日课｜美文：Why Did Dinosaurs Suddenly Die Out?
这篇经典文章已有数百年的历史，至今读来仍觉有益。
Jessie老师英语美文朗读，一遍慢速，适合模仿，一遍快速，适合练语速和听力！纯正美音，适合模仿学习。
Why Did Dinosaurs Suddenly Die Out?
The most intriguing question about dinosaurs has always been "why did they die out?" There is no simple answer to this question, even though many hundreds of scientists are studying the problem. They are not studying the extinction of the dinosaurs alone, but the whole question of extinction. Many other plants and animals have died out in the past, and it is important to understand how and why this happened. Having this information could help save many species that are under threat in the modern world. Humans are causing extinctions now, because of pollution and other damage to the environment. Maybe the dinosaurs can tell us how to save the earth today, because of their extinction 65 million years ago! Some of the early dinosaur scientists, 100 years ago, thought the dinosaurs died out because the air changed, and they could not breathe. Others thought that the dinosaurs disappeared simply because they became too big. They were too heavy to move without falling over, and could not find enough food to survive. One theory is that a huge killer meteorite hit the earth. Some scientists hold that the extinction of dinosaurs was possibly due to a rapid cooling of the planet's climate. Perhaps huge amounts of lava poured out of volcanoes in India. This sent up vast clouds of dust that blacked out the sun, and made the earth icy cold.
关于恐龙的最令人感兴趣的问题总是“它们为什么会灭绝？”即使有数百位科学家正在研究这个问题，这个问题仍然没有简单的答案。他们并不只是研究恐龙的灭绝，而是研究整个灭绝的问题。过去有很多中其他种类的动植物灭绝了，了解如何发生和为何发生这种情况很重要。获得这种信息能够挽救许多在当今社会正在面临灭绝威胁的物种。由于污染和对环境的其他损害，人类现在正在导致物种灭绝。恐龙在6500万年前的灭绝或许能够告诉我们如何挽救今天的地球！100年，一些早期恐龙学家认为恐龙的灭绝是因为空气的变化导致它们无法呼吸。另一些人认为恐龙的灭绝仅仅是因为它们太过庞大，它们太过笨重无法行走而不摔倒，无法找到足够的食物以维持生存。还有一个理论是一个巨大的杀手——陨石撞击了地球。一些科学家认为恐龙的灭绝可能是由于地球气候的迅速变冷所致。或许印度火山喷涌出了大量火山岩，使得大量的烟尘遮住了太阳，从而使地球变得冰冷。
intriguing 非常有趣的；引人入胜的；神秘的
die out 逐渐消亡；灭绝；绝种
extinction 灭绝；绝种；消亡
species 种；物种（pl. species）
under threat 受到威胁
survive 生存；存活；继续存在
meteorite 陨石
due to 由于；应付
lava （火山喷出的）熔岩；岩浆
volcano 火山
black out 使一片漆黑；使停电
icy cold 冰冷