VOA慢速英语:Dinosaurs Already Decreasing Before Asteroid Hit

短语讲解：

1. He also said that while the asteroid may have been what finally led to their extinction, “something else had already been preventing dinosaurs from evolving new species as fast as old species were dying out.”

lead to 导致; 把…带到; 领到
例句：A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.
不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
dying out 衰灭消失; 衰止
例句：There are new uses of words coming in and old uses dying out.
单词总有新用法出现，也有旧用法慢慢被淘汰。

2. He said that dinosaurs had lost their ability to evolve – or change – quickly enough to deal with environmental changes on the planet.

deal with 应付; 对待; 惠顾; 与…交易
例句：I have a huge pile of letters to deal with.
我有一大堆信件要处理。

3. Some of these changes came from volcanic activity and the breaking up of continental landmasses.

break up 结束; （使） 破碎; 放假
例句：Civil war could come if the country breaks up.
如果国家分裂就会爆发内战。

4. With their food supply gone, the dinosaurs died off too.

die off 相继死去，先后死去
例句：His few remaining kinsfolk die off
他仅有的几位亲属相继去世了。