英语听力：2013-04-24 恐龙之战之极限生存 Extreme Survivors—16

 Even if the animail managed to survive, the wounds generated from the bite, the prey¹ dinosaur² would get weaker and sicker, and the predator³ could then hunt it down and kill it. 

 

Bitten by a T-Rex, and you’re downfall, be it now or later.

 

And once you are down, Tyrannosaurus Rex will find you and eat you.

 

Unfortunately, for this T-Rex, the stench of rotting meat draws a crowd. And while a hungry adult male fights for his share of the spoils, his unguarded hatchlings wait for his return while a Quetzalcoatlus circles above.

 

Fifty billion years before the first T-Rex walked the earth, Sauroposeidon youngsters are already out on their own. Huge numbers hatched each year. But only three out of 10,000 will survive to adulthood⁴. The most dangerous time is the first a few weeks when they are smallest.

 

Their best defense⁵ is to get as big as then can, as fast as they can. 

 

In order to grow very big very fast, they do something that appears to break the most basic rules of biology. For the first a few years, these plant eaters are meat eaters. 

 

Probably many of them were eating insects and small animals, because it was a ready source of protein. Very many plant-eating animals will also take animal prey when they can get them because it’s an importance source of nutrients⁶ that are really hard to get from plants.

 

A young Sauroposeidon processes food in an entirely⁷ different way than an adult, digesting its food in the stomach and small intestine⁸.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 intestine   

adj.内部的；国内的；n.肠

参考例句：

• This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.这种维生素通过小肠壁被吸收。
• The service productivity is the function,including external efficiency,intestine efficiency and capacity efficiency.服务业的生产率是一个包含有外部效率、内部效率和能力效率的函数。