The Bony Crests of Lambeosaurs 蘭伯龍的骨質頭冠

托福 TPO 071 考題符合托福 iBT 整合寫作的標準格式：在閱讀內容部分，作者提出三種可能用以解釋蘭伯龍頭冠的功能。而在講課內容部分，則對此三項功能一一提出反駁。

在閱讀內容方面出現一些專業術語，但是都不難理解，因為文章都有附上補充說明。而在講課內容中，均沿用閱讀段落的術語，並沒有出現新的專業詞彙，所以不會有聽力部分遭到突襲的憂慮。

整篇難度屬於中等程度。只要能夠掌握整合寫作的聽力技巧、寫作格式、並通曉評分原則，應該能夠拿到至少 25 分。

本份考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀與聽力的理解能力。

Reading 閱讀內容

1.  

   The fossil record shows that members of the group of dinosaurs known as lambeosaurs had large bony crests on top of their heads. The shape of the crests varied from species to species, but all lambeosaur crests contained extended hollow passages. No one really knows exactly what function the crests served, but scientists have offered several theories.

   點此看中文翻譯

   化石記錄顯示，被稱為蘭伯龍的恐龍群體的成員在其頭頂上有大的骨質頭冠。頭冠的形狀因物種而異，但所有的蘭伯龍頭冠都含有延伸的中空通道。沒有人真正知道這些頭冠到底有什麼功能，但科學家們提出了幾種理論。

2.  

   Sense of smell

   One theory holds that the primary purpose of the crests was to improve the dinosaurs' sense of smell. Examination of the fossils has suggested that the crests contained many blood vessels. The nose bones of modern animals with a highly developed sense of smell have a similar inner structure characterized by a high density of blood vessels. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the crests were primarily used to enhance the sense of smell.

   點此看中文翻譯

   嗅覺

   一種理論認為，頭冠的主要目的是為了提高恐龍的嗅覺。對化石的檢查顯示，頭冠含有許多血管。嗅覺高度發達的現代動物的鼻骨也有類似的內部結構，其特點是有高密度的血管。因此，可以合理地得出結論，頭冠主要是用來增強嗅覺的。

3.  

   Cooling

   A second theory maintains that the crests served to prevent overheating by lowering lambeosaurs’ body temperature. The addition of a crest had the effect of increasing the surface area of the lambeosaur’s body, thereby allowing body heat to escape more rapidly. Other warm-climate dinosaurs, stegosaurs for example, also had bony crestlike plates on parts of their body that increased the body surface area. It has long been believed that the bony plates of stegosaurs were adaptations to improve cooling, so it seems likely that the crests of lambeosaurs served the same purpose.

   點此看中文翻譯

   冷卻

   第二種理論認為，頭冠的作用是通過降低蘭伯龍的體溫來防止過熱。增加頭冠的作用是增加蘭伯龍身體的表面積，從而使身體的熱量更快地散發出來。其他溫暖氣候的恐龍，例如劍龍，在它們身體的某些部位也有頭冠狀的板塊，增加了身體的表面積。長期以來，人們一直認為劍龍的骨板是為了改善散熱而進行的適應改變，因此，蘭伯龍的頭冠似乎也有同樣的作用。

4.  

   Sound

   A third possibility is that lambeosaurs used the crests to make sounds, perhaps for communication with other lambeosaurs. It was definitely possible to make low sounds by forcing air through the crests. This theory is supported by a finding suggesting that lambeosaurs had a good sense of hearing. Paleontologists recently discovered remains of a lambeosaur that had a highly developed inner ear. A good sense of hearing would be necessary for animals communicating by sound.

   點此看中文翻譯

   聲音

   第三種可能性是，蘭伯龍用頭冠來發聲，也許是為了與其他蘭伯龍交流。藉由迫使空氣通過頭冠，肯定可以發出低沉的聲音。此一理論得到了一項發現的支持，該發現指出蘭伯龍有良好的聽覺。古生物學家最近發現了一個具有高度發達內耳的蘭伯龍遺骸。一個良好的聽覺對於動物通過聲音進行交流是必要的。

Lecture 講課內容

提供講課內容的中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的同學能夠快速且精確地了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是，提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同，因此碰到超出自己專長的領域，常常會啞口無言，無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考托福整合寫作英語原稿，既可以讓自我練習英語聽力或會話時有貼切適當的素材，同時也能學些道地的表達方式，實是一舉數得。

使用上，可以在聽完一、兩次原始音檔之後，試著一邊看中文譯稿，一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後，未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

1.  

   Now, listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

   I think that it's still not clear what the real function of the lambeosaurs crest was. There are serious problems with each of the theories you just read about.

   點此看中文翻譯

   我認為，現在還不清楚蘭伯龍頭冠的真正功能是什麼。你剛才讀到的每個理論都有嚴重的問題。

2.  

   First, the idea that the crests improve the lambeosaurs’ sense of smell is not supported by the structure of lambeosaurs’ brains. In animals with a strong sense of smell, the brain area next to the organ of smell tends to be well developed. That's because the brain area contains a lot of nerves that process the Information from the organ of smell. However, from fossils of lambeosaurs’ skulls, it seems the brain cavity next to the crest was small and underdeveloped. So it hardly seems likely that the crest was used to improve the sense of smell.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，關於頭冠改善了蘭伯龍的嗅覺的觀點，並沒有得到蘭伯龍大腦結構的支持。在具有敏銳嗅覺的動物中，嗅覺器官旁邊的大腦區域往往是發達的。這是因為該腦部區域含有大量的神經，用於處理來自嗅覺器官的訊息。然而，從蘭伯龍的頭骨化石來看，頭冠旁邊的腦腔似乎很小，而且不發達。因此，頭冠似乎不太可能被用來改善嗅覺。

3.  

   Second, the idea that the crests were used to control body temperature. There are important differences between lambeosaurs and stegosaurus. Stegosaurus had many bony plates along their backs. The many bony plates of stegosaurus, when added all together, amounted to a fairly large amount of body surface area. By contrast, lambeosaurs had just one crest, the additional surface area that the crest provided was so small that it would not have provided any real advantage in cooling.

   點此看中文翻譯

   第二，關於頭冠是用來控制體溫的觀點。蘭伯龍和劍龍之間有重要的區別。劍龍沿其背部有許多骨板。劍龍的許多骨板如果全部加在一起，相當於非常大的身體表面積。相比之下，蘭伯龍只有一個頭冠，頭冠所提供的額外表面積是如此之小，以至於它不會在冷卻方面提供任何真正的優勢。

4.  

   Okay, what about the third idea that the crests were used to communicate by sound? Well, all lambeosaurs species had crests, so if this theory is true then all the lambeosaurs species should have had a good sense of hearing as well. But that's the problem. So far, we've discovered just the one fossil suggesting that one lambeosaurs species had a good sense of hearing. We do not have any evidence of good hearing in any of the other lambeosaurs species. So unless evidence from other lambeosaurs species can be found, we should remain skeptical of this theory.

   點此看中文翻譯

   好吧，對於第三個想法認為頭冠是用來進行聲音交流的呢？嗯，所有蘭伯龍物種都有頭冠，因此，如果這個理論是真的，那麼所有的蘭伯龍物種都應該有良好的聽覺。但這就是問題所在。到目前為止，我們只發現了一個化石，顯示一種蘭伯龍有良好的聽覺。我們沒有任何證據顯示其他蘭伯龍物種也有良好的聽覺。因此，除非能找到其他蘭伯龍物種的證據，否則我們應該對這個理論保持懷疑。