纪录片《地球劫难日》 第04期 二叠纪生物大灭绝

For 30 million years, these strange creatures ruled the earth.

在长达3000万年的时间里，这些奇异的动物统治着地球。

This was a thriving, stable world, as complete in its own way as ours is today.

这是一个稳定而繁荣的世界，有着自己的完善方式，正如今天的世界一样。

Then, around 250 millions years ago, almost every living thing suddenly died.

接着大约是在2亿5千万年前，几乎所有生物都突然灭绝了。

The fossil record shows that the rock beds at the end of the Permian period contained absolutely no fossils.

化石记录显示二叠纪末期的岩床中没有任何生物化石。

No signs of life at all. This is the dead zone.

没有一点生命迹象。这就是死亡地层。

This zone represents what it was like here after the mass extinction¹.

这个地层的现象说明它是形成于大灭绝之后。

We have never found anything that represents life in this zone.

我们在这个地层中还没有发现任何一种表现生命的迹象。

This is what we would call barren.

我们称之为空白地层。

There's no evidence of plant life, there's no evidence of soils

它没有植物的证据，没有土壤的证据，

and especially there's no evidence of animals. This is completely dead.

特别是它还没有动物的证据。它完全死气沉沉。

We're going from this very rich place to a biological desert.

从一片丰饶无比的土地变成一片生态沙漠。

From a place that's like a rainforest to a place that is composed of a few species eking² out an existence.

从雨林一般的多样环境变成只有少数几种从大灭绝中逃生的物种。

Scientists call this utter destruction of life the Permian mass extinction.

科学家们将这次毁灭性的生物灭绝事件称为二叠纪生物大灭绝。

1 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。

2 eking   

v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的现在分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日

参考例句：

• He was eking out an existence on a few francs a day. 他每天就靠几法郎勉强度日。 来自辞典例句
• She is eking out her income by working in the evenings. 她在晚上工作以增加收入。 来自辞典例句