By Steve Jackson Asia-Pacific desk

Artists imagine duck-billed dinosaurs looked like this

Background: 中国科学家近期在中国东部发现了迄今为止规模最大的恐龙化石群。专家说，自2008年3月以来他们已经成功挖掘出7600具恐龙骨骼化石，并希望借此破解这类庞大物种灭绝之谜。

Questions: 请在听下面录音的时候试着回答这些问题。这是一个用来帮助你提高听力技能的练习。

1. How was the fossil field found?

2. True or False? The bones were all found in a single excavation.

3. What kinds of fossils have been found?

4. Which prehistoric era do the bones come from?

Click here for answers

Listen to Steve Jackson's report 点击此处下载录音材料

Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as dinosaur 恐龙 city and has been the scene of several important finds since the 1960s.

But researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences say a fossil field 化石场 discovered during mining explorations 矿产开采 earlier this year appears to be the largest in the world.

3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit 坑 just a few hundred metres long and several thousand others have been unearthed 挖掘 at a number of sites nearby.

State media say the find includes tyrannosaurus 暴龙 bones as well as what could be the largest duck-billed 鸭嘴恐龙 dinosaur ever excavated 挖掘.

Most of the fossils dated so far go back to the late Cretaceous period白垩时代, which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct 灭绝.

The scientists say the discovery of so many remains in a small area could provide clues 线索 as to how they died out.

Detailed research on the fossil find is due to be published later next year but further excavations will take place in the meantime and the researchers are hoping to find even more dinosaur remains 遗迹.

GLOSSARY 词汇表 (收听发音, 请单击英语单词)

dinosaur 恐龙

fossil field 化石场

mining explorations 矿产开采

pit 坑

unearthed 挖掘

tyrannosaurus 暴龙

duck-billed 鸭嘴恐龙

excavated 挖掘

Cretaceous period白垩时代

extinct 灭绝

clues 线索

remains 遗迹

Answers

1. How was the fossil field found?
It was found during exploration for new mines.

2. True or False? The bones were all found in a single excavation.
False, fossils have been found in a several places near each other.

3. What kinds of fossils have been found?
Scientists have discovered Tyrannosaurus bones and the remains of a duck-billed dinosaur.

4. Which prehistoric era do the bones come from?
They are from the Cretaceous period.

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