【网通/教育网用户】下载 A Canadian researcher has discovered what is believed to be North America's smallest dinosaur, a 70 million-year-old chicken-sized beast that was also unusual for its diet of insects. Called the Albertonykus borealis, the odd-looking creature had birdlike features including slender legs, jaws like pincers and stubby arms with big claws. Its bones were excavated in 2002 near Red Deer, Alberta. The find is evidence that the dinosaurs migrated to Asia from the bottom part of the western hemisphere, said Nick Longrich, paleontology research associate at the University of Calgary. "This is a small dinosaur doing what we didn't have a lot of evidence of them doing before," he said. Their features were not unlike those of anteaters, and Longrich said it appears it tore into logs so it could feast on termites or beetles. He said it might have been prey for other such dinosaurs as Albertosauri and Velociraptors, those that were able to catch the speedy little beast. "[The find] tells us a little bit about how these dinosaurs were dispersing through the environment, and I think one of the things that it also emphasizes is that there's a lot more waiting to be discovered," Longrich said.

 

VOCABULARY      词汇积累

 

1. insect  (n.)   昆虫
She felt anxiety like the prick of an insect.
她觉得焦急，就如同被虫子咬了一样。

2. slender  (adj.)   细长的；纤细的
In sum anything looks good on her slender figure.
总之，她身材好，看上去一切都好。

3. stubby  (adj.)   粗短的；短胖的
He has stubby fingers.
他的手指粗短。

4. to excavate  (v.)   挖掘；挖出
They plan to excavate a large hole before putting in the foundation.
他们计划打地基前先挖个大洞。

5. western hemisphere   西半球
They are largest flying birds in the western hemisphere.
它们是西半球的大型飞行鸟。

6. paleontology  (n.)   古生物学；化石学
She is a specialist in paleontology.
她是古生物学方面的专家。

7. anteater  (n.)   食蚁兽
例句请见本文。

8. to tear into   撕开；掰开
If you tear the paper into four pieces, we can each have something to write on.
如果你把这张纸撕成四份，我们大家就都有纸可写了。

9. termite  (n.)   白蚁
例句请见本文。

10. to disperse  (v.)   散开；散播
The wind dispersed the smoke.
风把烟吹散了。