当前位置：首页>考研资料>外刊精读 | 考研英语素材:恐龙没了,鳄鱼还在——靠的是不肯离开暖和地方

外刊精读 | 考研英语素材:恐龙没了,鳄鱼还在——靠的是不肯离开暖和地方

2026-11-01 18:45:00

【关注】我，每日持续更新。将公众号设为⭐，每期不错过。

一、背景速览

鳄类——今日的鳄鱼、短吻鳄、凯门鳄、恒河鳄，再加上一大群已经灭绝的亲戚——在两亿四千多万年前就登场了，此后一直活得不错。十月《科学进展》上的一项研究给出一个解释：它们靠的是坚持留在温暖气候中。研究团队用 400 多个物种的演化树串联起 7000 多份化石记录，再叠加 52 份全球古气候重建结果，发现其他类群四处扩张、什么气候都占据，鳄类却始终留在温暖的地方——温暖期往两极扩展，寒冷期退回赤道。这可能正是它们熬过 6600 万年前那颗小行星的原因：在撞击后的寒冬里，赤道和亚热带仍保留着它们能承受的气候。再加上变温、低代谢、能夏眠也能冬眠，这群爬行动物才活到了今天。

二、英文节选

Crocodilians — today's crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials and their many extinct relatives — have been a roaring success since debuting more than 240 million years ago. And new research identifies one important factor in their success — stubbornly keeping to warm climates throughout their history.

In fact, the researchers said, this trait may help explain why crocs as a group survived the asteroid strike 66 million years ago that doomed the dinosaurs, along with certain physiological characteristics that make them one tough bunch of reptiles.

"Rather than continually adapting to new climatic conditions, they largely tracked suitable environments as these shifted geographically, expanding towards the poles during warmer periods and retreating towards the equator during cooler ones," said University College London vertebrate paleontologist Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, lead author of the research published in the journal Science Advances.

三、中文译文

鳄类——今日的鳄鱼、短吻鳄、凯门鳄、恒河鳄，以及它们众多已灭绝的亲戚——自两亿四千多万年前登场以来，一直活得相当成功。一项新研究指出了它们成功的一个关键因素：在整部历史上坚持留在温暖的气候中。

事实上，研究者指出，这一特征或许能解释鳄类作为一个整体如何躲过 6600 万年前那场让恐龙灭绝的小行星撞击；此外，某些生理特征也使它们成为一群格外耐受力强的爬行动物。

「它们并没有不停地去适应新的气候条件，而基本上是跟着适宜环境走：环境在地理上挪到哪里，它们就跟到哪里；气候温暖的时期向两极扩展，寒冷的时期退回赤道，」伦敦大学学院古脊椎动物学家 Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza 说。他是这项发表于《科学进展》的研究的第一作者。

四、高频词短语

【lineage】　/ˈlɪniɪdʒ/　n. 世系，演化支系

例句：The crocodilian lineage appeared before the first dinosaurs.

译：鳄类这一支系比最早的恐龙出现得还早。

【palaeoclimate】　/ˈpæliəʊklaɪmət/　n. 古气候

例句：The team matched the fossils against 52 palaeoclimate reconstructions.

译：团队把化石与 52 份古气候重建结果做了比对。

【aestivation】　/ˌiːstɪˈveɪʃn/　n. 夏眠

例句：Some crocodiles aestivate in burrows through the dry season.

译：有些鳄鱼会在洞穴里夏眠，熬过旱季。

【tolerance】　/ˈtɒlərəns/　n. 耐受范围，耐受限度

例句：Equatorial waters stayed within the animals' thermal tolerance.

译：赤道水域始终在这些动物的耐热范围之内。

【refuge】　/ˈrefjuːdʒ/　n. 避难所，庇护地

例句：Equatorial wetlands may have served as refuges during the impact winter.

译：撞击冬天里，赤道湿地可能为它们提供了庇护。

五、长难句速拆

原句：Rather than continually adapting to new climatic conditions, they largely tracked suitable environments as these shifted geographically, expanding towards the poles during warmer periods and retreating towards the equator during cooler ones.

句首 Rather than 加分词短语，先摆出「没有做的事」，主句在后面：they largely tracked suitable environments。as these shifted geographically 是时间状语从句，these 指前面的 suitable environments，说的是环境挪到哪里、它们就跟到哪里。后面两个分词 expanding… 和 retreating… 并列，作伴随状语，把「跟」这个动作拆成两个方向：暖期向两极，冷期回赤道。句末的 ones 是代词，替代 environments，不是「那些」。

六、考场应用

考研翻译·Rather than 的对比结构：Rather than continually adapting to new climatic conditions, they largely tracked… 中文不宜译成「与其不断适应新气候，不如……」，那会读成主动选择；原文是客观描述，译成「它们并没有不停地去适应……，而基本上是跟着……走」更贴切。

考研阅读·同位语堆叠的细节题：…said University College London vertebrate paleontologist Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, lead author of the research published in the journal Science Advances. 新闻电讯惯于把单位、职称、论文身份全塞进同位语。做题时先抓人名，同位语整块跳过；细节题问「谁主导了这项研究」，答案就在 lead author 两个字上，别被 vertebrate paleontologist 带偏。

雅思写作·Task 2：气候类题目常问物种如何应对升温。本文给了一条清晰的分野：适应（adapt）还是迁移（track suitable environments）——鳄类选的是后者，代价是只能守在有暖气候的地方。写生物多样性或生态保护题时，这两条并置比单说 species are threatened 有内容。

试译：Crocs also are cold-blooded, while recent research points to at least some dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus as warm-blooded. Baseline metabolic requirements for cold-blooded animals are much lower than for comparably sized warm-blooded animals.

这两句你打算怎么翻？提示：points to X as Y 不是「指向」，while 在这里是两种动物的对比；第二句 than 后面省略了谓语。