The once radical notion that birds descended from dinosaurs--or may even be dinosaurs, the only living branch of the family that ruled the earth eons ago--has got stronger and stronger since paleontologists first started taking it seriously a couple of decades ago. Remarkable similarities in bone structure between dinos and birds were the first clue. Then came evidence, thanks to a series of astonishing discoveries in China's Liaoning province over the past five years, that some dinosaurs may have borne feathers. But a few scientists still argued that the link was weak; the bone similarities could be a coincidence, they said. And maybe those primitive structures visible in some fossils were feathers--but maybe not. You had to use your imagination to see them.

　　Not anymore. A spectacularly preserved fossil of a juvenile dinosaur, announced by a team of paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and New York City's American Museum of Natural History in the latest issue of Nature, is about as good a missing link as anyone could want. "It has things that are undeniably feathers," exults Richard Prum, of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, an expert on the evolution of feathers. "But it is clearly a small, vicious theropod similar to the velociraptors that chased the kids around the kitchen in Jurassic Park."

　　The find helps cement the dinosaur-bird connection, but it also casts new light on the mystery of why nature invented feathers in the first place. For the better part of a century, biologists have assumed that these specialized structures evolved for flight, but that's clearly not true. "The feathers on these dinosaurs aren't flight-worthy, and the animals couldn't fly," says paleontologist Kevin Padian, of the University of California, Berkeley. "They're too big, and they don't have wings." So what was the original purpose of feathers Nobody knows for sure; they might have been useful for keeping dinos dry, distracting predators or attracting mates, as peacocks do today.

　　But many biologists suspect that feathers originally arose to keep dinosaurs warm. The bone structure of dinosaurs shows that, unlike modern reptiles, they grew as fast as birds and mammals--which dovetails with a growing body of evidence that dinos were, in fact, warm-blooded. Says Padian: "They must have had a high basal metabolic rate to grow that fast. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of skin covering for insulation when they were small." Says Norell: "Even baby tyrannosaurs probably looked like this one."

　　At the rate feathered dinosaurs are turning up, it shouldn't take long to solidify scientists' understanding of precisely how and why feathers first arose and when the first birdlike creature realized they were useful for flight. Meanwhile, kids had better get used to the idea that T. rex may have started life looking an awful lot like Tweety Bird.

　　1.We learn from the beginning of the passage that ________________.
　　[A] scientists are split as to whether birds descended from dinosaurs
　　[B] the bone similarities between birds and dinosaurs are a coincidence
　　[C] fossils have proven that birds evolved from dinosaurs
　　[D] the idea that birds are connected with dinosaurs has always been taken seriously

　　2.Speaking of the recently-announced fossil of a juvenile dinosaur, the author implies that ______.
　　[A] it shows vividly how dinosaur flies
　　[B] it brings new mystery to paleontologists
　　[C] it further proves the link between birds and dinosaurs
　　[D] it solves the puzzle of birds’ evolution

　　3.In the view of Kevin Padian, the feathers on those dinosaurs ____________.
　　[A] were of no practical value
　　[B] were useful for flight
　　[C] could protect dinosaurs from their natural enemy
　　[D] were good for insulation

　　4.The original purpose of feather was___________.
　　[A] to help dinosaurs fly
　　[B] to keep dinosaurs warm
　　[C] to distract predators
　　[D] a mystery

　　5.We learn from the last paragraph that __________.
　　[A] a baby dinosaur looks like a bird
　　[B] T-rex is a kind of dinosaur figure familiar to kids
　　[C] living feathered dinosaurs can still be found in certain parts of the world
　　[D] scientists understand precisely how and why feathers first arose

　　答案：A C D D B

　　篇章剖析：

　　本文是一篇说明文，对新发现的恐龙化石所揭示的恐龙与鸟类之间的关系进行了说明。文章第一段介绍了一种认为恐龙与鸟类之间关系密切的观点以及科学界对这种观点的态度变化。第二段介绍了一个古生物学家研究小组的最新发现。第三段说明了这次发现的重要意义。第四段介绍了科学家对于恐龙羽毛的作用的看法。最后一段对描述了恐龙和鸟类关系研究的前景。

　　词汇注释:

　　dinosaur: [5dainEsC:] n. 恐龙

　　paleontologist: [7pAliCn5tClEdVist] n. 古生物学家

　　dino: dinosaur的简写

　　fossil: [5fCsl] n. 化石

　　juvenile: [5dVu:vinail] adj. 少年的没有完全长成的或没有发育完全的；年轻的

　　vicious: [5viFEs] adj.（动物）凶猛的

　　theropod: [`WIErEpCd] n. [古生] n.兽脚亚目食肉恐龙(前肢小, 主要用后肢行走)

　　velociraptor: [7velE5sirEptE] n. 迅猛龙

　　Jurassic Park: 好莱坞导演斯皮尔伯格执导的《侏罗纪公园》

　　jurassic: [dVuE5rAsik] n. 侏罗纪的，侏罗系的（属于或界定为）中生代时代第二期的时间和矿床的。该时期以恐龙的存在和最早的哺乳动物和鸟类的出现为特征

　　cement: [si5ment] v. 粘结，胶合（象水泥一样）巩固

　　distract: [dis5trAkt] v.（常与from连用）使…注意力转移；使分心

　　predator: [5predEtE] n. 掠食者, 食肉动物

　　reptile: [5reptail] n. 爬行动物

　　mammal: [5mAmEl] n. 哺乳动物

　　dovetail: [5dQvteil] v. 吻合

　　metabolic: [7metE5bClik] adj. 代谢作用的, 新陈代谢的

　　insulation: [7insju5leiFEn] n. 阻热，隔热，绝热

　　tyrannosaur: [ti5rAnE7sC:] n. 霸王龙（上白垩纪北美洲的一种大型食肉恐龙，前肢小且头大）

　　solidify: [sE5lidifai] v. 变凝固，使凝固；变结实；使坚强

　　T. rex: 暴龙（体型最大的食肉恐龙）

　　Tweety Bird: 小鸟崔弟，好莱坞动画片系列《崔弟和傻大猫》中的一只黄色小鸟

　　难句突破：

　　1. The once radical notion that birds descended from dinosaurs--or may even be dinosaurs, the only living branch of the family that ruled the earth eons ago--has got stronger and stronger since paleontologists first started taking it seriously a couple of decades ago.

　　主体句式：The notion has got stronger and stronger…

　　结构分析：这是一个复杂长句，句子的主语notion带有一个同位语从句，这个同位语从句中又有一个含有同位语（the only living branch）和定语从句（family后面由that引导的从句）的插入语，主句后面还有一个since引导的时间状语从句。