英语听力：2013-05-15 完美捕食 Perfect Predators —6

 That’s what it wants to hear, because that sound is gonna mean that’s where lunch is. 

 

A battle with Triceratops is more often than not a fight to the death. This herbivore has evolved into a tank.

 

Now, as a Tyrannosaur specialist, I don’t like to admit this, but in that situation, a Triceratops probably won, and it probably won on a regular basis. 

 

It looks as if this battle will end in a draw. The barbarian¹ of the Cretaceous walks away empty-handed. Because T-Rex are warm-blooded, they need to maintain their body temperature. This means consuming huge amounts of energy, over a million calories every week. That’s nearly 700 kilograms of raw meat needed from a good number of kills. But there could be another way for T-Rex to get his meals, probably by stealing a kill from a rival carnivore.

 

The reality is this has got all the tools of a predator², and those tools of a predator serve a scavenger³ equally well. 

 

One of those tools is its nose, the most sensitive found on any carnivorous dinosaur⁴. 

 

I can tell you that that good sense of smell was awesome⁵ for finding carcasses. And when it did, it ate those carcasses. 

 

A dead Triceratops. For Tyrannosaurus Rex, scavenging comes with substantial risk. Muscling in on another creature’s kill is not for the faint-hearted. But a T-Rex can take on almost any other meat eater, even another T-Rex. And when it’s Tyrannosaur versus⁶ Tyrannosaur, the winner takes all. 

 

Cannibalism⁷ in nature doesn’t seem to be a matter of pleasure. It’s a matter of business. 

 

T-Rex meat is T-Rex food as well, you know. It’s protein. 

1 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

2 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。

3 scavenger   

n.以腐尸为食的动物，清扫工

参考例句：

• He's just fit for a job as scavenger.他只配当个清道夫。
• He is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are.它不是食腐动物，也不像有些鲨鱼那样，只知道游来游去满足食欲。

4 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。

5 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

6 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

7 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。