英语听力：探索发现 2012-11-18 美洲大平原 American Serengeti—10

 Colombian mammoths had to feed almost round the clock to fuel their bulky bodies. But as the ice age ended, food was not the mammoths' biggest problem. A new and deadly predator¹ began to infiltrate² the plains, a match for any prey³, even the mighty⁴ mammoths. 

 

These people knew how to make lethal⁵ weapons. They let spear points, knife blades and other tools scattered⁶ all across the plains. And they spread fast. The evidence suggests it took them only 1,000 years to spread across the entire northern continent. 

 

What can we learn today about the lifestyle of these butchers of the plains? They left a stream of clues to how they lived, including strange pyramids of rocks. Inside are bones of animals that show how they were slaughtered⁷ and cut up for meat. These cares are thought to be cold-weather larders⁸, marking prehistoric⁹ hunting camps. When hunting parties had more meat than they could eat or carry, they would stash¹⁰ the surplus under these rocks to be collected later. They seemed to have used bones as markers.

1 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

2 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

5 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 larders   

n.（家中的）食物贮藏室，食物橱( larder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

9 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

10 stash   

v.藏或贮存于一秘密处所；n.隐藏处

参考例句：

• Stash away both what you lost and gained,for life continues on.将得失深藏心底吧，为了那未来的生活。
• That's supposed to be in our private stash.这是我的私人珍藏。