英语听力：探索发现 2012-12-23 冰河新新州 Ice Age Oasis—5

 But the glyptodont wasn't a reptile¹. So what was it? There is a relative of the glyptodont that’s still alive today. It's the armadillo and it's a mammal, the only mammal with this kind of armor in the whole of North America. It may give us some idea of how an ice age glyptodont might have looked when alive. 

 

Armadillos have poor eyesight and rely mostly on their sense of smell. Much of their time is spent nose to the ground in search of food. 

 

Like the glyptodont, they are covered in a layer of bony scutes. But the armadillo's body armor is surprisingly thin and flexible and doesn't slow its owner down. So what about the glyptodont? 

 

The glyptodont's scute casing was up to 5 centimetres thick and fused² into a solid shell. The shell alone is extremely heavy. And the entire animal probably weighed as much as a small car. It had extremely sturdy³ legs and five toes on each foot to spread its massive⁴ weight. The heavy tail probably acted as a counterbalance. So the glyptodont wasn't built for speed, but inside all this body armor, you'd imagine it was well protected. But one fossil⁵ skull⁶ tells a different story. It suggests the glyptodont's defences weren't impenetrable.

1 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

2 fused   

adj.熔合在一起的

参考例句：

• The wax from the two candles fused as they burned. 两根蜡烛上的蜡燃烧时熔化在一起。
• The burning hearts of the revolutionaries fused into one. 革命者火热的心融合在一起。

3 sturdy   

adj.强壮的，结实的，坚固的，坚定(强)的

参考例句：

• We need several sturdy men to push this car.我们需要几个强壮的人来推车。
• Children need sturdy shoes.孩子们需要结实的鞋子。

4 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

5 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。