歷史上的動物可真巨大！比如，曾經生活在亞洲地區的巨犀 “Paraceratherium” 比兩輛雙層公交車疊在一起還要高；體型龐大的巨齒鯊 “megalodon” 和阿根廷巨鷹 “Argentavis” 也分別曾在海洋和天空中遨遊。本文介紹除瞭恐龍之外地球上還曾出現過哪些巨大生物，並淺談這些生物出現的原因。
詞匯：animal 動物
1 When thinking of giant animals, dinosaurs might be the first creatures you think of. But before the dinosaurs became extinct, and before the first ever humans existed, there was megafauna. In zoology, this means large animals.
2 One of the largest known mammals to have ever walked the Earth is the Paraceratherium – picture a gigantic hornless rhino, and you’ll have a rough idea of what they looked like. They lived around 25 million years ago and were most common in areas of the world that are now part of Asia, such as China, India and Kazakhstan. From excavated fossils, these creatures are estimated to have been almost six metres tall – that’s the height of two buses on top of each other!
3 And it’s not just land enormous creatures lived on – they were in the skies and oceans too. The Argentavis is the largest flying bird to have been discovered. It lived until around six million years ago and had a wingspan of seven metres, over twice the size of the Andean condor, which is one of the largest birds on Earth today. And we can’t forget the giant shark that roamed the oceans, megalodon. Imagine swimming in the sea and coming across an 18-metre-long shark! Don’t worry. They died out around 2.6 million years ago.
4 So, why were pre-historic animals so huge? There are a number of reasons. One is that, in the past, resources were more plentiful, so species were able to grow larger because they could eat more. Scientists also believe that during certain periods of history, such as in the Carboniferous period, there were higher oxygen levels on Earth. At this time, some insects grew to the size of cars because of better oxygen delivery in their tracheal system, the network of tubes that enable insects to breathe.
5 Can you picture animals being so huge today?
測驗與練習
一、根據文章內容選出正確的段落。
1. Which paragraph mentioned huge insects?
二、根據文章內容選出正確的選項。
1. The largest animal ever was a hornless rhino.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given
2. How tall was the Paraceratherium?
a. under six metres
b. six metres
c. over six metres
3. How large was the giant bird, Argentavis?
a. larger than a megalodon
b. around double the length of the Andean condor
c. smaller than some birds today
4. Megalodons roamed the ocean 2.5 million years ago.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given
5. What does ‘this’ refer to in the following sentence? At this time, some insects grew to the size of cars because of better oxygen delivery in their trachea.
a. the Carboniferous period
b. certain periods of history
c. modern day
三、用下列單詞完成對本文的總結。
Looking at 1)_______, scientists have found a range of creatures that used to be 2)_______. For example, the Paraceratherium was a 3)_______ not too dissimilar to a rhino. The 4)_______ bird ever found, with a 5)_______ of 7 metres was almost twice the size of the Andean condor. These animals were so huge for a range of reasons, including there being more resources, like food, than today.
largest
megalodon
enormous
fossils
wingspan
mammal
died out
（答案見詞匯表後）
詞匯表
giant 巨大的，高大的
dinosaur 恐龍
extinct 滅絕的
megafauna 巨型動物
zoology 動物學
mammal 哺乳動物
gigantic 巨大的，龐大的
hornless 沒有角的
excavate 發掘，挖掘
fossil 化石
land 陸地
wingspan 翼展，一對翅膀展開後的總寬度
condor 禿鷹
roam 漫步，漫遊
megalodon 巨齒鯊
die out 逐漸消失
pre-historic 史前的
plentiful 充足的，富足的
Carboniferous 石炭紀
tracheal system （昆蟲的）氣管系統
答案
一、根據文章內容選出正確的段落。
Paragraph 4. Scientists also believe that during certain periods of history, such as the Carboniferous period, there were higher oxygen levels on earth. At this time, some insects grew to the size of cars.
二、根據文章內容選出正確的選項。
1. c. Not given. One of the largest known mammals to have ever walked the earth is the Paraceratherium, a gigantic hornless rhino.
2. a. These creatures are estimated to have been almost six metres tall.
3. b. The Argentavis had a wingspan of seven metres, over twice the size of the Andean condor, which is one of the largest birds on earth today.
4. b. False. They died out around 2.6 million years ago.
5. a. The pronoun ‘this’ refers back to the sentence ‘Scientists also believe that during certain periods of history, such as the Carboniferous period, there were higher oxygen levels on earth.’
三、用下列單詞完成對本文的總結。
Looking at fossils, scientists have found a range of creatures that used to be enormous. For example, the Paraceratherium was a mammal not too dissimilar to a rhino. The largest bird ever found, with a wingspan of seven metres, was almost twice the size of the Andean condor. These animals were so huge for a range of reasons, including there being more resources, like food, than today.
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