英語聽力：美洲大平原-11

In a Colorado gully, hunters carried out a mammoth massacre, leaving behind the remains of at least 16 animals. The site recreated here contains a treasure trove of evidence relating to the mammoth's daily life. Again by comparing mammoth bones to elephant's, we can calculate the sex and age of all the animals that died here, and deduce the make-up of a Columbian mammoth herd.

These are the bones of juveniles, up to around 14 years old, both males and females. Several adults lied here, too, all females, including one huge specimen, at least 40 years old. This range of age and sex exactly matches that of a modern-day African elephant herd. An older matriarch, the leader of the herd, is accompanied by her daughters and other female relatives. And they in turn are with their young, both male and female.

But where were the adult males when this herd was destroyed? A unique clue to their lives was uncovered in Nebraska. Recreated here are the skulls of two gigantic males that died with their tusks interlocked. How could this have happened? Again our best bet is to look at elephant society. During the breeding season, sexually mature bull elephants fight for access to the female herds. The tangled tusks are direct evidence that mammoths were aggressive,too.

1 mammoth

n.長毛象;adj.長毛象似的，巨大的

參考例句：

You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.資金到位的情況下方可進行重大變革。

Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那條新鐵路將是一項巨大工程。

2 massacre

n.殘殺，大屠殺;v.殘殺，集體屠殺

參考例句：

There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在戰(zhàn)爭中，這里的村民慘遭屠殺。

If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘記了大屠殺，大屠殺就有可能再次發(fā)生!

3 remains

n.剩余物，殘留物;遺體，遺跡

參考例句：

He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。

The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.殘羹剩飯喂狗了。

4 trove

n.被發(fā)現(xiàn)的東西，收藏的東西

參考例句：

He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中國瓷器。

The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.這個畫廊是中世紀藝術(shù)的寶庫。

5 herd

n.獸群，牧群;vt.使集中，把…趕在一起

參考例句：

She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她趕著牛群穿過荒野。

He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他從無主見，只是人云亦云。

6 juveniles

n.青少年( juvenile的名詞復數(shù) );扮演少年角色的演員;未成年人

參考例句：

Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你對暴力犯罪的懲罰對于青少年和成人應(yīng)一樣嗎? 來自生活英語口語25天快訓

Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我們難道不正是需要這種力量和信念嗎? 來自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)

7 specimen

n.樣本，標本

參考例句：

You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用鑷子來夾這標本。

This specimen is richly variegated in colour.這件標本上有很多顏色。

8 skulls

顱骨( skull的名詞復數(shù) ); 腦袋; 腦子; 腦瓜

參考例句：

One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 現(xiàn)已發(fā)現(xiàn)的女性顱骨中，其中有一個的腦容量超過了今天的普通男子。

We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我們便能令月光下的平原變白，遍布白色的骷髏!

9 tusks

n.(象等動物的)長牙( tusk的名詞復數(shù) );獠牙;尖形物;尖頭

參考例句：

The elephants are poached for their tusks. 為獲取象牙而偷獵大象。

Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地區(qū)則使用象牙、猴尾和鹽。 來自英語晨讀30分(高一)

10 herds

獸群( herd的名詞復數(shù) ); 牧群; 人群; 群眾

參考例句：

Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他們就把牲畜趕到草場上去。

There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我們在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

11 tangled

adj. 糾纏的，紊亂的 動詞tangle的過去式和過去分詞

參考例句：

Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的頭發(fā)太亂了，我梳不動。

A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 亂灌木叢里的晃動引起了他的注意。