Level 2 Reading 5B

Ch.10 Reading 5B

第10章 阅读5B

THE STORIES IN THE ROCKS When he was just six years old, JØrn Hurum turned his bedroom into a small museum. His shelves became filled with a growing collection of fossils. For Hurum, these fossils were not just rocks, but things that could tell the history of life on this planet. He imagined them saying, "I am not a rock. I am a fossil. I have a story to tell." Hurum earned a PhD in paleontology in his native Norway. Since then, he has been on expeditions seeking fossils all over the world. Much of his work has been carried out in Svalbard, a group of Norwegian islands north of the Arctic Circle. In the hills of this cold and remote region, Hurum and his team have found the fossils of many sea creatures. It might seem surprising to find the remains of such animals at the tops of hills, but in prehistoric times, these areas were actually seabeds about 100 meters deep. Hurum has returned to Svalbard many times. The "dig season" in the region is very short—from July to August. During that time, the temperature is just about warm enough to soften the frozen ground, allowing easier access to the fossils. There is also less wind, and the "midnight sun" makes it easy for the scientists to have long, productive days. Even a dream job has its challenges, however. "Sometimes, we find 'explodasaurus,'" he says. The team may find many broken bone pieces spread across a hillside. Then it becomes impossible to recreate the entire animal: "We have to identify the entire animal from individual pieces." Each of Hurum's expeditions also requires a lot of preparation. "We have between 15 and 20 people, tons of equipment—food, jackhammers, water," he explains. "There's a lot of work before you start the cool thing." For Hurum, the "cool thing" is the act of discovery. In 2006, his team made its greatest discovery so far. After removing about 60 tons of rock by hand, Hurum and his team eventually dug out an enormous fossil. "We knew immediately this was something special," says Hurum. "The large pieces of bone...told us that this was big." It was a plesiosaur—a prehistoric sea monster with teeth the size of cucumbers. The fossil was not complete, but it included a front flipper, a shoulder, and pieces of skull and neck. For Hurum, the discovery of this 15-meter-long creature—nicknamed "Predator X"—was an amazing moment. "It's like one of those scratch-off lottery tickets every time you dig," he explains. "Sometimes, you start digging and you might just find part of a skull or other bone. Sometimes, you find the skull and the vertebra... Then you know it's a jackpot!"

岩石中的故事 当JØrn Hurum只有六岁的时候，他把卧室变成了一个小博物馆。 他的书架上堆满了越来越多的化石。 对于胡伦来说，这些化石不仅仅是岩石，而是可以讲述这个星球上生命历史的东西。 他想象他们说：“我不是石头。我是化石。我有故事要讲。” 胡拉姆在他的祖国挪威获得了古生物学博士学位。 从那以后，他一直在世界各地探险寻找化石。 他的大部分工作都是在斯瓦尔巴群岛进行的，斯瓦尔巴是北极圈以北的一组挪威岛屿。 在这个寒冷偏远地区的山丘上，胡鲁姆和他的团队发现了许多海洋生物的化石。 在山顶上发现这些动物的遗骸似乎令人惊讶， 但在史前时期，这些地区实际上是大约100米深的海底。 胡鲁姆已多次返回斯瓦尔巴群岛。 该地区的“挖掘季节”很短，从7月到8月。 在此期间，温度刚好足以软化冻土，从而更容易接近化石。 风也少了，“午夜太阳”让科学家们很容易度过漫长而富有成效的一天。 然而，即使是理想的工作也有其挑战。 他说：“有时，我们会发现‘爆发性龙’。”。 该团队可能会在山坡上发现许多破碎的骨头碎片。 然后就不可能重建整个动物了： “我们必须从单个碎片中识别出整个动物。” 胡鲁姆的每一次探险都需要大量的准备。 他解释说：“我们有15到20个人，很多设备——食物、手提钻、水。”。 “在你开始做这件很酷的事情之前，还有很多工作要做。” 对于胡伦来说，“酷的东西”是发现的行为。 2006年，他的团队取得了迄今为止最大的发现。 在手动移除约60吨岩石后，Hurum和他的团队最终挖出了一块巨大的化石。 胡拉姆说：“我们立刻知道这很特别。”。 “大块的骨头…告诉我们这很大。” 这是一种蛇颈龙——一种史前海怪，牙齿有黄瓜那么大。 化石并不完整，但它包括一个前肢、一个肩膀以及头骨和脖子的碎片。 对于胡伦来说，发现这种15米长的生物——绰号“捕食者X”——是一个了不起的时刻。 他解释说：“这就像每次你挖掘时都会有一张刮掉的彩票。”。 “有时，当你开始挖掘时，你可能会发现头骨或其他骨头的一部分。 有时，你会发现头骨和脊椎。.. 那你就知道这是头奖了！"

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