1. Jays prefer crickets, but crickets degrade more quickly. 松鸡喜欢蟋蟀，但蟋蟀退化得更快。
2. Certain irrigation practices degrade soil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. 某些灌溉措施会降低土壤质量，降低农业生产力。
3. The main reason was that steel cables degrade very, very quickly in contact with saltwater. 主要原因是钢索与盐水接触后降解非常快。
4. But if silent genes degrade within 6 to 10 million years, how can long-lost traits be reactivated over longer timescales? 但是，如果沉默基因在600万到1000万年内退化，那么失去已久的性状如何在更长的时间内被重新激活呢？
5. We've been talking about the decline of coral reefs in tropical areas all over the world—how natural and man-made stresses are causing them to degrade or in some cases, to die. 我们之前提到了世界各地热带地区中珊瑚礁的衰落，即自然和人为（造成的）压力是怎样造成珊瑚礁退化，或者甚至在某些情况下，造成它们死亡的。
