媒體英語
Pterosaur: new species of flying reptile discovered in Scotland 蘇格蘭斯凱島發(fā)現(xiàn)新翼龍物種
考古學(xué)家們?cè)谔K格蘭斯凱島發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)新的翼龍物種。這種獨(dú)特的飛行爬行動(dòng)物生活在1.68 – 1.66億年前。
This flying reptile soared over the heads of dinosaurs when Scotland was part of a sub-tropical island in the Middle Jurassic period. Scientists found its wings, shoulders, leg and backbone embedded in limestone rock on a beach. Only the skull was missing. To protect it, the fragile fossil was transported from Skye in the researchers' backpacks.
在侏羅紀(jì)中期，當(dāng)時(shí)蘇格蘭仍是亞熱帶島嶼的一部分，這種飛行爬行動(dòng)物就曾在恐龍頭頂上空飛翔?？茖W(xué)家們?cè)谝黄┥系氖規(guī)r中發(fā)現(xiàn)了它的翅膀、肩膀、腿部和脊骨部分的化石。只有頭骨不見蹤影。為了保護(hù)它們，這些脆弱的化石被裝進(jìn)研究人員的背包中進(jìn)行運(yùn)輸。
This creature is called Ceoptera meaning mist in Scottish Gaelic. Fossils from this era are extremely rare, and the discovery changes what's known about the flying reptiles. Experts now believe they lived much earlier and had a global distribution. It had been thought that they mostly lived in China. The fossil was found in 2006, but it took years of painstaking work to extract it from the hard rock for classification.
這種新發(fā)現(xiàn)的翼龍被命名為 “霧翼龍（Ceoptera）”，在蘇格蘭蓋爾語中指 “薄霧”。侏羅紀(jì)中期時(shí)代的化石極其罕見，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)改變了人們對(duì)該時(shí)期飛行爬行動(dòng)物的認(rèn)識(shí)。專家們現(xiàn)在認(rèn)為，翼龍生活的時(shí)期比預(yù)想得更早，而且它們?cè)椴既蚋鞯亍Ｔ缜叭藗円恢闭J(rèn)為翼龍大多生活在中國。盡管這些化石于2006年被發(fā)現(xiàn)，但考古學(xué)家們?cè)诮?jīng)過多年的辛勤工作后才得以將化石從堅(jiān)硬的巖石中提取出來以對(duì)其進(jìn)行分類。
詞匯表
soared 飛翔，翱翔
embedded 嵌入…之中的
fossil 化石
distribution 分布
painstaking 極其仔細(xì)的，艱苦的
classification 分類
閱讀理解：請(qǐng)?jiān)谧x完上文后，回答下列問題。
1. What was Scotland like in the Middle Jurassic period?
2. Was the pterosaur skeleton complete?
3. Where had it been thought that pterosaurs lived?
4. When was the fossil discovered?
答案
1. What was Scotland like in the Middle Jurassic period?
Scotland was part of a sub-tropical island in the Middle Jurassic period.
2. Was the pterosaur skeleton complete?
No, the skeleton's skull was missing.
3. Where had it been thought that pterosaurs lived?
It had been thought that pterosaurs lived mostly in China.
4. When was the fossil discovered?
The fossil was discovered in 2006.
