英语听力：2013-07-21 《恐龙的战争》3 顽强防御—16

 That’s a wave of energy that could knock over a predator¹ or at least discombobulate it, scramble² its brains. 

 

Despite holding a deafening³ secret weapon, a Parasaurolophus, like other plant eaters, knows that the best way to stay alive is to keep predators⁴ at a distance. But in this prehistoric⁵ world, giant carnivores with ultra-keen senses and powerful, razor weaponry are everywhere.

 

Throughout the Cretaceous, hungry carnivores patrol the landscape. They are the most terrifying predators the world has ever known. Their plant-eating prey⁶, though, are well-armed and well-armored. They don’t give in without a fight. But prehistoric herbivores have a problem. They lack the brainpower of the carnivores that hunt them. Sauroposeidon’s brain is so tiny, it can barely process any information at all. So just how did these intellectually challenged giants cope in such a dangerous world? 

 

There has to be some sort of device that compensated⁷ for this diminished capacity to make individual choice, and it’s got to be society. 

 

Sauroposeidon defend themselves against super-predators by working and thinking together.

 

So you have group intelligence, group memory, group decision-making replacing individuality. 

 

Living as a group is vital for Sauroposeidon’s survival. Individually, their huge size…

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 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

3 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 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。

7 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。