VOA慢速英语2014 恐龙在美国博物馆"再生"

 

Dinosaurs² Live Again at an American Museum 恐龙在美国博物馆"再生"

Many millions of years ago, the last dinosaurs lived in what is now the American West. Now, scientists studying dinosaur¹ fossils have documented what happened to the ancient creatures. An exhibit showing some of the results has opened at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

数百万年前，最后的一批恐龙生活在美国的西部。现在，科学家研究恐龙化石来证明这一古生物到底发生了什么。华盛顿特区的史密森尼博物馆公开展列了一些研究结果。

The dinosaurs delight seven-year-old Ella Smith. She says, “They are very old and cool and very big.”

7岁的艾拉·史密斯看着这些恐龙化石，非常高兴。她说：“这些化石很老、很酷、也很大。”

Ella and her mother Paige have found themselves in a room that re-creates the world just before an asteroid³ struck. Many scientists believe that asteroid destroyed the dinosaurs and nearly everything else.

艾拉和她的妈妈佩琪她们在一个房间里看到重现小行星撞击地球之前的世界。很多科学家认为小行星撞击导致恐龙的死亡，撞击甚至摧毁了所有的东西。

Kara Blond directs exhibitions at the Museum of Natural History. She says Ella and her mother have only seen a preview of what will be shown five years from now in the new National Fossil Hall.

卡拉·布兰德负责自然历史博物馆的展览。她说艾拉和她母亲只看到一个序曲，接下来的五年里，会有一个新的国家化石厅展览。

“The New Fossil Hall will tell the grand sweep of life on Earth over time. This is one little 2,000,000-year part of that. But it gives us a real window into how people understand science and how they interpret the stories.”

“新国家化石厅会向人们展示在一段时间内，地球上生物被席卷横扫的宏伟场面。那只是200万年的历史。但是确实给人们一种了解科学和科学家如何诠释这段历史的一个视角。”

She says a few ancient creatures and their ways of living will be the basis of that exhibit.

她说只有少部分的古生物以及它们的生活方式会构成展览的主要部分。

“We use a couple of our major specimens⁴ as the anchors for the story. And we deconstruct the world that they lived in by looking at the mechanics of how they lived, how they ate, who they lived with, what plants they fed on.”

“我们使用了一些主要的物种作为故事的重头戏。我们重建了它们生活的那个世界，通过观看它们如何生存、如何吃东西，与哪些族群共生，以及它们以什么植物为生来了解。”

These dinosaurs existed in what is now the arid⁵ – very dry – American West. But in their time the area had a seaway. The deltas⁶ extending from that seaway turned out to be a perfect place for the animals to die. Over time, some of their remains⁷ became fossils. That is why the area is now rich in fossils.

这些恐龙生活在干旱——非常干旱的美国西部。在那个时代，这片区域有一条海道，从海道向外延伸的三角洲是埋葬动物的最佳地方。随着时间的流逝。一些动物就变成化石。这也就是为什么这片地方盛产化石。

Kay Behrensmeyer set up the exhibition. She says the uncovered remains also document the birds, small mammals and reptiles⁸ that survived after the dinosaurs died off.

这个展览由凯莉·比雷姆斯梅尔创办。她说还有一些发现：在恐龙相继死亡后，一些鸟类、小型哺乳动物和爬行动物存活了下来。

“Turtles survived. There are many aquatic⁹ ones. If they were hiding out in the water, they had more of a chance to do that to get through. And earthworms, we actually have arrows from earthworms that are an inch or two above the impact layer.”

“乌龟幸存下来，很多水生生物也存活下来。如果它们隐藏在水中，有更大的机会躲过灾难。生活在一到两寸冲积层里的蚯蚓也幸免于难。”

That layer can be seen in a piece of rock in the exhibition area. It shows when the asteroid hit, causing the animals to die.

在展览区，这种土层可以在一块岩石中看到。岩石块展示了小行星撞击地球时，造成一些动物死亡。

Museum fossil hunters continue to send back what they dig up in the field. Some make it to the Fossil Lab, which is behind glass windows in the exhibit. Visitors can watch scientists as they study and prepare the remains.

博物馆的化石“猎手”继续送回一些他们挖掘到的一些化石。一些送到化石实验室，用玻璃隔开展览。参观的游客可以看到科学家在研究这些流传下来的化石。

This is where volunteer Bill King sorts through ancient bones of an ancient crocodile – a land and water animal.

志愿者比尔·金对鳄鱼的骨头进行分类整理，鳄鱼是水陆两栖动物。

“It’s just really interesting. It is like a crime scene investigation¹⁰, only there wasn’t any crime. It’s just nature and millions of years ago. And we get to do it all, hands on, at no charge.”

“做这件事非常有意思，就好像在调查犯罪现场，只是这里没有任何犯罪。这里调查的是自然和数百万年前的物种。我们得手工做这些活儿，但是没有报酬。”

The flowering of the planet after the dinosaurs shows that the Earth is resilient and can regenerate¹¹ – be fertile again – over time. But KayBehrensmeyer says human beings are now producing fast changes in the environment. She says that with that knowledge, people need to guard that environment so future regeneration can continue.

恐龙死亡后，地球出现一段繁盛时期，这表明地球随着时间的流逝，能够再次恢复生气，再次富庶。但是比雷姆斯梅尔表示：人类现在对环境做的改变太快了。基于地球有再生能力的了解，人们需要保护环境，这样在未来，地球的可再生、可恢复能力才能继续。

Four-year-old Nathanial Paul is learning that lesson now.

4岁的那桑尔·保罗正在学习地球可再生这一课。

Mike Paul: “Why do you love the dinosaurs so much?”

迈克·保罗：“你为什么这么喜欢恐龙？”

Nathanial Paul: ‘Cause I want to learn more about them.”

那桑尔·保罗：因为我想了解更多关于恐龙的信息。

Mike Paul: “Because you want to learn more about them.”

迈克·保罗：“因为你想了解更多关于恐龙的内容。”

That should please the exhibit’s organizers. They hope visitors leave the museum with greater understanding of creatures that depended on the environment – just like us humans.

这应该会让展览的组织者非常高兴。他们希望参观者在离开博物馆的时候，能够更深刻的了解就像我们人类一样，同样依赖于环境生存的生物的一些知识。

1 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。

2 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》

3 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。

4 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

6 deltas   

希腊字母表中第四个字母( delta的名词复数 )； （河口的）三角洲

参考例句：

• Tidal channels, deltas, and washover fans are characteristically associated with offshore bars. 潮汐水道、三角洲和冲刷扇典型地与滨外砂洲伴生在一起。
• I know many of the early civilizations prospered on deltas. 我知道很多古老的文明都是在三角洲上蓬勃发展起来的。

7 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。

8 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 regenerate   

vt.使恢复，使新生；vi.恢复，再生；adj.恢复的

参考例句：

• Their aim is to regenerate British industry.他们的目的是复兴英国的工业。
• Although it is not easy,you have the power to regenerate your life.尽管这不容易，但你有使生活重获新生的能力。