ANIMAL EXTINCTION①

　　Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth. The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs②. They lived on the earth tens of millions of years ago, long before humans came into beingand their future seemed secure at that time③. There were many different kinds of dinosaur and a number of④ them used to live in China. The eggs of twenty­five species have been found in Xixia County, Nanyang, Henan Province. Not long ago a rare new species of bird­like dinosaur was discovered in Chaoyang County, Liaoning Province. When scientists inspected⑤ the bones, they were surprised to find⑥that these dinosaurs could not only run like the others but also climb trees⑦. They learned this from the way the bones were joined together⑧.

　　Dinosaurs died out⑨ suddenly about 65 million years ago. Some scientists think it came after an unexpected⑩incident⑪ when a huge rock from space hit the earth and put too much dust⑫ into the air. Others think the earth got too hot for the dinosaurs to live on⑬ any more. Nobody knows for sure⑭why and how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time⑮. 　　①extinction/Ik'stIŋkʃn/n.灭绝；消亡

　　extinct adj.不再存在的；已灭绝的；绝种的

　　②dinosaur/'daInəsɔː/n.恐龙

　　③come into being形成；产生(相当于come into existence)

　　long before远远早于......，long用在before前表示两个动作发生的时间相隔久远。

　　④a number of"许多的；若干的"，后接可数名词的复数形式，谓语动词用复数形式。

　　the number of"......的数量"，后接可数名词复数形式，谓语动词用单数形式。

　　⑤inspect/In'spekt/vt.检查；视察

　　⑥be surprised to do sth.吃惊地做某事(to do sth.是surprised的原因)

　　⑦that引导宾语从句，从句中含有并列连词not only ... but also连接的并列谓语，即run与climb。

　　⑧the bones ...是省略that的定语从句，修饰the way。

　　⑨die out灭亡；逐渐消失

　　⑩unexpected/ˌʌnIk'spektId/adj.没料到的；意外的

　　⑪incident/'InsIdənt/n.事件；事变，指小插曲；事件；冲突

　　accident指意外事故

　　⑫dust/dʌst/n.灰尘；尘土；尘埃

　　dusty adj.多灰尘的

　　⑬live on继续存在

　　too hot for the dinosaurs to live on为"too＋adj.＋for sb./sth. to do sth."结构，意为"对......来说，太......而不能......"。

　　⑭for sure无疑地；确定地(＝for certain)，在句中作状语。

⑮why and how共同引导宾语从句，作knows的宾语。 　　

　　动物灭绝

　　[第1～2段译文]

　　从地球有史以来的这段漫长时期，许多动物都消失了。这些动物中最有名的是恐龙。千百万年前，恐龙就在地球上生活，比人类的出现要早得多，当时它们的前景好像也很安全。当时有许多不同种类的恐龙，其中有很多种类曾经生活在中国。25个种类的恐龙蛋是在河南省南阳西峡县发现的。不久前，在辽宁省的朝阳县新发现了一种罕见的、形状像鸟一样的恐龙。科学家们观察它们的骨头时，惊奇地发现这些恐龙不仅跟其他恐龙一样可以跑，而且还可以爬树。科学家们是根据恐龙骨骼的连接方式得知这些的。

　　恐龙大约在6 500万年前突然灭绝了。有些科学家认为恐龙灭绝是发生在一次意外事故之后，当时宇宙间一块巨石击中地球，因而在空气中扬起太多的尘土。另外一些科学家则认为，地球变得太热，因此恐龙无法在地球上生活了。没有人确切地知道恐龙是由于什么原因，又是怎样在这么短的时间里从地球上消失的。

　　　We know many other wild plants, animals, insects and birds have died out more recently. According to⑯ a UN report, some⑰ 844 animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years⑱. The dodo is one of them. It lived on the Island of Mauritius and was a very friendly animal. Please listen to a story of the dodo and how it disappeared from the earth. 　　⑯according to按照；根据......所说，介词短语，后常跟名词或动名词作宾语。

　　⑰some adv.大约，常用于数字前，相当于about。

　　⑱in the last 500 years在过去的500年里，用作时间状语，相当于"over/during the past 500 years"，常与现在完成时连用。