雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
史前翼龙如何飞上天空
本篇也叫：翼龙、翼龙怎么飞、史前翼龙、会飞的爬行动物、翼龙飞行之谜、pterosaur
Part 3 · 考频：中频
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《How a prehistoric predator took to the skies》，共 14 题，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章探讨史前翼龙如何飞上天空。翼龙生活于三叠纪至白垩纪，无羽毛但身体覆毛，可能是温血动物。剑桥大学动物学教授Matthew Wilkinson以巴西发现的 anhanguera 翼龙化石为模型，重建骨骼并制作遥控翼龙模型，研究其飞行技巧与起飞方式。
Is that a bird in the sky? A plane? No, it's a pterosaur. Kate Thomas meets Professor Matthew Wilkinson, who built a life-size model to find out how this prehistoric predator ever got off the ground.
A
Pterosaurs existed from the Triassic period, 220 million years ago, to the end of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago, when South America pulled away from Africa and the South Atlantic was formed. They are among the least understood of all the extinct reptiles that once spent their lives in the skies while the dinosaurs dominated the land. Pterosaurs had no feathers, but at least part of their bodies was covered in hair, not unlike bats. Some believe this is an indication they were warm-blooded. Researchers also debate whether pterosaurs travelled on the ground by walking on their hind legs, like birds, or by using all fours, relying on their threetoed front feet as well as their four-toed rear feet.
B
Pterosaurs were vertebrates, meaning they were the first species possessing backbones to become airborne, but scientists have never quite understood their flight technique. How, they wondered, did such a heavy creature ever manage to take off? How could a wing that appears to have been supported by fine, hollow bones have carried one into the sky? Then came the discovery of a site in Brazil's Araripe basin. Here, not only were hundreds of fossils of amphibians and other reptiles found, but archaeologists unearthed a number of very well-preserved pterosaurs. The anhanguera - a fisheating sub-species of pterosaur that ruled the skies in the Cretaceous period - was among them. With a wingspan of up to 12 metres, they would have made an amazing sight in the sky had any human been there to witness it. 'I've been studying pterosaurs for about eight years now,' says Dr Matthew Wilkinson, a professor of zoology at Cambridge University. With an anhanguera fossil as his model, Wilkinson began gradually reconstructing its skeletal structure in his Cambridge studio. The probability of finding three-dimensional pterosaur fossils anywhere is slim. That was quite a find,' he says. Their bones are usually crushed to dust.' Once the structure was complete, it inspired him to make a robot version as a way to understand the animal's locomotion. With a team of model-makers, he has built a remote- controlled pterosaur in his studio.
C
'Fossils show just how large these creatures were. I've always been interested in how they managed to launch themselves, so I thought the real test would be to actually build one and fly it.' Wilkinson hasn't been alone in his desire to recreate a prehistoric beast. Swiss scientists recently announced they had built an amphibious robot that could walk on land and swim in water using the sort of backbone movements that must have been employed by the first creatures to crawl from the sea. But Wilkinson had the added complication of working out his beast's flight technique. Unlike those of bats or flying squirrels, pterosaur wings - soft, stretchy membranes of skin tissue - are thought to have reached from the chest right to the ankle, reinforced by fibres that stiffened the wing and prevented tearing. Smaller subspecies flapped their wings during takeoff. That may have explained the creatures' flexibility, but it did not answer the most pressing question: how did such heavy animals manage to launch themselves into the sky?
D
Working with researchers in London and Berlin, Wilkinson began to piece together the puzzle. It emerged that the anhanguera had an elongated limb called the pteroid. It had previously been thought the pteroid pointed towards the shoulder of the creature and supported a soft forewing in front of the arm. But if that were the case, the forewing would have been too small and ineffectual for flight. However, to the surprise of many scientists, fossils from the Araripe basin showed the pteroid possibly faced the opposite way, creating a much greater forewing that would have caught the air, working in the same way as the flaps on the wings of an aeroplane. So, with both feet on the ground, the anhanguera might have simply faced into the wind, spread its wings and risen up into the sky. Initial trials in wind tunnels proved the point - models of pterosaurs with forward-facing pteroids were not only adept at gliding, but were agile flyers in spite of their size. 'This high-lift capability would have significantly reduced the minimum flight speed, allowing even the largest forms to take off without difficulty,' Wilkinson says. 'It would have enabled them to glide very slowly and may have been instrumental in the evolution of large size by the pterosaurs.'
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答案：reptiles
原文定位：They are among the least understood of all the extinct reptiles that once spent their lives in the skies while the dinosaurs dominated the land
答案：hair
原文定位：Pterosaurs had no feathers, but at least part of their bodies was covered in hair, not unlike bats. Some believe this is an indication they were warm-blooded
同义替换：「evidence of warm blood」↔「an indication they were warm-blooded」
答案：hind legs
原文定位：Researchers also debate whether pterosaurs travelled on the ground by walking on their hind legs, like birds, or by using all fours, relying on their threetoed front feet as well as their four-toed rear feet
同义替换：「moved on land」↔「travelled on the ground」，「using their hind legs only」↔「walking on their hind legs」
答案：weight
原文定位：How, they wondered, did such a heavy creature ever manage to take off
同义替换：「immense」↔「heavy」
答案：strength
原文定位：How could a wing that appears to have been supported by fine, hollow bones have carried one into the sky
同义替换：「the bones making up the wing」↔「a wing that appears to have been supported by fine, hollow bones」
答案：fish
原文定位：The anhanguera - a fisheating sub-species of pterosaur that ruled the skies in the Cretaceous period - was among them. With a wingspan of up to 12 metres
答案：YES
原文定位：The probability of finding three-dimensional pterosaur fossils anywhere is slim. That was quite a find,' he says. Their bones are usually crushed to dust
同义替换：「rare」↔「slim probability」，「fossil that clearly shows its skeleton」↔「three-dimensional pterosaur fossils」
答案：NO
原文定位：I've always been interested in how they managed to launch themselves, so I thought the real test would be to actually build one and fly it
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：This high-lift capability would have significantly reduced the minimum flight speed, allowing even the largest forms to take off without difficulty,' Wilkinson says. 'It would have enabled them to glide very slowly and may have been instrumental in the evolution of large size by the pterosaurs
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Unlike an aircraft, which is stabilised by the tail wing at the back, the model is stabilised by its head, which means it can start spinning around. That's the most problematic bit as far as we're concerned,' Wilkinson says. 'We've had to take it flying without the head so far
答案：Large pterosaurs were not able to take off like other flying animals.
原文定位：Smaller subspecies flapped their wings during takeoff. That may have explained the creatures' flexibility, but it did not answer the most pressing question: how did such heavy animals manage to launch themselves into the sky
同义替换：「Large pterosaurs」↔「heavy animals」，「take off」↔「launch themselves into the sky」
答案：It was in an unexpected position.
原文定位：It had previously been thought the pteroid pointed towards the shoulder of the creature and supported a soft forewing in front of the arm. But if that were the case, the forewing would have been too small and ineffectual for flight. However, to the surprise of many scientists, fossils from the Araripe basin showed the pteroid possibly faced the opposite way
同义替换：「unexpected position」↔「to the surprise of many scientists」
答案：it cannot be controlled when its head is attached.
原文定位：Unlike an aircraft, which is stabilised by the tail wing at the back, the model is stabilised by its head, which means it can start spinning around. That's the most problematic bit as far as we're concerned,' Wilkinson says. 'We've had to take it flying without the head so far
答案：Wilkinson's desire to build models
原文定位：it's more likely we'll start off with one of the smaller, flapping pterosaurs.' This is certainly more reassuring. Let's hope he is content to leave it at that