纪录片《恐龙灭绝真相》 第26期 第三纪界线

Between ten million and three million years before the KT boundary,

在第三纪界线前1000万年至300万年间，

the dinosaurs² seem to have suffered a dramatic decline.

恐龙的数量开始急剧下降。

One interpretation³ of the fossil record is that forty percent of dinosaur¹ species went extinct.

化石记录的一个解释是40%的恐龙种类灭绝了。

And so we come up to about one to three million years before the end of the Cretaceous

我们翻看了白垩纪结束前300万年至100万年的地球历史，

and we've got a group that seems to be vulnerable to any kind of extinction⁴ events that might be occurring at that time.

我们发现很多脆弱的因素很有可能因为这一时期发生的灭绝事件而遭到毁灭。

So it seems that by three million years before the impact, the dinosaurs were already in trouble.

由此看来在大碰撞发生前300万年，恐龙已经在苟延残喘。

The big question is what happened next?

问题是接下来发生了什么？

Did they stabilise or carry on dwindling⁵?

它们的数量是稳定下来了，还是在继续减少？

What is known is that their environment continued to worsen.

我们所知道的是，它们的环境仍在恶化。

For about half a million years before the KT boundary,

在第三纪界线之前的50万年间，

the world suffered one of its most destructive periods of volcanism ever.

世界经历了最具破坏性的火山活动时期。

Vast areas of land were ridden with eruptions⁶.

大面积的土地被火山灰吞噬。

A million cubic kilometres of lava⁷ spewed out in what are known as the Deccan Traps.

在我们所熟悉的德干岩群火山活动中，就喷出了数百万立方公里的熔岩。

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 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

4 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。

5 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

6 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

7 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。