时间:2019-01-23 作者:英语课 分类:探索与发现2013年


英语课

 But there is a problem with the idea that hunting caused the mass extinction 1. Mammoths were not the only animals to disappear. 


 
Camels survived for millions of years in North America, but disappeared around the same time as the mammoths. Wild horses first evolved here and became dominant 2 grazers. Yet they, too, vanished soon after the Ice Age ended. But there’s little evidence to suggest that humans hunted horses or camels. This seems to go against the hunting argument. 
 
So what else would have triggered such large-scale extinctions? 
 
The other major possibility is climate change. The end of the Ice Age was a turbulent, erratic 3 period. In some areas, rain patterns were shifting, bringing moisture back to dry landscapes and turning grassland 4 into forest.
 
Other regions of the continent were plunged 5 into prolonged periods of draught 6. For grazers such as horses, this led to a massive change in habitat, one they were not flexible enough to overcome. 
 
As the land dried out, many grass eaters disappeared. We may never know for certain what killed off most of the larger animals at the end of the Ice Age. We do know that there was a time of coincidence—people were arriving just as the climate was in a state of change. Both may have played their part. Whichever was responsible, more than 70 species vanished for good, but some large animals did survive and still live here today.

n.熄灭,消亡,消灭,灭绝,绝种
  • 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。
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因
  • The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
  • She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。
adj.古怪的,反复无常的,不稳定的
  • The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
  • The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。
n.牧场,草地,草原
  • There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
  • The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计
  • He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
  • It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗,没有过堂风。
学英语单词
acetylphosphoric acid
approbated
arteriola efferens
assembler loader package
babusar pass
basivolsella
beef stroganoffs
biosphere reserve
black teals
blandished
board bridge
breanna
calcium pyrophosphate
chemical insecticide
clear panel key
colouring book
computer forensics
cool-summer damage due to impotency
Cuproartinite
customs compound
customs supervision
decaudates
direct current source
documents-against-payment bill
DTRTT
electric resistance wire
enthalpy-entropy chart
excess mean portfolio return
firmware support
food-purchasing
four-address code
friction pressure
ghiaour
greys
Hawkins Point
hedonic price method
high-tempreature strain gauge
hovde
hyperpipecolatemia
intraploidy
job-lot production
kellwood
Keota
Koh Sla, Stung
lightly deformed crystal
lindeberg's condition
liquefaction temperature
Lloyd's anchors and chains proved
Loxwood
lymphonoduli aggregati
Madipelesa
magnaliums
mark sth up
megawatt (mw)
micromechanically
momentum cutoff
muhs
myristicic acid
nonutilized
obituarial
OGRL
Omlet
on-line cipher
orbiculately
ortho-nitraniline
Os Draconis
philosoph
piratesses
possessive pronoun
pritchie
pseudoprognathism
pulpitless
Q clearance
R. M. S.
rauca
reattend
remote sensing for atmospheric pollution
residual current operated protective device
Rhododendron mainlingense
sassen
sea language
see ... do
self-redemptions
simple HISAM data base
Skave
steam water interface
steering gear tube cam
stratum compactum of integument
stress bolt
suicide bombing
synchronization
tatouay
Thai Ridgebacks
thorotrast
turite
type of machine
varnish-treated tape
vigna angulariss
wage tax
wheeler and dealer
worm-gears