纪录片《恐龙灭绝真相》 第25期 理论中的漏洞

So the dinosaurs¹ did not freeze to death...

由此可见，恐龙不是冻死的，

nor did they roast and nor did they die from the effects of acid rain.

它们既不是死于大火，也不是死于酸雨的影响。

There seemed to be so many holes in the impact theory,

看起来大碰撞理论中存在着许多漏洞，

scientists began to dust down a more classical, evolutionary² idea.

科学家们开始探寻一种更具说服力、更符合进化的观点。

Maybe the dinosaurs had died out gradually and for completely different reasons.

也许恐龙是由于完全不同的原因而慢慢灭绝的。

Many scientists believe that about ten million years before the KT boundary,

许多科学家认为，在第三纪界线前大约1000万年，

the dinosaurs' environment began to get markedly worse.

恐龙的生存环境开始显著恶化。

The lush coastal³ planes on which they depended began to turn arid⁴, as sea levels fell dramatically.

随着海平面的急剧下降，它们赖以为生的沿海植物开始变得匮乏。

Their natural habitat was disappearing.

它们的自然栖息地消失了。

They no longer have as much area to live in, they don't have as much food to eat,

它们不再有足够多的生存空间和足够多的食物，

it's harder to get from one area to another.

在不同地域间迁徙变得更加艰难。

Organisms are adapted for a certain type of environment and when those conditions disappear, those organisms disappear.

生物都得适应某种环境，每当生存环境消失，这些生物也会消失。

1 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》

2 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 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。