听力文本

Because until Argentina scientists had so few facts all they had to go on were their theories,
因为在此之前，科学家们只有很少一些资料能证明他们的假设
but all these theories did have one thing in common:
但是所有这些假设都有一个共同点
they all had something to do with one of the most extraordinary events ever to have happened in the Earth's history,
它们都与地球史上发生过的一次最重大的事件有关
because back at the time of the early dinosaurs, the Earth was a very different place to today.
因为在早期恐龙的时代，地球的面貌与今天截然不同
You see at the beginning of the Jurassic what we had was all the land masses,
在侏罗纪初期，所有陆地板块
all the continents lumped together in one giant super-continent that was then surrounded by just one giant ocean.
所有大陆都连在一起，形成一块巨大的超大陆，当时它被一整片泛大洋包围

This super-continent was the world of the early dinosaurs, but forces deep within the Earth were already at work.
这块超大陆是早期恐龙的生存地，不过地球内部的巨大力量正在发挥作用
During the Jurassic this continent started to break apart.
这块大陆于侏罗纪开始分裂
This was the birth of the world we know today.
我们今天熟知的世界诞生了
It was such a huge event, scientists instinctively felt it had to have some effect on the evolution of the dinosaurs.
这是一次重大事件，科学家们从直觉上认为它可能影响到恐龙的进化
Well this break-up of the super-continent probably had to do something with the diversification of the dinosaurs,
这次超大陆的分裂很可能导致了恐龙的多样化
but what it was that is what we're trying to find out.
但到底是怎么回事，这就是我们要研究的。

词汇解析

1.have something to do with 与…有关
We think this kind of variability must have something to do with premature ageing.
我们认为，这种发病年龄的差异一定与过早老化有关。

2.lump together 合在一起
Databases used by some companies don't rely on data collected systematically but rather lump together information from different research projects.
一些公司使用的数据库里的数据并非系统性的采集而得，而是将不同研究项目的信息胡乱搜集在一起。

3.at work 发挥作用
If you had come to China during the battle against SARS, you would have chanced to watch how the Chinese cohesiveness was at work.
如果你在抗击SARS期间来到中国，你就有机会看到中华民族的凝聚力是怎样发挥其作用的。

视频及简介

没有哪种生物能像恐龙那样统治地球，但是恐龙的故事中却包藏着一个巨大的谜团，那就是它们如何称霸世界。