跟读练习: What If Dinosaurs Never Stopped Evolving for 66 Million Years? - 通过视频学习英语口语

选择练习模式

每种模式都会打开全屏练习室。

89 句

如果句子过短或过长，请点击 Edit 进行调整。

65 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

They dominated each time period they were in, becoming the kings of the animal kingdom.

Then suddenly, that all changed.

An asteroid came for Earth and wiped all the dinosaurs out, causing them to go extinct.

But what if things were different?

Time to turn back the clocks over 65 million years to see just what course evolution would have taken

if dinosaurs still roamed Earth.

In what ways would their bodies have changed over this time?

How would they adapt to our planet's changing environment?

And would some dinosaurs remain at the top of the food chain?

A food chain that now includes you?

This is What If?

And here's what would happen if dinosaurs never stopped evolving.

Before we reimagine the course of evolutionary history,

let's explore just what kind of catastrophic series of events could have led to the extinction of

so many dinosaur species in the first place.

Going back about 66 million years into our planet's past, the Cretaceous Period would be nearing its end.

but not before going out with a bang.

A big one.

No, not that big bang.

An asteroid named Chicxulub, with a diameter of about 10 km,

hurtled through space and our atmosphere to its final destination around the Yucatan Peninsula in modern-day Mexico.

The impact of this giant hunk of space rock released an amount of energy equivalent to about 100 trillion tons of TNT.

This explosion was billions of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped by the United States in World War II.

In the immediate aftermath, it led to massive tsunamis and widespread fires,

and filled the atmosphere with so much debris that it blocked the Sun.

Temperatures dropped.

Food chains were disrupted.

As a result, 75% of all life vanished from Earth.

Luckily, in our scenario, they'll never know what didn't hit them.

When you look back through the evolutionary history of life on Earth, It's important to remember that it's always been a game of survival.

And only the fittest species survive.

That would mean that of all the dinosaur species that ever existed,

not all of them would survive the millions of years of natural selection to still be around today.

But let's see if a couple of our most famous prehistoric friends make it through this genetic gauntlet.

Starting at the top of the food chain.

one of the greatest apex predators of all time, the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Many millions of years ago, a T rex would have used some of its highly sophisticated senses to hunt prey.

These beasts likely had a range of visions similar to, or better than, hawks and eagles.

The science suggests that throughout the T rex's evolution, their sight improved as their facial structure became narrower and their eyes grew larger.

After many more millions of years of evolution, their vision might have improved to unfathomable levels.

Instead of spotting prey hundreds of meters away, they could see their next meal several kilometers in the distance.

But what about other parts of their bodies?

Besides their notoriously tiny arms, the T-Rex was a towering figure, standing just under 4 meters tall.

Over time, natural selection might have favored T-Rexes with longer, more muscular arms.

By now, they might have developed better agility and range of motion to become even more formidable predators.

And they wouldn't be the only predators that may have become even more dominant over time.

Velociraptors were famous for their speed, agility, and hunting techniques.

And they were intelligent, too.

Maybe not as bright as movies like Jurassic Park make them seem, but certainly they had a leg up on some of their dumber plant-eating prey.

With millions more years of evolution, these creatures would have developed highly advanced hunting techniques.

Another thing Hollywood doesn't show you is that evidence suggests that raptors were likely covered in feathers,

and that their evolutionary trajectory is very closely linked to the emergence of birds.

Imagine over time that these feisty predators evolved to have wings, and could hunt helpless prey, like humans, from the skies.

Well, more likely it would be your pets you'd have to worry about.

Velociraptors were smaller dinos, only about 45 kg, and less than 2 m in length.

But keep an eye on Rufus and Garfield.

And maybe on the small children, too.

Now, in terms of dinosaurs that already dominated the skies, the aviation skills of pterodactyls would have also continued to develop and improve.

By the time they went extinct, these creatures were the largest known flying animals, with wingspans ranging from 2 to 11 meters.

Ugh.

If they continued to adapt to our planet's changing atmosphere and geographical shifts,

well, who's to say these gigantic flying reptiles wouldn't have continued to grow?

Can you imagine a day in the park, ruined by the surprise visit of one or more pterodactyls the size of a small building?

Now, that's something you'd have to worry about.

Not all dinosaurs would have evolved to become bigger, badder predators.

Okay, maybe gentle giants like the brontosaurus could have continued growing in size, but they might have developed other features to make them less vulnerable to predators.

For example, their skin.

Natural selection might have favored those with increasingly thicker outer layers that could withstand the powerful bites of creatures like the T-Rex,

or whatever it is the T-Rex would be known as now.

Like for the other species, there'd be so many enormous environmental changes between their era and now.

The brontosaurus was a herbivore, and as plant species underwent their own evolutionary process,

these dinosaurs would likely have developed a more complex digestive system, similar to those of mammals.

And this brings up another interesting dilemma.

If these creatures never went extinct and kept evolving, uninterrupted by a pesky space rock?

Would mammals like you be here today?

Yeah, our earliest human ancestors evolved among creatures like mammoths and saber-toothed tigers.

But now that we're adding in all these other species, only the fittest would survive.

And in that case, human evolution could have taken an entirely different course too.

Natural selection would have likely favored genes that would make us smaller and faster to avoid being eaten.

And with the possibility that we'd be living among other highly intelligent species like raptors, our social structures might be completely different too.

Instead of being the most dominant species on the planet, there's a strong chance we'd have to compete with these other dangerous predators.

If at any moment we could be raided by a pack of vicious T-Rexes, would we ever have settled down in one place?

Instead of human civilization evolving in great communities, maybe we'd only survive as solitary nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Evolution is a mysterious puzzle that only time knows the answers to.

If we reverse the course of one event, like the collision of the Chicxulub, there's basically no limit to how different your world could be today.

Which makes me wonder, what would happen if an asteroid the same size hit Earth today?

Or maybe a bigger asteroid?

Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.

下载应用

流利口语所需的一切

AI 发音评分逐句打分

音标练习掌握每个音

词汇学习建立你的词库

词汇游戏边玩边学

扫码

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

同频道

FOR YOU

本课的词汇与口语要点

这节 B2 级别的口语课以视频“What If Dinosaurs Never Stopped Evolving for 66 Million Years?”为素材。视频中反复出现的词有：dinosaur, species, predators, evolution, Earth。这段视频共有 89 个句子、1197 个单词可供跟读。讲话部分时长为 8:38。说话人语速平稳，每分钟约 139 个词，很适合跟读。只有 79% 的单词属于英语最常用的 3,000 词，词汇难度较高。全部 89 个句子中有 14 个是问句，适合练习疑问语调和简短回答。

视频中的重点词汇

视频中最难的 15 个单词，附发音和释义：

单词	发音	释义
dinosaur 名词	/ˈdaɪnəsoɹ/	恐龍 /恐龙
predator 名词	/ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/	掠食者, 天敵 /天敌
asteroid 名词	/ˈæst(ə)ɹɔɪd/	小行星
prey 名词	/pɹeɪ/	獵物 /猎物
meter 名词	/ˈmitəɹ/	計量表 /计量表
agility 名词	/əˈd͡ʒɪl.ɪ.ti/	敏捷性, 靈活性 /灵活性
mammal 名词	/ˈmæməl/	哺乳類 /哺乳类, 哺乳動物 /哺乳动物
pterodactyl 名词	/ˌtɛɹ.əˈdæk.təl/	翼手龍 /翼手龙
velociraptor 名词	/vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/	速龍 /速龙, 伶盜龍 /伶盗龙
dominate 动词	/ˈdɑ.məˌneɪt/	主宰, 宰制
adapt 动词	/əˈdæpt/	適應 /适应
ancestor 名词	/ˈæn.sɛs.tɚ/	祖先
gauntlet 名词	/ˈɡɔːnt.lət/	鐵手套 /铁手套
herbivore 名词	/ˈ(h)ɜːɹbɪvɔːɹ/	食草動物 /食草动物, 植食性動物 /植食性动物
mammoth 名词	/ˈmæməθ/	猛獁 /猛犸, 長毛象 /长毛象

视频中出现的短语动词

单词	释义
bring up 动词	撫養 /抚养, 養大 /养大
look back 动词	回顧 /回顾

值得反复跟读的句子

视频中简短而完整的句子，可以直接用在日常对话里：

How would they adapt to our planet's changing environment?
A food chain that now includes you?
Would mammals like you be here today?

视频中的语法

说话人最常用的结构，并附上视频中的原话：

结构	视频中的用法
被动语态 be + 过去分词 — 强调发生了什么，而不是谁做的	were disrupted · were likely covered · would be known
现在完成时 have/has + 过去分词 — 过去发生但与现在仍有关联的事	have changed · it's always been · have developed

需要注意的发音

说话人用了 12 次缩略和弱读形式，例如 we'd, wouldn't, you'd。请按听到的简短形式来说。

“th” 音: mammoth /ˈmæməθ/, unfathomable /ˌʌnˈfæð(ə)məb(ə)l/, withstand /wɪðˈstænd/, feather /ˈfɛðə/, aftermath /ˈæf.tɚˌmæθ/
“sh” 和 “zh” 音: evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, vanish /ˈvænɪʃ/, extinction /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/, vicious /ˈvɪʃəs/, collision /kəˈlɪʒn̩/
长单词——注意重音位置: evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, agility /əˈd͡ʒɪl.ɪ.ti/, pterodactyl /ˌtɛɹ.əˈdæk.təl/, velociraptor /vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/, notoriously /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs.li/

中文母语者容易读错的音：

/v/ — 不要读成 /w/，上齿轻触下唇: evolve /ɪˈvɑlv/, evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, velociraptor /vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/, digestive /daɪˈdʒɛstɪv/, herbivore /ˈ(h)ɜːɹbɪvɔːɹ/
词尾辅音 — 要读清楚，后面不要加元音: evolve /ɪˈvɑlv/, asteroid /ˈæst(ə)ɹɔɪd/, extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/, dominate /ˈdɑ.məˌneɪt/, adapt /əˈdæpt/
/r/ 和 /l/ 的区别: evolutionary /ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.ɛɹ.i/, pterodactyl /ˌtɛɹ.əˈdæk.təl/, velociraptor /vəˌlɒsɪˈɹæptɚ/, hurtle /ˈhɜɹt(ə)l/, notoriously /nə(ʊ)ˈtɔː.ɹɪ.əs.li/

如何用这段视频练习

先完整听一遍视频，不要开口，记下不认识的单词。
用正常速度逐句跟读，每句重复到你的节奏与说话人一致为止。
录下自己的声音并与原声对比，特别注意 dinosaur, predator, asteroid 这类单词。

什么是跟读法？

跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。

影子跟读法: 阅读完整分步指南 →

跟读练习: What If Dinosaurs Never Stopped Evolving for 66 Million Years? - 通过视频学习英语口语

选择练习模式

下载应用

Earth Becomes a Moon | What If Saturn Took Over?

What If Megalodon Fought a 13-Meter Titanoboa in the Swamp?

8 Ancient Animals Scarier Than Dinosaurs

What If Humanity Became Type 7 Civilization?

You Are Alive to Watch the Space Station Fall From the Sky

What If a Megalodon Shark Fought the Kraken?

What If Gravity Got 1% Stronger Every Second?

12 Things That Could Destroy Earth

What If the Kraken Was Real?

What If you Could See the 4th Dimension?

What If Russia Started World War 3?

What If You Were Swallowed ALIVE by a 60-Foot Sperm Whale?

What If | Channel Trailer | An Epic Exploration Of Possibilities

What If the Megalodon Shark Fought the Leviathan Whale?

What If the Megalodon Shark Fought the Mosasaurus?

What If a Needle Hit The Earth At The Speed Of Light?

What If the Mosasaurus Never Went Extinct?

What If The Megalodon Never Stopped Evolving?

What Happened After the DEADLIEST Asteroid Hit Earth?

What If We Had To Rebuild Human Society From Scratch?

How evolution works, in 54 minutes | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview

Evolution of Dinosaurs in 10 Minutes

What If You Never Slept?

Spending a Day on Earth 200 Million Years Ago

Fossils of a Giant Superpredator Found in Antarctica

Can We Stop the Extinction?

Why sex, food, and shelter aren’t enough for Homo Sapiens | Agustín Fuentes

Before We Became the Last Humans:The Lost Species That Once Shared Our World|Prehistoric Documentary

What If Jurassic Park Was Real? THEY ESCAPED

What Would Happen If Earth Started to Spin Backwards

What If The World Went Vegetarian?