代谢会出现问题，以至于最后不能在水中繁殖。

If acid rain had occurred at the end of the Cretaceous, all amphibians should have disappeared.

如果酸雨出现在白垩纪晚期，那所有的两栖动物都应该消失。

They don't, almost all of them survived,

但是它们没有，它们几乎都还活着，

as do all the turtles, the crocodiles, their cousins the alligators⁴ and most fishes.

所有的海龟、鳄鱼和它们的近亲短吻鳄，还有大多数鱼类也都活着。

This says that there can not have been battery acid strength acid rain at the end of the Cretaceous.

这就说明在白垩纪晚期没有出现像电池酸那样强的酸雨。

If there was no significant acid rain, it seemed another killing⁵ mechanism⁶ had been disproved.

如果至关重要的酸雨不存在，那么另一种引起大灭绝的事件也将难以立足。

And what about the so called impact winter?

那就是所谓的碰撞冬天。

Dust was meant to have blocked out the sun...

烟灰封住了太阳，

that could have plunged⁷ the world into deep freeze for months or years, but again those little frogs got in the way.

这种情况会使全世界陷入数月甚至数年的冰冷之中，但是这些存活下来的小青蛙又如何解释呢。

Amphibians like all cold blooded creatures have problems dealing⁸ with sudden drops in temperature,

像所有的冷血动物一样，两栖动物无法应对气温突然下降的情况，

especially if it lasts for many months or years.

特别是它会持续几个月甚至几年。

If this had happened at the end of the Cretaceous,

要是这样的情况出现在白垩纪晚期，

then many cold blooded organisms should have become extinct, but they did not.

那么许多冷血动物就应该消失，但是它们没有。

This tells us that there could not have been a long term drop in temperature.

这就告诉我们，地球历史上并没有发生过长时间的降温。

1 amphibians   

两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器

参考例句：

• The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
• Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。

2 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

3 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。

4 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 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。