A mammoth shock 史前巨兽猛犸亮相北京自然博物馆

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A mammoth shock
史前巨兽猛犸亮相北京自然博物馆
FROM 363期《21世纪学生英文报》高一版
PUBLISHED: 2009-05-27
导读：4月28日到7月10日，北京自然博物馆迎来我国大陆首次猛犸象(mammoth)本体展览。猛犸因其冰封地下长达万年，被发掘时皮肉俱存，为世所罕见的猛犸象本体。
很多物种已经从地球上消失达数百万年。
Different types of animals have been disappearing from view on the earth for millions of years.
感谢人类与生俱来的求知欲，如今，他们中的一员又再次出现了。
Now, one of them keeps popping up again, thanks to natural human curiosity.
或许，猛犸象又可以在地球上散步了。
Mammoths could walk the earth again.
猛犸肩高5米，长着长牙，圆圆的头颅高高耸起。
With large tusks and a high rounded head, mammoths were up to 5 meters tall at the shoulder.
它们全身披着深色长毛，体重在6至12公吨不等。
They were covered with long, dark hairs and probably weighed from 6 to 12 tonnes.
4月28日至7月10日，北京自然博物馆将展出两具猛犸的冰冻标本。
Two mammoths dug up are on display in Beijing Museum of Natural History from April 28 to July 10.
猛犸和现代大象是近亲，起源于400万年前的非洲，后迁移至欧亚。
Mammoths are close relatives of modern elephants. Mammoths first appeared in Africa about four million years ago and spread out across Europe and Asia.
慢慢地，它们进化成了多个种类，以适应各自的生存环境。
They slowly evolved into several different species, each adapting to their environment.
例如：毛猛犸（长毛象）就生活在西伯利亚极冷的环境下。
For example the hardy woolly mammoths lived in the extreme cold of Siberia.
大多数科学家认为，大约10000年前，由于气候变暖导致食物数量减少，毛猛犸才因此灭绝。
Most scientists think that about 10,000 years ago, woolly mammoths died out as a result of warmer weather reducing their food sources.
人们相信，在西伯利亚冻土下埋藏着近千万的猛犸。
It is believed that 10 million mammoths are buried under the frozen soil of Siberia.
2007年．一位俄罗斯猎人在冰雪中发现一具动物尸体，起初他还以前这是一头冻死的驯鹿。
In 2007, a Russian hunter came across what he thought was the body of a reindeer sticking out of the snow.
仔细一看，才发现这只"驯鹿"原来是一头4万年前的猛犸。
With a closer look, the "reindeer" turned out to be a 40,000-year-old baby mammoth.
在脑海中想象一下：毛猛犸曾在我们现在的居住地附近吃草。
Picture it in your mind. Woolly mammoths eating grass around the places we are living in right now.
俄罗斯首都莫斯科Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution的猛犸专家Andrei Sher表示："我们的祖先可能见过它们，和它们居住在一起，甚至有可能捕猎过它们。"
"Our ancestors might have seen them, lived with them, and even hunted them," said Andrei Sher, a mammoth expert at the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Moscow, Russia.
你或许已经在电影中见过猛犸。
You might already have seen a mammoth in the movies.
在电影《冰原历险记2》中，一对猛犸配偶显示了它们的力量：公猛犸从即将塌陷的山洞里救出了母猛犸。多么浪漫的史前故事啊！
In Ice Age 2, the mammoth couple showed off their power, with the male saving the female from a damaged cave. What a prehistoric romance!
但是，科学家们仍渴望看到真正的猛犸。
But scientists are dying to see real mammoths.
猛犸标本的表皮和肉身都保存完好。研究猛犸的专家们希望能破解猛犸的基因秘密，让它们获得重生。
The skin and flesh of those dug up are well preserved. Experts studying them hope to find the genetic secrets of the mammoth and bring them back to life.
(Translator & Editor: sylvie AND 小胡)
阅读工具
mammoth  猛犸
tusk  长牙
tonne  公吨
Beijing Museum of Natural History  北京自然博物馆
evolve  进化
reindeer 驯鹿
prehistoric  史前的
dug up  v. 掘起（挖松,发现）