評論
打印
Recording Two
錄音二
The partial skeletons of more than 20 dinosaurs and the scattered bones of about 300 more have been discovered in Utah and Colorado at what is now the Dinosaur National Monument.
在美國猶他州和科羅拉多州發(fā)現(xiàn)了20多只恐龍的部分骨骼和大約300多只恐龍零散的骨骼，現(xiàn)在它被稱為國家恐龍化石保護區(qū)。
Many of the best specimens may be seen today at museums of natural history in the largest cities of the United States and Canada.
現(xiàn)在，人們可以在美國和加拿大最大城市的自然歷史博物館里看到許多最好的標本。
This dinosaur pit is the largest and best preserved deposit of dinosaurs known today.
這個恐龍坑是目前已知的最大、保存最好的恐龍沉積物。
Many people get the idea from the massive bones and the pit wall that some disaster, such as a volcanic explosion or a sudden flood, killed a whole herd of dinosaurs in this area.
許多人從這些巨大的骨頭和恐龍坑上得到的想法是，某種災(zāi)難，比如火山爆發(fā)或突發(fā)洪水，在這個地區(qū)殺死了一群恐龍。
This could have happened, but it probably did not.
這可能確實發(fā)生過，但也可能沒有發(fā)生。
The main reasons for thinking otherwise are the scattered bones and the thickness of the deposit.
之所以存在另一種可能，主要是因為零散的骨頭和沉積物的厚度。
In other deposits where the animals were thought to have died together, the skeletons were usually complete and often all the bones were in their proper places.
在其他被認為是恐龍群體死亡的沉積物中，它們的骨骼通常是完整的，而且通常所有的骨頭都處于該在的位置。
Rounded pieces of fossil bones have been found here.
人們在這里發(fā)現(xiàn)了圓形的骨骼化石。
These fragments got their smooth round shape, though, rolling along the stream bottom.
這些碎片沿著河底滾動，形成了光滑的圓形。
In a mass killing, the bones would have been left on the stream or lake bottom together at the same level.
在大規(guī)模屠殺中，這些骨頭會被留在溪流或湖底的同一水平面上。
But in this deposit, the bones occur throughout a zone of sandstone about 12 feet thick.
但在這一沉積物中，骨骼分布在大約12英尺厚的砂巖地帶。
The mixture of swamp dwellers and dry land types also seems to indicate that the deposit is a mixture from different places.
沼澤生物和旱地生物的混合似乎也表明，沉積物是來自不同的地方。
The pit area is a large dinosaur graveyard, not a place where they died.
這個恐龍坑區(qū)域是一個巨大的恐龍墓地，而不是它們死亡的地方。
Most of the remains probably floated down on eastward flowing river until they were left on a shallow sandbar.
大部分遺骸可能是順著向東的河流漂流而下，最后被留在了一個較淺的沙洲上。
Some of them may have come from far away dry land areas to the west.
其中一些可能來自遙遠的西部干旱地區(qū)。
Perhaps they drowned trying to cross a small stream or washed away during floods.
也許他們在試圖穿過小溪時淹死了，或者在洪水中被沖走了。
Some of the swamp dwellers may have got stuck in the very sandbar that became their grave.
一些沼澤生物可能被困在了沙洲里，那里就變成了它們的墳?zāi)埂?/p>
Others may have floated for miles before being stranded.
還有一些可能在擱淺前漂流了數(shù)英里。
Even today, similar events take place when floods come in the spring.
即使在今天，當春天洪水來襲時，類似的事件也會發(fā)生。
Sheep, cattle, deer are often trapped by rising waters and often drown.
綿羊、牛經(jīng)常因水位上升被困，經(jīng)常被淹死。
Their dead bodies float downstream until the flood recedes and leaves them stranded on a bar or shore where they lie half buried in the sand until they decay.
他們的尸體順流而下，直到洪水退去，他們被困在沙洲或岸邊，一半埋在沙子里，直到腐爛。
Early travelers on the Missouri River reported that shores and bars were often lined with the decaying bodies of Buffalo that had died during spring floods.
早期在密蘇里河上的旅行者報告說，岸邊和沙洲上經(jīng)常有在春季洪水中死去的腐爛的水牛尸體。
19. Where can many of the best dinosaur specimens be found in North America?
19. 在北美哪里可以找到許多最好的恐龍標本?
20. What occurs to many people when they see the massive bones in the pit wall?
20.當許多人看到恐龍坑里巨大的骨頭時會想到什么?
21. What does the speaker suggest about the large number of dinosaur bones found in the pit?
21. 關(guān)于恐龍坑內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)的大量恐龍骨骼，說話者暗示了什么?
