Report 3 远古恐龙鸟类始祖
Word Tips
evolutionary adj.进化的 paleontologistn.古生物学者
carnivorous adj.食肉的 prehistoric adj.史前的
mammal n.哺乳动物 amphibian n.两栖动物
fossil n.化石 wishbone n.叉骨
extinction n.灭绝
Listen to the following recording and answer questions 1-3.
1）A.He is a doctor at the University of Edinburg.
B.He is a paleontologist at the University of Edinburg.
C.He is an archeologist at the University of Chicago.
D.He is a PhD student at the Stanford University.
2）A.It’s a long gradual process，first feathers，then wishbones，then wings.
B.It’s a short sudden process，first wishbones，then feathers，then wings.
C.It’s a complex process，wings，wishbones and feathers evolved at the same time.
D.It’s a long but simple process，first feathers，then wings，then wishbones.
3）A.Birds can fly.
B.Birds are smaller and lighter than other types of dinosaurs.
C.Birds are smarter than other types of dinosaurs.
D.Birds changed faster than other types of dinosaurs.
听力原文
New light has been thrown on the evolutionary link between birds and dinosaurs.And it’s fair to say it’s a very strong link.That’s according to Dr.Stephen Brusatte，a paleontologist at the University of Edinburg.He is at the study to build the most comprehensive family tree of carnivorous dinosaurs that’s ever been created.And it leads from prehistoric times to the present day.My colleague Dan Damon asked him just how closely related are the birds we see around us to dinosaurs.“Birds are dinosaurs in the same way that elephants are type of mammal or frogs are type of amphibian.Birds，chickens，humming birds—they are all living dinosaurs.”
“How do you make that link”？“So we have lot of fossils now，a whole lot of fossils.And we’ve been finding more and more of them over the last 20 years or so.This is what prompted us to build this big family tree.So my colleagues and I traveled around the world looking at a lot of dinosaurs，putting together this huge data set.That tree shows us that there are so many features of living birds，things like feathers and wishbones，and wings that didn’t just evolve in birds，but they evolved in the dinosaur ancestors of birds.I think a lot of people think about evolution in terms of missing legs.You know，there must be a link between monkeys and men or between dinosaurs and birds.But that’s not really how evolution works.The evolution of birds was a long gradual process，first feathers of all，then wishbones，then wings.Then these dinosaurs got smaller.And then they put it all together.The bird body plan was there.They were able to fly.And then bang！ Something was unlocked；birds took off.And birds survived the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs and they are still around today，10，000 of them.”
“Exactly 10，000 species，they are birds.How did they survive？ I mean，some of the dinosaurs must have survived when that，what it，some kind of comet hit Florida was”.“And so that killed off most of the dinosaurs.Almost every dinosaur died expect for some birds.And why some birds were able to make it through？ Well，it’s probably due to a lot of reasons，but one of the reasons is because they could fly.Maybe because they were smaller，they could grow faster.But as we also found in this study，birds evolved faster than other dinosaurs.Once that bird body plan of feathers and wings，and wishbones all came together，it allowed birds to simply change faster than other types of dinosaurs.Maybe that was a key to their success.”
Questions：
1.What do we learn about Stephen Brusatte？
2.What is the evolutionary process of birds according to Stephen Brusatte？
3.According to the report，what is believed to be crucial for birds’ survival？
参考译文
近日，科学家对于鸟类和恐龙之间的进化关系给出了新的阐释。爱丁堡大学古生物学者斯蒂芬·布鲁塞特博士正在研究搭建有史以来最全面的食肉恐龙族谱，时间为从史前至今。我的同事丹·达蒙问他我们今天见到的鸟类和恐龙之间有怎样密切的联系？
“鸟类就是恐龙的一种，正如大象是哺乳动物的一种，青蛙是两栖动物的一种。鸟、鸡、雀鸟等都是活着的恐龙。”“怎么证明两者之间的关联呢？”“我们现在能看到大量的化石。而且在过去的二十几年中，我们发现了越来越多的恐龙化石。这促使我们绘制这样一个恐龙族谱。为此，我和同事周游世界，观察大量的恐龙化石，形成数据集。恐龙族谱显示：鸟类的许多特征，如羽毛、叉骨和翅膀等还存在于它的恐龙祖先的进化过程中。关于进化，大多数人会想到前腿的消失。毕竟猴子进化到人，恐龙进化到鸟类，都有这样一个过程，但进化并不完全是这个样子。鸟类的进化是一个漫长而渐进的过程，首先是羽毛，然后是叉骨，接着是翅膀。这样一来，恐龙的体积就变小了。然后鸟类的身体架构就形成了，而且它们已经具备了飞行的能力。突然有一天，鸟类挣脱了束缚，飞上了青天。它们逃过了恐龙灭绝的劫难，一万种鸟类生息繁衍至今。”
“是的，一万种。但是它们是鸟类，怎么存活下来呢？我的意思是，当年彗星撞击佛罗里达的时候，肯定还有一些恐龙存活了下来。”“那一次，大多数恐龙都灭亡了，除了一些鸟类。那么，为什么这些鸟类能够存活下来呢？原因有很多，其中一条就是它们会飞。可能因为它们体积较小，所以长得快一些。但我们在这个研究中还发现，鸟类比其他恐龙进化得更快。它们一旦拥有了羽毛、翅膀和叉骨，就会比别的种类的恐龙变化得更快一些。也许这就是鸟类成功的关键因素之一。”
参考答案
1.B 2.A 3.D