1 . Lisa St. Coeur Cormier, a high school science teacher in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, found a tree root. When she took a closer look, she found the shape was very strange. She realized it wasn’t a tree root though it shared the same color. She felt it was hard to break and noticed an impression of bones of what looked like some kind of animal.
Cormier sent a photo of the find to Laura MacNeil who used her knowledge in this field to confirm that what Cormier had seen really was a fossil (化石). MacNeil runs tours of sites where prehistoric fossils have been found and also helps people identify fossils. She visited the site of Cormier’s find to take more photos of it.
MacNeil contacted John Calder, a scientist, who examined the fossil and led a team of scientists to study it. John Calder said it could be as much as 300 million years old. He said it’s probably from a reptile (爬行动物) of some kind — likely one that is unknown to scientists. Scientists spent 5.5 hours carefully digging out the fossil from the ground so they could study it more in-depth and find out exactly what kind of animal it is. That research could take a year or more.
“This is an important discovery here on Prince Edward Island. It is the second of the only two articulated skeletons (关节相连的骨头) found on PEI,” Laura MacNeil said. “This creature lived about 300 million years ago. This find tells us there is a great possibility for future scientifically important fossils that could be discovered on PEI. It will lead to more researchers paying a visit.”
1. How might Cormier feel when looking at the root carefully?| A．Satisfied. | B．Surprised. | C．Concerned. | D．Proud. |
| A．The scientists will have a detailed study on the fossil. |
| B．The scientists have identified the species of the fossil. |
| C．The scientists will keep the fossil under the ground. |
| D．The scientists discovered the first articulated skeleton. |
| A．Its long history. | B．Its wide popularity. |
| C．Its scientific value. | D．Its economic importance. |
| A．A scientist’s research on fossils | B．PEI is attracting more researchers |
| C．Cormier’s unforgettable tour in PEI | D．A science teacher discovered a fossil |
