VOA常速英语2008年-California Museum Visitors Watch Dinosaur Being

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
21 April 2008

A 66-million-year-old dinosaur¹ is being readied for exhibition in Los Angeles. Mike O'Sullivan reports, visitors can watch scientists as they work on the remains² of the Tyrannosaurus rex known as Thomas.

Using brushes, dental picks and small power tools, workers at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County remove debris³ from the bones of the dinosaur, a process that will take several years to complete.

The object of their study is a Tyrannosaurus rex, nicknamed Thomas. It is one of a few dozen substantially complete T. rex skeletons worldwide. Thomas weighed as much as 3,600 kilograms and had teeth 30 centimeters long. He stood three meters high at the hip⁴ and was nine meters long from head to tail.

Discovered in Montana, the dinosaur was excavated⁵ between 2003 and 2005. It is being prepared for display in 2011, when the skeleton will be moved to the new Dinosaur Hall in the museum's refurbished original 1913 building. In the meantime, visitors can watch the painstaking⁶ process of preparation.

Luis Chiappe, director of the museum's Dinosaur Institute who excavated Thomas, says scientists are sharing the excitement of discovery.

 

"We want to show to people that we do a lot of research," he said. "Behind the scenes, this is a research institution that has a number of experts that go out and collect fossils, bring them here, prepare them and study them. And that what you see here on display is just the tip of the iceberg⁷."

Thomas is being prepared in a special exhibit space, a glass-and-steel clean room, built so the public can look on. The skeleton will be mounted to show the modern understanding of dinosaurs⁸ as active, lively creatures.

Phil Fraley, who will oversee⁹ the mounting, says dinosaurs were once thought to be lumbering¹⁰ and sluggish¹¹, and were shown with tails dragging on the ground. That view has changed.

"So what we're doing now and has been an ongoing¹² process over the past several years has been an updating of the scientific exhibits, especially dinosaur paleontological exhibits to reflect current scientific thought," he said.

This dinosaur skeleton is two-thirds intact, making it one of the top five T. rex specimens¹³ in collections anywhere.

Simon Adlam of the natural history museum says the study of dinosaurs tells us what the world was like tens of millions of years before humans arrived.

"It's part of our origins. We learn a lot about the way the habitats were, through the fossils themselves," he said. "We learn about migration¹⁴ of how species traveled."

Thomas was found in what was once a meandering¹⁵ river on the edge of a tropical sea that once covered much of North America. He was thought to be a young adult, about 13 years old, when he died. The typical T. rex lived about 30 years, and research may tell us why Thomas died so early. He could have been the victim of another dinosaur. Evidence on his skull¹⁶ suggests he may have had a tumor¹⁷, which also could have killed him.

Luis Chiappe says the study of dinosaurs like Thomas is important.

"Very important because they're an outstanding example of evolution, an outstanding example of how life has changed and adapted," he said. "Collectively, dinosaurs ruled every land ecosystem¹⁸ essentially¹⁹ for 160 million years."

Dinosaurs suffered a massive extinction²⁰ 65 million years ago, possibly by an asteroid²¹ striking the earth and disrupting weather systems.

Many scientists say they did not really die out, but survive today as birds, modern-day descendants of dinosaurs.

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

5 excavated   

v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
• The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

7 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

8 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》

9 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

10 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

11 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

13 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

15 meandering   

蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天

参考例句：

• The village seemed deserted except for small boys and a meandering donkey. 整个村子的人都像是逃光了，只留下了几个小男孩和一头正在游游荡荡的小毛驴。 来自教父部分
• We often took a walk along the meandering river after supper. 晚饭后我们常沿着那条弯弯曲曲的小河散步。

16 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

17 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

18 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

19 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

20 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

21 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。