VOA慢速英语:Scientists Identify Remains of Bird-Like Dinosaur in North America

短语讲解：
 

1. Today on the program, we tell about some of the many recent discoveries about dinosaurs. These creatures died out long ago, but scientists are still learning lots of things about them.

tell about 谈及; 讲述
例句：We will tell about the effects of that decision next week.
下周，我们将向你讲述这一决定所带来的影响。

2. Experts say the dinosaur belongs to a group of plant- and meat-eating creatures that once lived in Central and East Asia.

belong to 属于
例句：Which country do you belong to?
你到底是哪个国家的？

3. They say it had a beak, or hard nose, but no teeth for breaking down food. 

break down 失败; 划分
例句：Cellulose is hard to break down.
纤维素是很难分解的。

4. They say it was more than three-and-a-half meters tall and weighed between 200 and 300 kilograms.

between ... and 在两者之间
例句：Differentiate between command and configuration. 
要把命令和设置区别开来。 

5. As a result, it was not easy to kill.

as a result 结果， 因此
例句：As a result, we grew through word-of-mouth.
因此，我们依赖口口相传。

6. They made the discovery while digging up the remains of another small, horned creature formerly unknown to scientists.

dig up 发现; 掘起
例句：Newspapers love to dig up scandal. 
报纸就是爱把丑事儿揭出来.

7. “There was evolutionary pressure on it to develop small size because the environment it was living in probably would have had less food -- or at least less consistently-available food -- than environments further south that were, you know, far less seasonal that didn’t have long periods of darkness and long periods of light.”

at least 至少
例句：Every transistor has at least three electrodes. 
每个晶体管至少有三个电极。 

8. So he and other researchers removed teeth from the skulls of two of the animals to search for clues. 

search for 搜索，搜寻
例句：The search for peace also means the search for justice. 
寻求和平也意味着寻求正义。