VOA慢速英語: 美國博物館的恐龍再次重現(xiàn)

美國博物館的恐龍再次重現(xiàn)

Demise of America's Dinosaurs Re-Imagined in Washington

Many millions of years ago, the last dinosaurs lived in what is now the American West. Now, scientists studying dinosaur fossils have documented what happened to the ancient creatures. An exhibit showing some of the results has opened at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

數(shù)百萬年前，最后的一批恐龍生活在美國的西部?，F(xiàn)在，科學家研究恐龍化石來證明這一古生物到底發(fā)生了什么。華盛頓特區(qū)的史密森尼博物館公開展列了一些研究結果。

The dinosaurs delight seven-year-old Ella Smith. She says, “They are very old and cool and very big.”

7歲的艾拉·史密斯看著這些恐龍化石，非常高興。她說：“這些化石很老、很酷、也很大。”

Ella and her mother Paige have found themselves in a room that re-creates the world just before an asteroid struck. Many scientists believe that asteroid destroyed the dinosaurs and nearly everything else.

艾拉和她的媽媽佩琪她們在一個房間里看到重現(xiàn)小行星撞擊地球之前的世界。很多科學家認為小行星撞擊導致恐龍的死亡，撞擊甚至摧毀了所有的東西。

Kara Blond directs exhibitions at the Museum of Natural History. She says Ella and her mother have only seen a preview of what will be shown five years from now in the new National Fossil Hall.

卡拉·布蘭德負責自然歷史博物館的展覽。她說艾拉和她母親只看到一個序曲，接下來的五年里，會有一個新的國家化石廳展覽。

“The New Fossil Hall will tell the grand sweep of life on Earth over time. This is one little 2,000,000-year part of that. But it gives us a real window into how people understand science and how they interpret the stories.”

“新國家化石廳會向人們展示在一段時間內(nèi)，地球上生物被席卷橫掃的宏偉場面。那只是200萬年的歷史。但是確實給人們一種了解科學和科學家如何詮釋這段歷史的一個視角。”

She says a few ancient creatures and their ways of living will be the basis of that exhibit.

她說只有少部分的古生物以及它們的生活方式會構成展覽的主要部分。

“We use a couple of our major specimens as the anchors for the story. And we deconstruct the world that they lived in by looking at the mechanics of how they lived, how they ate, who they lived with, what plants they fed on.”

“我們使用了一些主要的物種作為故事的重頭戲。我們重建了它們生活的那個世界，通過觀看它們?nèi)绾紊?、如何吃東西，與哪些族群共生，以及它們以什么植物為生來了解。”

These dinosaurs existed in what is now the arid – very dry – American West. But in their time the area had a seaway. The deltas extending from that seaway turned out to be a perfect place for the animals to die. Over time, some of their remains became fossils. That is why the area is now rich in fossils.

這些恐龍生活在干旱——非常干旱的美國西部。在那個時代，這片區(qū)域有一條海道，從海道向外延伸的三角洲是埋葬動物的最佳地方。隨著時間的流逝。一些動物就變成化石。這也就是為什么這片地方盛產(chǎn)化石。

Kay Behrensmeyer set up the exhibition. She says the uncovered remains also document the birds, small mammals and reptiles that survived after the dinosaurs died off.

這個展覽由凱莉·比雷姆斯梅爾創(chuàng)辦。她說還有一些發(fā)現(xiàn)：在恐龍相繼死亡后，一些鳥類、小型哺乳動物和爬行動物存活了下來。

“Turtles survived. There are many aquatic ones. If they were hiding out in the water, they had more of a chance to do that to get through. And earthworms, we actually have arrows from earthworms that are an inch or two above the impact layer.”

“烏龜幸存下來，很多水生生物也存活下來。如果它們隱藏在水中，有更大的機會躲過災難。生活在一到兩寸沖積層里的蚯蚓也幸免于難。”

That layer can be seen in a piece of rock in the exhibition area. It shows when the asteroid hit, causing the animals to die.

在展覽區(qū)，這種土層可以在一塊巖石中看到。巖石塊展示了小行星撞擊地球時，造成一些動物死亡。

Museum fossil hunters continue to send back what they dig up in the field. Some make it to the Fossil Lab, which is behind glass windows in the exhibit. Visitors can watch scientists as they study and prepare the remains.

博物館的化石“獵手”繼續(xù)送回一些他們挖掘到的一些化石。一些送到化石實驗室，用玻璃隔開展覽。參觀的游客可以看到科學家在研究這些流傳下來的化石。

This is where volunteer Bill King sorts through ancient bones of an ancient crocodile – a land and water animal.

志愿者比爾·金對鱷魚的骨頭進行分類整理，鱷魚是水陸兩棲動物。

“It’s just really interesting. It is like a crime scene investigation, only there wasn’t any crime. It’s just nature and millions of years ago. And we get to do it all, hands on, at no charge.”

“做這件事非常有意思，就好像在調(diào)查犯罪現(xiàn)場，只是這里沒有任何犯罪。這里調(diào)查的是自然和數(shù)百萬年前的物種。我們得手工做這些活兒，但是沒有報酬。”

The flowering of the planet after the dinosaurs shows that the Earth is resilient and can regenerate – be fertile again – over time. But KayBehrensmeyer says human beings are now producing fast changes in the environment. She says that with that knowledge, people need to guard that environment so future regeneration can continue.

恐龍死亡后，地球出現(xiàn)一段繁盛時期，這表明地球隨著時間的流逝，能夠再次恢復生氣，再次富庶。但是比雷姆斯梅爾表示：人類現(xiàn)在對環(huán)境做的改變太快了。基于地球有再生能力的了解，人們需要保護環(huán)境，這樣在未來，地球的可再生、可恢復能力才能繼續(xù)。

Four-year-old Nathanial Paul is learning that lesson now.

4歲的那桑爾·保羅正在學習地球可再生這一課。

Mike Paul: “Why do you love the dinosaurs so much?”

邁克·保羅：“你為什么這么喜歡恐龍？”

Nathanial Paul: ‘Cause I want to learn more about them.”

那桑爾·保羅：因為我想了解更多關于恐龍的信息。

Mike Paul: “Because you want to learn more about them.”

邁克·保羅：“因為你想了解更多關于恐龍的內(nèi)容。”

That should please the exhibit’s organizers. They hope visitors leave the museum with greater understanding of creatures that depended on the environment – just like us humans.

這應該會讓展覽的組織者非常高興。他們希望參觀者在離開博物館的時候，能夠更深刻的了解就像我們?nèi)祟愐粯?，同樣依賴于環(huán)境生存的生物的一些知識。

I’m Bob Doughty.

我是鮑勃·道蒂。

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Words in this Story

fossils – n. hardened remains of a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in rock

exhibit – n. an object or collection of objects put out in a public space for people to look at; a show or demonstration

delight – v. to make someone very happy

asteroid – n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

preview – n. a special showing or performance that enables some people to see a movie or play before it is shown to the public.

specimen – n. something collected as an example of a particular kind of thing

resilient – adj. able to become strong, healthy and successful again after something bad happens

regenerate – v. to grow again after being lost or damaged