纪录片《地球劫难日》 第16期 陨石坑伤疤

The asteroid¹ that hit the earth at the time of the dinosaur² extinction³ was at least 10km diameter.

撞击地球导致恐龙灭绝的小行星直径至少是10公里。

The Permian mass extinction is even more severe,

二叠纪生物大灭绝更加严重，

so the asteroid that hit it that time must have been even larger, perhaps 15km in diameter.

所以当时撞上来的小行星应该更大，可能达到直径15公里。

It seemed the perfect answer.

这种解释看起来很完美。

A meteor the size of Manhattan had wiped out most of life on earth.

一颗大小如同曼哈顿的陨星消灭了地球上绝大多数生物。

Yet something didn't add up.

然而这还是有些说不通。

Nothing that size could hit the earth and not leave a trace.

但凡撞击地球的天体都不可能不留痕迹。

The meteor that had wiped out the dinosaurs⁴ had left a giant fingerprint⁵ in the shape of a crater⁶,

消灭恐龙的那颗陨星在墨西哥海岸留下了一个陨石坑伤疤，

just off the coast of Mexico, where was the Permian crater.

那么二叠纪撞击坑又在何处呢。

No matter where they looked, nobody could find anything dating from the Permian era,

科学家们四处搜索，但无论如何也找不到符合二叠纪天体碰撞事件的陨石坑，

but then a scientist from London came up with a totally new idea.

后来一位来自伦敦的科学家提出了全新的观点。

Adrian Jones models the effects of impacts on the earth's crust.

Adrian Jones模拟了地壳撞击的结果。

He now suggested geologists⁷ were searching for the wrong thing.

他认为地质学家们是在寻找不存在的东西。

1 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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》

5 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

6 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

7 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。