Section Ⅳ Learning about Language & Using LanguageANIMAL EXTINCTION①Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth. The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs②. They lived on the earth tens of millions of years ago, long before humans came into being and their future seemed secure at that time③. There were many different kinds of dinosaur and a number of④ them used to live in China. The eggs of twentyfive species have been found in Xixia County, Nanyang, Henan Province. Not long ago a rare new species of birdlike dinosaur was discovered in Chaoyang County, Liaoning Province. When scientists inspected⑤ the bones, they were surprised to find⑥ that these dinosaurs could not only run like the others but also climb trees⑦. They learned this from the way the bones were joined together⑧.Dinosaurs died out⑨ suddenly about 65 million years ago. Some scientists think it came after an unexpected⑩ incident⑪ when a huge rock from space hit the earth and put too much dust⑫ into the air. Others think the earth got too hot for the dinosaurs to live on⑬ any more. Nobody knows for sure⑭ why and how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time⑮.①extinction/Ik'stI k n/ŋ ʃn.灭绝；消亡extinct adj.不再存在的；已灭绝的；绝种的②dinosaur/'daIn s/ə ɔː n.恐龙③come into being 形成；产生(相当于 come into existence)long before 远远早于……，long 用在 before 前表示两个动作发生的时间相隔久远。④a number of“许多的；若干的”，后接可数名词的复数形式，谓语动词用复数形式。the number of“……的数量”，后接可数名词复数形式，谓语动词用单数形式。⑤inspect/In'spekt/vt.检查；视察⑥be surprised to do sth.吃惊地做某事(to do sth.是 surprised 的原因)⑦that 引导宾语从句，从句中含有并列连词 not only ... but also 连接的...
