文字稿

一項發表在《自然通訊》雜志上的研究表明，地球上現存的所有花卉植物都可以追溯到1.4 億年前的同一個“祖先”。科學家們通過計算機將花卉演化的模型與現存最大的鮮花特征數據庫組合在一起，推測出地球上第一朵花的樣貌。請聽報道。

From roses and lilies to cherry trees and wheat, there are hundreds of thousands of species of flowering plants, and every single one of them traces back to a single ancestral flower that grew 140 million years ago.

Now by analysing the evolutionary differences between living species to track how the floral features have changed over time, scientists have been able to reconstruct this ancient bloom’s appearance. And instead of the primitive-looking species they were expecting, a complex, multi-part organism has emerged.

The flower had concentric circles of petal-like features which are grouped in sets of threes, with multiple male and female reproductive organs.

Some questions about this species remain, such as its colour and size. Scientists say a fossil of the bloom could help, although no floral relics from this ancient period have yet been found.

詞匯表

traces back to 追溯到
ancestral 祖先的
evolutionary 進化上的 
changed over time 隨著時間改變了
reconstruct 重新組建，重現
bloom 花朵
primitive-looking 看著很原始、很簡單的
complex 復雜的
emerged 呈現出來
concentric 有同一中心軸的
petal-like 像花瓣一樣的
floral relics 花的遺跡

測驗

請聽報道并回答下列問題。

1. What kind of plants are roses and lilies?

2. Is the ancestral flower a very primitive looking plant?

3. True or false? Scientists have found evidence of the first flower from fossils.

4. Which word in the text means ‘a distinctive attribute or aspect of something’?

答案

1. What kind of plants are roses and lilies?
Roses and lilies are flowering plants.

2. Is the ancestral flower a very primitive looking plant?
No, according to the text, the ancestral flower is a complex, multi part organism.

3. True or false? Scientists have found evidence of the first flower from fossils.
False. There are no floral relics from this ancient period yet.

4. Which word in the text means ‘distinctive attributes or aspects of something’?
Features.