一、听力练习
1.
A. Its habitat and lifestyle.
B. The mystery of its head and how it was solved.
C. The comparisons between different species of bugs.
D. The reasons for its extinction.
2.
A. By studying modern-day bugs.
B. By using CT scans of younger bugs' fossils.
C. By examining historical records.
D. By comparing with living arthropods.
3.
A. It had long antennae.
B. It had eyes similar to those of crabs.
C. It was shaped like a triangle.
D. It had a large mouth for eating fish.
二、听力文本
The largest bug to ever live was about 2.6 meters long and had many legs. However, the look and shape of its head remained a mystery until now. The fossils of these creatures are often headless shells. When bugs drop their shells, a process called shedding, they move out of the head opening, leaving behind their exoskeleton but very little of the head. Recently, scientists solved that mystery by re-creating the creature's head. They were able to do this after studying complete and well-kept fossils of younger bugs. The huge bug's head was round with two short bell-shaped antennae. It had two eyes that stuck out like crab's eyes. Its mouth was fairly small and made for eating leaves and the outer covering of trees. Its name is Arthropleura. This bug belonged to a group of crabs, spiders and insects called arthropods. But the bug was much, much bigger. It could grow as big as 2.6 meters and weigh as much as 50 kilograms. This large Arthropleura may have been the biggest bug to ever live. Although, not all scientists agree. Some say Arthropleura may be a close second to an extinct giant sea scorpion. Researchers in Europe and North America have been collecting pieces and footprints of the huge bugs since the late 1800s. To produce a model of the head, researchers first used CT scans to study full-body fossils of younger bugs. These fossils were found in a French coal field in the 1980s. The fossils of younger bugs only measured about 6 centimeters. And it is possible they were a kind of Arthropleura that did not grow to a really large size. But still, researchers said they are close enough to the huge Arthropleura to provide a picture of what adults looked like when they were alive 300 million years ago.
Question 1: What is the main idea of the news report?
Question 2: How did researchers re-create the head of Arthropleura?
Question 3: What is one characteristic of the head of Arthropleura?
三、重点词汇
1. mystery: something strange or not known that has not yet been explained or understood 神秘的事物，难以理解的事物，谜
四、背景知识
经过170年的深入研究，科学家们终于揭示了地球上已知最大昆虫——Arthropleura的完整形态。其体型庞大，堪比一辆汽车大小，身体像千足虫，头部像蜈蚣，眼柄像螃蟹。这种在3亿年前漫步地球的生物，一度被认为是史上最大的昆虫，并被视为蜈蚣和千足虫的共同祖先。在大约3.45亿年至2.9亿年前的岁月里，这种体长超过2.6米的巨兽在北美和欧洲地区爬行，留下了如同履带般的痕迹。Arthropleura受到了科学界的广泛关注，成为了100多篇科学论文的研究对象。尽管科学家们长期以来一直在寻找其完整的头部化石，但直到最近才取得突破。“我们首次在一只这种昆虫的幼年化石中找到了其完整的头部”，法国里昂第一大学的古生物学家米卡埃尔·莱里蒂埃说道，“我们非常震惊——真的非常震惊。”他的团队通过对保存完好的幼年Arthropleura化石进行精细的CT扫描，成功重建了Arthropleura的完整形象。这一研究成果近期发表于《科学进展》期刊。（背景知识来自于https://h5.ifeng.com/c/vivo/v0028DyBPtSCZwZ09dvhXqfkehdNnQQNKvg4BS4dPZL88I8__）
五、参考答案
Question 1: B
Question 2: B
Question 3: B
六、网络翻译
有史以来最大的昆虫长约2.6米，拥有许多腿。然而，它的头部的外观和形状一直是个谜，直到现在。这些生物的化石通常是无头的外壳。当昆虫蜕皮时，它们会通过头部开口脱离，留下外骨骼，但头部的部分几乎没有。最近，科学家们通过重建这种生物的头部解决了这一谜团。他们在研究了年轻昆虫的完整且保存良好的化石后得以实现。这种巨大昆虫的头部是圆形的，配有两个短的钟形触角。它有两只像螃蟹眼一样突出的眼睛，嘴巴相对较小，适合吃树叶和树木的外层覆盖物。它的名字是阿尔索普鲁拉（Arthropleura）。这种昆虫属于一种叫做节肢动物的生物群体，包括螃蟹、蜘蛛和昆虫，但它的体型要大得多。阿尔索普鲁拉可以长到2.6米，体重可达50公斤。这种大型阿尔索普鲁拉可能是有史以来最大的昆虫，尽管并不是所有科学家都同意。有些人认为阿尔索普鲁拉可能仅次于一种已灭绝的巨型海蝎子。自19世纪末以来，欧洲和北美的研究人员一直在收集这些巨大昆虫的化石和足迹。为了制作头部模型，研究人员首先使用CT扫描研究年轻昆虫的全身化石。这些化石是在1980年代在法国的一个煤田中发现的，年轻昆虫的化石仅测量约6厘米。可能它们是一种未能生长到真正巨大尺寸的阿尔索普鲁拉。不过，研究人员表示，它们与巨型阿尔索普鲁拉足够接近，可以提供300百万年前成年昆虫生存时的外观。
七、版权说明
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