英语听力：探索发现 2012-06-15 恐龙是怎样的炼成的—12

 It’s an incredible idea. But most experts now believe that today’s birds are the direct descendants of ancient dinosaurs². 

 

So does that mean birds actually are dinosaurs?

 

Yes. Absolutely.

 

How can you be sure about that？

 

You have evidence from the skeletal anatomy³. You have evidence from the shape of the eggs and the microstructure of the eggshell, the discovery about a wealth of feathered dinosaurs, animals that are unquestionably dinosaurs and yet have feathers. They looked just like the feathers on modern birds.

 

It’s a discovery that revolutionizes the way we see dinosaurs. Even some tyrannosaurs were feathered. But the relationship between birds and dinosaurs can tell us much more than simply what they may have looked like. 

 

So does this mean that we can use living birds to help us understand dinosaurs?

 

Absolutely. You know you have 10,000 living species of birds that are providing you an enormous amount of information that you can use to understand the biology of the ancient dinosaurs. 

 

It’s quite amazing. But it also makes a certain degree of sense when really you look at them. 

 

If we want to learn about how the ancient dinosaurs moved and even how quickly they ran, few animals can tell us more than ostriches⁴. They evolved on an early branch of the avian family tree. And like dinosaurs they are related to, they are large, bipedal and flightless.

 

I have some living dinosaurs here to take a look at.

 

Hello, ladies.

 

They’re all ladies, are they?

 

Yes. Yes. They are a bit more manageable when they are females.

 

Dr John Hutchinson is based at the Royal Veterinary College just outside London. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on dinosaur¹ movement and Luis has been consulting him to make sure his T. Rexes reflect the latest theories.   

 

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

4 ostriches   

n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者

参考例句：

• They are the silliest lot of old ostriches I ever heard of. 他们真是我闻所未闻的一群最傻的老鸵鸟。 来自辞典例句
• How ostriches could bear to run so hard in this heat I never succeed in understanding. 驼鸟在这样干燥炎热的地带为什么能疾速长跑，我永远也理解不了。 来自辞典例句