侏罗纪搏击俱乐部 第105期:肉食者的美餐

 　　The landscape of modern Utah scarcely resembles the landscape of 156 million years ago, when Allosaurus ruled supreme¹, there were fewer mountains.

　　现代犹他州的地形跟一亿五千六百万年前大相径庭，在异特龙称霸之时，那里没多少山脉。

　　And seasons as we now know them did not exist.

　　我们如今熟悉的季节当时并不存在。

　　And there was water everywhere. Rivers, ponds and lakes covered much of the state.

　　那时到处都是水。河流、池塘和湖泊覆盖着当时的整个犹他州。

　　The entire flood plain was probably scattered² with with these rivers, with ponds and lakes, and large meadows.

　　整个涝原可能都点缀着河流、池塘、湖泊和大片的草场。

　　There were a lot of fairly large trees. Trees were probably 100, 200 feet tall.

　　有很多相当高大的树木。这些树高达100,200英尺高。

　　Lots of ferns, lots of cycads, lots of ginkkos, plants be interesting plants, but of course none of them flowering plants, or grasses, or fruits, or anything like that.

　　有很多蕨类，很多苏铁，很多银杏，都是有趣的植物，不过当然它们中没有花、草、水果之类的植物。

　　Fossilized dinosaur³ bones are often found in sediment⁴ created by rain or flood.

　　恐龙骨化石经常能在大雨或洪水形成的沉积物中发现。

　　This sediment provides crucial information.

　　这种沉积物提供了关键信息。

　　Different types of physical environments produce different sorts of sediment.

　　不同类型的物理环境会产生不同类型的沉积物。

　　And we can go out in the modern world to look at a stream valley versus⁵ a desert, versus open plains, and each of them has a different pattern of sediment being produced and therefore different types of sedimentary rocks or structures.

　　我们可以去现代世界观察河流峡谷对比沙漠，对比开阔平原，它们每一种都会产生不同类型的沉积物因此会有不同的沉积岩或沉积结构。

　　Also, the plants vary from environment to environment.

　　同样，植物在不同环境里也各不相同。

　　As so we can look at whether we are seeing ferns, or herbs, or trees, or other remains⁶ of fossil plants to reconstruct the living environment.

　　所以我们能参考看到的是蕨类，还是草，或树木，或是什么别的植物化石遗迹来重建当时的生存环境。

　　By extracting oxygen, and carbon isotopes⁷ from the sediment and analyzing⁸ their chemical make-up, geochemists can deduce temperature, humidity, and even weather conditions from prehistoric⁹ world.

　　通过在沉积层里提取氧和碳的同位素，并且分析其化学构成，地化学家能够推测出温度、湿度、甚至是史前世界的气候条件。

　　And by adding all these bits and pieces together, we can create a much bigger picture of past climates and past atmospheres, and therefore, past environments.

　　把这些零零碎碎的各种信息加起来，我们就能构造出过去气候和大气更为广阔的图景，继而了解过去的环境。

　　Throughout the Jurassic period, the earth climate was hot and humid.

　　在整个侏罗纪时期，地球气候又热又湿。

　　This created a super-sized world. Tree in Utah reach an average of 25 meters.

　　这形成了巨物天地。在犹他州的树木平均高二十五米。

　　During the Jurassic era, they could reach 42 meters, fueled by the abundance of water and oxygen.

　　在侏罗纪时期，充足的水分和氧气的滋养下，它们能达到四十二米高。

　　This lush environment provided a banquet for plant eating dinosaurs¹⁰ who in turn, became a banquet for the new species of meat eaters, like Allosaurus.

　　这种葱郁的环境为植食恐龙提供了盛宴，它们也转而成了异特龙这样的肉食者的美餐。

　　More advanced in both brain and brawn¹¹, it literally¹² ate its competition into extinction¹³.

　　无论脑力还是体格都更出色，它简直把它的对手吃到了灭绝。

　　One of the main competitors of Allosaurus was Ceratosaurus.

　　异特龙的主要竞争对手之一是角鼻龙。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 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。

4 sediment   

n.沉淀，沉渣，沉积(物)

参考例句：

• The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
• Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。

5 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 isotopes   

n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
• Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

9 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

10 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》

11 brawn   

n.体力

参考例句：

• In this job you need both brains and brawn.做这份工作既劳神又费力。
• They relied on brains rather than brawn.他们靠的是脑力，而不是体力。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。