VOA标准英语2009年-Going Where the Dinosaurs Roamed in th

Experts urge 'Westward¹ Ho!' for finding the best dinosaur² treasures

Joseph Mok | Thermopolis, Wyoming 07 December 2009

 
The Archeopteryx, a flying dinosaur about the size of a modern pigeon, is on display at the Wyoming center

The gigantic brachiosaurus, the fierce and deadly tyrannosaurus, the fast and nimble velociraptor.

Millions of years ago, long before humans existed, these creatures - and many others like them -- roamed the earth.   We visited some of the territory where dinosaurs³ roamed in what is now the United States.

Morrison Formation, is a group of rock layers that is prime territory for dinosaur fossils.  It is centered in the western U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming.  We start our search for the dinosaurs of North America at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Malcom Bedell is a researcher at the center.  His excavation⁴ team is digging up what he is pretty certain is a fossilized diplodocus - a large plant-eating dinosaur -- but it is slow and time-consuming work. 

 "We are still in the process of continuing to prove that this is a Diplodocus Carnegiei, basically," he explained. "We haven't found any bones that contradict that yet. Some skeletons with some types of dinosaurs come out in three weeks, some take three years and some never come out completely. This one has been ongoing⁵ for 12 years. These bones have been sitting here for more 150,000 centuries. We get one shot at it. If you fail, that's it!"

The layers upon layers of sedimentary rock can be traced back to the Late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the earth.  The wealth of fossils buried within the rock provides scientists with important clues and data about the pre-historic environment. 

Dean Lomax is a student from England. He says if you are interested in dinosaur fossils, the American West is the place to be. "Over here there are so many more fossils to be discovered. Paleontology is a lot bigger in America than in other places. And, there are also pretty big dig sites to work out of here. The dig sites are straight up about 10 minutes away for the museum," he said.

Since it is located so close to so many fossils, it is no wonder that the Wyoming Dinosaur Center attracts people from all over the world who want to learn more about these creatures.

The displays at the Wyoming center offer many rare treasures, such as the Archeopteryx, a flying dinosaur about the size of a modern pigeon. 

 "In terms of highlights there is the Archeopteryx, which is the only one here in North America at all. It's probably the most famous fossil worldwide," Scott Hartman, science director of the center said. "Supersaurus is hard to miss. It's the 106-foot-long [35-meter-long] elephant in the room. And certainly when school kids come it's the first thing they want to look at. This specimen⁶ here is the second specimen in the world. It's named Jimbo, after the rancher's son who brought it to our attention."

To maintain the high quality of the displays, the museum's lab is hard at work seven days a week restoring the fossils.  William Wahl is a researcher at the center.  He is preparing a Camarasaurus for exhibition.  It requires a lot of preparation.  The plant-eating Camarasaurus weighed almost 20 tons.

 "This is the distal conyle  of a femur that we were working (examining) for a (much) larger Camarasaurus speciment.  What is interesting about this is that as we were prepping on this, we end up noticing there are a series of very parallel marks across the surface. Those are bite marks from whatever may be not necessarily the predators⁷ that killed this animal, but definitely something that was feeding on it," Wahl said.

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center has over 200 displays, and once the Camarasaurus bone is cleaned up and restored, it will most likely be shown to the public. 

With more than 20 full-size dinosaurs in the center's main hall, it is not surprising that 40,000 visitors a year come to the center to see these creatures who roamed the earth millions of years ago.

 

1 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

2 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。

3 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》

4 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

5 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。

6 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》