文字稿
一個有 5200 萬年歷史的果實化石在南美被發(fā)現(xiàn)。這枚遠古時期的漿果所屬的植物種類包括現(xiàn)在人們喜歡吃的土豆、西紅柿和辣椒?？茖W家們說，這個化石的發(fā)現(xiàn)說明茄科植物的起源比人類先前想象的要早了好幾千萬年。請聽 Helen Briggs 的報道。
Scientists at Pennsylvania State University say the small fruit resembles the modern day ground cherry or Physalis and tomatillo.
Little is known about how these plants evolved, as until now, only a few fossilised seeds have been found. The plant is part of the nightshade family, a group of more than 2000 different species. They include crops such as potatoes, peppers and tomatoes, the tobacco plant, plants used for medicines and flowers grown in gardens such as petunia. The discovery pushes back the origins of this plant family by tens of millions of years.
Scientists believe many more fossil plants are waiting to be discovered in South America, adding to our knowledge of how some of the world’s most valuable crops evolved and flourished.
詞匯表
resembles 像…，類似于
modern day 現(xiàn)代的
Physalis 酸漿屬（植物物種名稱）
fossilised 變成化石
nightshade 茄科植物
crops 農作物
tobacco 煙草
petunia 矮牽牛花
pushes back 向后推延
origins 起源，由來
evolved 進化
flourished 蓬勃發(fā)展，越來越茂盛
測驗
請聽報道并回答下列問題。
1. Where was the fossil discovered?
2. The fossilised plant belongs to which plant family?
3. True or false? The discovery of this fossil fruit shows the origin of this plant family is more recent than previously thought.
4. Which word in the text means 'very important or extremely useful'?
答案
1. Where was the fossil discovered?
South America.
2. The fossilised plant belongs to which plant family?
It belongs to a plant family called nightshade, which has over 2000 different species.
3. True or false? The discovery of this fossil fruit shows the origin of this plant family is more recent than previously thought.
False. According to the text, the discovery of the fossil fruit shows the origin of this plant family is much older than previously thought, by tens of millions of years.
4. Which word in the text means 'very important or extremely useful'?
Valuable.
