Level 1 Reading 7A

Ch.13

第13章

Reading 7A THE TRUTH ABOUT DINOSAURS Dinosaurs are fascinating, but half-truths and myths about them are common. For years, scientists thought dinosaurs were just giant reptiles. Some dinosaurs were huge. But many were about the size of modern-day birds or dogs. Were dinosaurs warm- or cold-blooded? Paleontologists are still not sure. But they now believe a few dinosaurs were intelligent. Some smaller ones—like the two-meter Troodon—had fairly large brains. Was T. rex a powerful predator? While some scientists think Tyrannosaurus rex was a powerful predator, others think the opposite is true. For example, in the movies, T. rex is often a fast-moving giant. In reality, though, this dinosaur could not run fast. It was too large to move very quickly, so it probably moved about as fast as an elephant. T. rex also had very small arms and probably wasn't a powerful hunter. It may have been a scavenger instead, eating dead animals.

阅读7A 恐龙的真相 恐龙很迷人，但关于它们的半真半假和神话很常见。 多年来，科学家们一直认为恐龙只是巨大的爬行动物。 有些恐龙体型庞大。 但许多动物的体型与现代鸟类或狗差不多。 恐龙是温血动物还是冷血动物？ 古生物学家仍然不确定。 但他们现在相信一些恐龙是聪明的。 一些较小的恐龙，比如两米长的特罗顿恐龙，有相当大的大脑。 霸王龙是一种强大的捕食者吗？ 虽然一些科学家认为霸王龙是一种强大的捕食者， 其他人则认为情况正好相反。 例如，在电影中，霸王龙通常是一个快速移动的巨人。 然而，事实上，这种恐龙跑得并不快。 它太大了，不能很快地移动，所以它的移动速度可能和大象一样快。 霸王龙的手臂也很小，可能不是一个强大的猎手。 它可能是一种食腐动物，吃死去的动物。

Could dinosaurs fly? Some reptiles, known as pterosaurs, were able to fly. But—even though they looked like them—these were not dinosaurs. Pterosaurs such as Tupuxuara could probably fly up to 16,000 kilometers nonstop. Scientists believe pterosaurs were actually very heavy. So they probably could not take off from the ground like birds. Instead, they first had to drop or throw themselves from trees in order to fly—much like bats. Are all dinosaurs extinct? Dinosaurs completely disappeared about 66 million years ago. Scientists think they died out because of a global climate change: The Earth's temperature became too cold for them to survive. Now you can only see dinosaurs in museums. However, scientists believe that modern-day birds are, in fact, dinosaurs' descendants. If this is true, then dinosaurs' relatives are still walking—and flying—among us!

恐龙会飞吗？ 一些爬行动物，即翼龙，能够飞行。 但是，尽管它们看起来像恐龙，但它们不是恐龙。 像图普舒拉这样的翼龙可能会不间断地飞行16000公里。 科学家们认为翼龙实际上非常重。 所以它们可能无法像鸟一样从地上起飞。 相反，它们首先必须从树上掉下来或扔下来才能飞——就像蝙蝠一样。 所有的恐龙都灭绝了吗？ 恐龙大约在6600万年前完全消失了。 科学家认为它们灭绝是因为全球气候变化： 地球的温度变得太冷，它们无法生存。 现在你只能在博物馆里看到恐龙。 然而，科学家们认为，现代鸟类实际上是恐龙的后代。 如果这是真的，那么恐龙的亲属仍然在我们中间行走和飞行！

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