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21.05.2021 18:11 •  Английский язык

Control of listening (11th form)

the discovery of dinosaurs

less than two hundred years ago, no one ever dreamed there was such a thing as dinosaur. today, everyone knows about dinosaurs. they are especially popular with children. even young children who can barely write their own names are often familiar with such dinosaur names as tyrannosaurus, stegosaurus, and triceratops.

people have known of dinosaurs for only about 150 years. before then, no one dreamed there had ever been such creatures. the word “ dinosaur” didn’t even exist.

anyone who chanced to dig up a fossil dinosaur bone or tooth might have thought it had come from an elephant – or perhaps from a dragon or giant! there were few if any people who could look at a bone and tell what sort of animal it had come from.

but by 150 years ago there were a good many scientists who could examine a bone or a tooth and tell exactly what kind of animal it had come from. some of these man were very interested in the fossil remains of ancient animals. and they began to discover a number of fossils that they knew had come from reptiles – scaly skinned creatures such as lizards, snakes and crocodiles. but most reptiles of today are rather small, and these fossil reptile bones and teeth were enormous!

in a book written in 1824, an englishman named william buckland described a huge fossil jaw that had been dug up near an english town. he called this creature megalosaurus, which means “ giant lizard ”. it was the first dinosaur to be named. during the next few years, fossils of other ancient reptiles were found and named. scientists now realized that a great many different kinds of giant reptiles must have lived long ago. a name was needed for these reptiles, just as there is a name for every other group of animals that are alike. in 1841, the english scientist richard owen suggested these huge, terrible-seeming reptiles should be called dinosaurs. the word was made up from greek words “deinos “, which means “terrible”, and sauros”, which means “lizard”. as it turned out, this really wasn’t good name, because dinosaurs were not lizards.

control of listening (11th form)

i variant

mark true or false.

people have known of dinosaurs for about 120 years.

dinosaurs are especially popular with children.

in a book written in 1823, an englishman named william buckland described a huge fossil jaw that had been dug up near an english town.

megalosaurus means “ giant lizard ”.

in 1841, the english scientist richard owen suggested these huge, terrible-seeming reptiles should be called dinosaurs.

complete the sentences.

1) the word … didn’t even exist.

a) thesaurus; b) dinosaur; c) jigsaw d) creature.

2) … was the first dinosaur to be named.

a) megalosaurus; b) tyrannosaurus; c)stegosaurus; d) triceratops.

3) this kind of creature means “ giant … ”.

a) elephant; b) crocodile; c) bird; d) lizard.

3. find antonyms to the words: less, tiny, modern, lose.