The Solnhofen limestones in southern Germany are famous for the Jurassic Period (155 million years ago) fossils they contain. Despite the many remarkable fossils, one in particular put Solnhofen on the map: the Archaeopteryx, long famous as the first true bird. A single feather was discovered in 1860, a tantalizing glimpse of the creature it fell from. Beginning the very next year, a series of Archaeopteryx fossils began to come to light, at an irregular rate and ten specimens are currently recognized. From its many dinosaurian skeletal features, its long bony tail, and the fine teeth in its jaws, Archaeopteryx might easily have been identified as a small theropod (upright on two legs) dinosaur, and indeed an amateur mistakenly classified one specimen as the small predatory dinosaur Compsognathus.
However, the marvelous preservation afforded by the Solnhofen limestones has given us specimens of Archaeopteryx surrounded by imprints of their feathers, showing that their plumage looked rather like that of a modern magpie, a bird with black and white feathers and a long tail. Wing feathers are asymmetrical like those of modern birds’ flight feathers, showing adaptation for aerodynamic use. So detailed are some of the fossils that we can even detect the fine structure of some of these feathers, showing for instance that the fibers of the large flight feathers of Archaeopteryx were organized via the barb-and-barbule arrangement that makes modern bird feathers so stable and structurally effective, despite their lightweight and delicate construction.
Ongoing analysis and debate will always persist concerning Archaeopteryx-whether it used its wings to glide or flapped its wings to fly like a modern bird. Plus, the exact evolutionary path of this early bird remains uncertain, complicated by the recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (the period which followed the Jurassic). However, a team led by Angela Milner, at the Natural History Museum in London, recently conducted a CT-scan study of the London Archaeopteryx specimen’s 20millimeter-long braincase. They were able to generate 3-D reconstructions that allowed them to investigate the anatomy of the brain in detail. Their study suggests that Archaeopteryx was already well equipped for flight, judging by key areas of the brain and sensory systems. “Now that we know Archaeopteryx was capable of controlling the complex business of flying, this raises more questions,” said Milner. “If flight was this advanced by the time Archaeopteryx was around, then were birds actually flying millions of years earlier than we’d previously thought? As yet we have no earlier fossils to help us piece together this fascinating evolutionary story and this study has shown how much there is still to discover about when and how bird flight began.” This groundbreaking work clearly showed the value of CT (X-ray computerized tomography) scanning to resolve long-debated questions about fossils. However, it is fair to say that Archaeopteryx remains a classic missing link, a transitional form in the historical process of evolution from reptiles to birds.
The findings of the first feather in 1860 and of skeletons with feather impressions in 1861 were also very timely, given Charles Darwin’s recent publication of On the Origin of Species. in 1859. The 1861 specimen was purchased by the Natural History Museum in London and soon became an important cornerstone that helped underpin Darwin’s theory of descent with modification, the idea that new types of organisms are descended with changes from existing types of organisms. Thomas Henry Huxley, often referred to as Darwin’s Bulldog, robustly defended the theory published by Darwin and his coworker, Alfred Russell Wallace. Huxley reported his observations on Archaeopteryx to the Royal Institution in London in 1868. noting its reptilian qualities. He also speculated in a paper that same year, “Are any fossil birds more reptilian than any of those now living?” The lecture was Huxley’s most famous, indicating that birds and dinosaurs were related. Huxley stated that Archaeopteryx was an evolutionary offshoot within birds, providing the world with its first definitive statement on the origin of this diverse group of vertebrates. He also went on to suggest that humble garden blackbirds were in fact dinosaurs in disguise, an observation of a most insightful and brilliant mind. The remarkable feather imprints of Archaeopteryx also emphasize the value of soft-tissue preservation. Without the Solnhofen limestones, Archaeopteryx might never have attracted special attention, and we might still today have Archaeopteryx filed among the minor dinosaurs.
题目：
1
The Solnhofen limestones in southern Germany are famous for the Jurassic Period (155 million years ago) fossils they contain. Despite the many remarkable fossils, one in particular put Solnhofen on the map: the Archaeopteryx, long famous as the first true bird. A single feather was discovered in 1860, a tantalizing glimpse of the creature it fell from. Beginning the very next year, a series of Archaeopteryx fossils began to come to light, at an irregular rate and ten specimens are currently recognized. From its many dinosaurian skeletal features, its long bony tail, and the fine teeth in its jaws, Archaeopteryx might easily have been identified as a small theropod (upright on two legs) dinosaur, and indeed an amateur mistakenly classified one specimen as the small predatory dinosaur Compsognathus.
In introducing the Archaeopteryx, why does the author mention that “an amateur mistakenly classified one specimen as the small predatory dinosaur Compsognathus”?
ATo suggest that Archaeopteryx might have been predatory
BTo emphasize how similar Archaeopteryx is to a theropod dinosaur
CTo illustrate the disagreement among scientists on how to classify Archaeopteryx
DTo indicate the importance of feathers in properly classifying Archaeopteryx
2
However, the marvelous preservation afforded by the Solnhofen limestones has given us specimens of Archaeopteryx surrounded by imprints of their feathers, showing that their plumage looked rather like that of a modern magpie, a bird with black and white feathers and a long tail. Wing feathers are asymmetrical like those of modern birds’ flight feathers, showing adaptation for aerodynamic use. So detailed are some of the fossils that we can even detect the fine structure of some of these feathers, showing for instance that the fibers of the large flight feathers of Archaeopteryx were organized via the barb-and-barbule arrangement that makes modern bird feathers so stable and structurally effective, despite their lightweight and delicate construction.
The word “marvelous” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Awonderful
Bcareful
Cnatural
Dlasting
3
However, the marvelous preservation afforded by the Solnhofen limestones has given us specimens of Archaeopteryx surrounded by imprints of their feathers, showing that their plumage looked rather like that of a modern magpie, a bird with black and white feathers and a long tail. Wing feathers are asymmetrical like those of modern birds’ flight feathers, showing adaptation for aerodynamic use. So detailed are some of the fossils that we can even detect the fine structure of some of these feathers, showing for instance that the fibers of the large flight feathers of Archaeopteryx were organized via the barb-and-barbule arrangement that makes modern bird feathers so stable and structurally effective, despite their lightweight and delicate construction.
The word “detect” in the passage is closest in meaning to
Adescribe
Bfeel
Creproduce
Ddistinguish
4
However, the marvelous preservation afforded by the Solnhofen limestones has given us specimens of Archaeopteryx surrounded by imprints of their feathers, showing that their plumage looked rather like that of a modern magpie, a bird with black and white feathers and a long tail. Wing feathers are asymmetrical like those of modern birds’ flight feathers, showing adaptation for aerodynamic use. So detailed are some of the fossils that we can even detect the fine structure of some of these feathers, showing for instance that the fibers of the large flight feathers of Archaeopteryx were organized via the barb-and-barbule arrangement that makes modern bird feathers so stable and structurally effective, despite their lightweight and delicate construction.
According to paragraph 2, imprints left by Archaeopteryx feathers support all of the following about the feathers EXCEPT
AThey resembled the feathers of modern birds
BThey were most likely suitable for movement in the air.
CThey were generally black with white spots.
DThey had a barb-and-barbule arrangement.
5
Ongoing analysis and debate will always persist concerning Archaeopteryx-whether it used its wings to glide or flapped its wings to fly like a modern bird. Plus, the exact evolutionary path of this early bird remains uncertain, complicated by the recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (the period which followed the Jurassic). However, a team led by Angela Milner, at the Natural History Museum in London, recently conducted a CT-scan study of the London Archaeopteryx specimen’s 20millimeter-long braincase. They were able to generate 3-D reconstructions that allowed them to investigate the anatomy of the brain in detail. Their study suggests that Archaeopteryx was already well equipped for flight, judging by key areas of the brain and sensory systems. “Now that we know Archaeopteryx was capable of controlling the complex business of flying, this raises more questions,” said Milner. “If flight was this advanced by the time Archaeopteryx was around, then were birds actually flying millions of years earlier than we’d previously thought? As yet we have no earlier fossils to help us piece together this fascinating evolutionary story and this study has shown how much there is still to discover about when and how bird flight began.” This groundbreaking work clearly showed the value of CT (X-ray computerized tomography) scanning to resolve long-debated questions about fossils. However, it is fair to say that Archaeopteryx remains a classic missing link, a transitional form in the historical process of evolution from reptiles to birds.
According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true of the evolutionary history of Archaeopteryx?
AThe evolutionary history of Archaeopteryx clearly indicates when and how birds began to fly
BArchaeopteryx represents a transitional form between reptiles and birds.
CWings appropriate for flying, or at least gliding, were present in the ancestral line long before Archaeopteryx appeared.
DArchaeopteryx was not actually the first species to have feathers but was the first to fly
6
Ongoing analysis and debate will always persist concerning Archaeopteryx-whether it used its wings to glide or flapped its wings to fly like a modern bird. Plus, the exact evolutionary path of this early bird remains uncertain, complicated by the recent discoveries of feathered dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (the period which followed the Jurassic). However, a team led by Angela Milner, at the Natural History Museum in London, recently conducted a CT-scan study of the London Archaeopteryx specimen’s 20millimeter-long braincase. They were able to generate 3-D reconstructions that allowed them to investigate the anatomy of the brain in detail. Their study suggests that Archaeopteryx was already well equipped for flight, judging by key areas of the brain and sensory systems. “Now that we know Archaeopteryx was capable of controlling the complex business of flying, this raises more questions,” said Milner. “If flight was this advanced by the time Archaeopteryx was around, then were birds actually flying millions of years earlier than we’d previously thought? As yet we have no earlier fossils to help us piece together this fascinating evolutionary story and this study has shown how much there is still to discover about when and how bird flight began.” This groundbreaking work clearly showed the value of CT (X-ray computerized tomography) scanning to resolve long-debated questions about fossils. However, it is fair to say that Archaeopteryx remains a classic missing link, a transitional form in the historical process of evolution from reptiles to birds.
According to paragraph 3, what was significant about the CT-scan study of the London Archaeopteryx specimen?
AIt implied that Archaeopteryx had the ability to fly.
BIt confirmed that Archaeopteryx wings were designed to flap and glide.
CIt resulted in 3-D reconstructions of full-bodied Archaeopteryx
DIt proved that creatures like Archaeopteryx were flying millions of years earlier than previously thought.
7
The findings of the first feather in 1860 and of skeletons with feather impressions in 1861 were also very timely, given Charles Darwin’s recent publication of On the Origin of Species. in 1859. The 1861 specimen was purchased by the Natural History Museum in London and soon became an important cornerstone that helped underpin Darwin’s theory of descent with modification, the idea that new types of organisms are descended with changes from existing types of organisms. Thomas Henry Huxley, often referred to as Darwin’s Bulldog, robustly defended the theory published by Darwin and his coworker, Alfred Russell Wallace. Huxley reported his observations on Archaeopteryx to the Royal Institution in London in 1868. noting its reptilian qualities. He also speculated in a paper that same year, “Are any fossil birds more reptilian than any of those now living?” The lecture was Huxley’s most famous, indicating that birds and dinosaurs were related. Huxley stated that Archaeopteryx was an evolutionary offshoot within birds, providing the world with its first definitive statement on the origin of this diverse group of vertebrates. He also went on to suggest that humble garden blackbirds were in fact dinosaurs in disguise, an observation of a most insightful and brilliant mind. The remarkable feather imprints of Archaeopteryx also emphasize the value of soft-tissue preservation. Without the Solnhofen limestones, Archaeopteryx might never have attracted special attention, and we might still today have Archaeopteryx filed among the minor dinosaurs.
It can be inferred that the author regards Huxley’s comment that the “humble garden blackbirds were in fact dinosaurs in disguise” as
Aunoriginal
Binconsistent with Darwin’s theory of descent with modification
Cessentially correct
Dclever but untrue
8
The findings of the first feather in 1860 and of skeletons with feather impressions in 1861 were also very timely, given Charles Darwin’s recent publication of On the Origin of Species. in 1859. The 1861 specimen was purchased by the Natural History Museum in London and soon became an important cornerstone that helped underpin Darwin’s theory of descent with modification, the idea that new types of organisms are descended with changes from existing types of organisms. Thomas Henry Huxley, often referred to as Darwin’s Bulldog, robustly defended the theory published by Darwin and his coworker, Alfred Russell Wallace. Huxley reported his observations on Archaeopteryx to the Royal Institution in London in 1868. noting its reptilian qualities. He also speculated in a paper that same year, “Are any fossil birds more reptilian than any of those now living?” The lecture was Huxley’s most famous, indicating that birds and dinosaurs were related. Huxley stated that Archaeopteryx was an evolutionary offshoot within birds, providing the world with its first definitive statement on the origin of this diverse group of vertebrates. He also went on to suggest that humble garden blackbirds were in fact dinosaurs in disguise, an observation of a most insightful and brilliant mind. The remarkable feather imprints of Archaeopteryx also emphasize the value of soft-tissue preservation. Without the Solnhofen limestones, Archaeopteryx might never have attracted special attention, and we might still today have Archaeopteryx filed among the minor dinosaurs.
According to paragraph 4, from studying Archaeopteryx Huxley concluded that
Abirds and dinosaurs are related to each other
Bfossils of other organisms preserved in limestone deserved careful study
CArchaeopteryx belongs to a class of minor dinosaurs
DArchaeopteryx was more reptilian than other birds
9
