11 Disappearing Dinosaurs

Disappearing Dinosaurs written by Pam Holden

帕姆·霍尔顿写的《消失的恐龙》

fossil Why did the dinosaurs disappear from Earth? Lots of different ideas have been given, but nobody knows for sure. These amazing creatures disappeared long before people began to live on Earth. They have been gone for millions of years! We are now beginning to learn some things about their life here. This is because the bones of dinosaurs have been found in many countries in the past 350 years. Skeletons have been found preserved as fossils in rocks and swamps.

恐龙为什么会从地球上消失? 人们提出了许多不同的想法，但没有人确切知道。 这些神奇的生物早在人类开始在地球上生活之前就消失了。 它们已经消失了几百万年了!我们现在开始了解他们在这里的生活。 这是因为在过去的350年里，在许多国家都发现了恐龙的骨头。 在岩石和沼泽中发现了以化石形式保存下来的骨骼。

skeleton The bones and body parts are studied by scientists called paleontologists, who learn new facts about dinosaurs. They rebuild the old skeletons to show what the many different kinds looked like. We now know more about their size and shape, what they ate, and how they moved. Many facts are known, but still nobody can be sure how or why they disappeared.

被称为古生物学家的科学家研究恐龙的骨骼和身体部位，他们了解恐龙的新情况。 他们重建了这些古老的骨骼，以展示许多不同种类的骨骼的样子。 我们现在对它们的大小和形状，它们吃什么，以及它们如何移动有了更多的了解。 许多事实是已知的，但仍然没有人能确定它们是如何或为什么消失的。

glacier Did the dinosaurs all disappear because of a sudden change in the world's climate? Was the world suddenly too cold or too hot for them to survive? One idea is that huge glaciers spread out and covered Earth's surface, making it too cold for anything to grow. If plants could no longer grow, then all the plant-eaters would have starved and died out. There would have been nothing left for the meat-eaters to hunt for food.

恐龙灭绝是因为世界气候的突然变化吗? 世界突然变得太冷或太热，它们无法生存了吗? 一种观点认为，巨大的冰川伸展开来，覆盖了地球表面，使得地球太冷，任何生物都无法生长。 如果植物不再生长，那么所有的食草动物都会饿死并灭绝。 没有什么东西留给食肉动物去寻找食物。

Some scientists think that giant volcanoes may have made the Earth too cool. Gas from volcanic eruptions, as well as dust in the air and the oceans, would have blocked the sunlight. Enormous fires and storms would have made Earth an impossible place for the dinosaurs to survive. Scientists can research this idea by studying deep craters left in Earth's surface by eruptions.

一些科学家认为巨大的火山可能使地球太冷了。 火山喷发产生的气体，以及空气和海洋中的灰尘，会阻挡阳光。 巨大的火灾和风暴会使地球成为恐龙无法生存的地方。 科学家可以通过研究火山喷发在地球表面留下的深坑来研究这一观点。

meteor Did the mighty dinosaurs become extinct because burning comets or meteors crashed to Earth and destroyed their habitat? If all plant life was burnt away by chunks of red-hot rock, the dinosaurs' food chain would have quickly broken down, leaving them to starve to death.

巨大的恐龙灭绝是因为燃烧的彗星或流星撞击地球并摧毁了它们的栖息地吗? 如果所有的植物都被炽热的岩石烧毁，恐龙的食物链就会迅速断裂，导致它们饿死。