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An Australian research group may ease humanity’s collective conscience over a spate of prehistoric extinctions on the southern continent. The die-off, they say, was not the rapacious work of newly arrived humans, but was due rather to changing climate. Australia’s large prehistoric animals, called megafauna, were as bizarre as anything that lives there today. King of them all was the marsupial lion, a 130-kilogram meat-eater who lived alongside giant kangaroos, huge lizards called goannas, and Diprotodon, which resembled a three-tonne wombat. After the arrival of humans on the continent, at least 45,000 years ago, these weird and wonderful creatures began to die out. Experts blamed the colonizers, arguing that they launched a hunting ’ blitzkrieg’ that wiped out the megafauna (巨型动物) within a few generations. But the animals may have survived for a lot longer than people thought, argues Judith Field of the University of Sydney, who has analyzed fossil remains. Her excavations seem to show that man and beast lived side by side for as long as 15,000 years. She suspects that as Australia approached the most recent ice age, the growing cold and aridity turned much of the continent into a place where these large animals simply could not survive. Although man probably did hunt the large animals, the fact that they survived for so long argues against the blitzkrieg (闪电战) model, she adds. Field and her colleagues collected animal bones from a ten-metre-deep section of earth at Cuddle Springs, New South Wales. They focused on bones from four layers: two with evidence of human settlement, such as stone tools, and two deeper ones with no evidence of tools. They dated the bones by measuring the amounts of radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, that remained in the bones. They found that the various animal carcasses in each level would indeed have lived cheek by jowl with humans as recently as 30,000 years ago. The team report their research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Proponents of the blitzkrieg model had previously argued that the dating of the Cuddle Springs material was not certain, but Field says their research clears up the matter. Well-preserved bones at other sites have been very hard to find, probably because they are too dry, whereas Cuddle Springs is the site of an old lake bed. A second group, reporting in the journal Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, has also unveiled evidence that climate change may have killed off many of Australia’s animals. By looking at smaller animal bones from the Darling Downs in Queensland, they show that their disappearance seems to have coincided with increasing dryness. But the matter is not settled yet, particularly as the timing of humans’ first foray into Australia has still not been agreed. Fossil evidence from Lake Mungo in New South Wales suggests that they may have arrived 60,000 years ago. And it is possible that they hastened the megafauna’s demise by burning habitats to make way for primitive agriculture. Field remains convinced, however, that it was climate that drove the animals to their death. "The arid zone grew to encompass 70% of the continent by 30,000 years ago," she says. "There would have been very few opportunities once it got dryer.\ The word "demise" in Paragraph 10 can be replaced by ______.
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An Australian research group may ease humanity’s collective conscience over a spate of prehistoric extinctions on the southern continent. The die-off, they say, was not the rapacious work of newly arrived humans, but was due rather to changing climate. Australia’s large prehistoric animals, called megafauna, were as bizarre as anything that lives there today. King of them all was the marsupial lion, a 130-kilogram meat-eater who lived alongside giant kangaroos, huge lizards called goannas, and Diprotodon, which resembled a three-tonne wombat. After the arrival of humans on the continent, at least 45,000 years ago, these weird and wonderful creatures began to die out. Experts blamed the colonizers, arguing that they launched a hunting ’ blitzkrieg’ that wiped out the megafauna (巨型动物) within a few generations. But the animals may have survived for a lot longer than people thought, argues Judith Field of the University of Sydney, who has analyzed fossil remains. Her excavations seem to show that man and beast lived side by side for as long as 15,000 years. She suspects that as Australia approached the most recent ice age, the growing cold and aridity turned much of the continent into a place where these large animals simply could not survive. Although man probably did hunt the large animals, the fact that they survived for so long argues against the blitzkrieg (闪电战) model, she adds. Field and her colleagues collected animal bones from a ten-metre-deep section of earth at Cuddle Springs, New South Wales. They focused on bones from four layers: two with evidence of human settlement, such as stone tools, and two deeper ones with no evidence of tools. They dated the bones by measuring the amounts of radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, that remained in the bones. They found that the various animal carcasses in each level would indeed have lived cheek by jowl with humans as recently as 30,000 years ago. The team report their research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Proponents of the blitzkrieg model had previously argued that the dating of the Cuddle Springs material was not certain, but Field says their research clears up the matter. Well-preserved bones at other sites have been very hard to find, probably because they are too dry, whereas Cuddle Springs is the site of an old lake bed. A second group, reporting in the journal Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, has also unveiled evidence that climate change may have killed off many of Australia’s animals. By looking at smaller animal bones from the Darling Downs in Queensland, they show that their disappearance seems to have coincided with increasing dryness. But the matter is not settled yet, particularly as the timing of humans’ first foray into Australia has still not been agreed. Fossil evidence from Lake Mungo in New South Wales suggests that they may have arrived 60,000 years ago. And it is possible that they hastened the megafauna’s demise by burning habitats to make way for primitive agriculture. Field remains convinced, however, that it was climate that drove the animals to their death. "The arid zone grew to encompass 70% of the continent by 30,000 years ago," she says. "There would have been very few opportunities once it got dryer.\ The passage is against the idea that ______.
Some believe that in the age of identikit computer games, mass entertainment and conformity on the supermarket shelves, truly inspired thinking has gone out of the window, But, there are others who hold the view that there is still plenty of scope for innovation, lateral thought and creative solutions. Despite the standardisation of modern life, there is an unabated appetite for great ideas, visionary thinking and inspired debate. In the first of a series of monthly debates on contemporary issues, we ask two original thinkers to discuss the nature of creativity. Here is the first one. Yes. Absolutely. Since I started working as an inventor 10 or 12 years ago, I’ve seen a big change in attitudes to creativity and invention. Back then, there was hardly any support for inventors, apart from the national organisation the Institute of Patentees and Inventors. Today, there are lots of little inventors’ clubs popping up all over the place, my last count was 19 nationally and growing. These non-profit clubs, run by inventors for inventors, are an indication that people are once again interested in invention. I’ve been a project leader, a croupier, an IT consultant and I’ve written a motor manual. I spent my teens under a 1950s two-tone Riley RME car, learning to put it together. Back in the Sixties, kids like me were always out doing things, making go-karts, riding bicycles or exploring. We learned to overcome challenges and solve problems. We weren’t just sitting at a PlayStation, like many kids do today. But I think, and hope, things are shifting back. There’s a lot more interest in design and creativity and such talents are getting a much higher profile in the media. It’s evident with TV programmes such as Channel 4’s Scrapheap Challenge or BBC 2’s The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den, where people are given a task to solve or face the challenge of selling their idea to a panel. And, thankfully, the image of the mad scientist with electrified hair working in the garden shed is long gone—although, there are still a few exceptions! That’s not to say there aren’t problems. With the decline in manufacturing we are losing the ability to know how to make things. There’s a real skills gap developing. In my opinion, the government does little or nothing to help innovation at the lone-inventor or small or medium enterprise level. I would love to see more money spent on teaching our school kids how to be inventive. But, despite everything, if you have a good idea and real determination, you can still do very well. My own specialist area is packaging closures—almost every product needs it. I got the idea for Squeezeopen after looking at an old tin of boot polish when my mother complained she couldn’t get the lid off. If you can do something cheaper, better, and you are 100 per-cent committed, there is a chance it will be a Success. I see a fantastic amount of innovation and opportunities out there. People don’t realise how much is going on. New materials are coming out all the time and the space programme and scientific research are producing a variety of spin-offs. Innovation doesn’t have to be high-tech: creativity and inventing is about finding the right solution to a problem, whatever it is. There’s a lot of talent out there and, thankfully, some of the more progressive companies are suddenly realising they don’t want to miss out—it’s an exciting time. What’s the central idea of the last paragraph
On the map there’s just one island, but when you get there you’ll find two distinct Sardinias. If you’re wondering which is the right destination for you, take the ice-cream test and try two gelati in Sardinia. On the wealthy Costa Smeralda I was served an ice-cream with enormous speed and efficiency by a Tom Cruise look-alike—all teeth, tan and ambition. But on Sardinia’s quieter western coast—the Riviera de Corallo—it was served, quite slowly and with elegance, by a girl with the face of an angel. My vote goes—narrowly—to this less-visited shore. There I found a seat in Alghero’s Piazza Civica, where the late afternoon sun was warming the old stones and the fishing boats were back at anchor just through the archway of the Porta al Mare. I reflected, as I ate my ice-cream and watched the locals make their evening passeggiata through the ancient square and the Door to the Sea, that the world is not such a bad place after all. By contrast, at a little cafe near the marina at Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda, watching beautiful young things leaping on and off their yachts, I reflected mainly that most people seemed to have a lot more money than I. It’s all very idyllic, the sea is always blue and the weather from May to October is invariably perfect. But is this plutocrats’ playground Sardinia No—not if you mean the rugged Sardinia with its roots in prehistory and its future in a possible split with mother Italy. To see the real Sardinia you could take the overnight ferry from Livorno on the Italian mainland to Olbia just below the Costa Smeralda. Perhaps hire a little Fiat—although Ferraris are available—and take the road that skirts the millionaire belt, heading north and then west. Head inland now, towards Sassari and Alghero. The hills crowd the shoreline, the villages are few and the roads are empty. Dotted around the fields, sticking up through olive groves like huge rock cones, are the remains of forts built by the mysterious Nuragic people, who came here long before the Romans and Phoenicians. A little way down the coast along a precipitous new highway is the ancient town of Bosa, where lace making and timber working keep many of the locals occupied. There is, of course, a great deal more to Sardinia than the Costa Smeralda and the Riviera del Corallo—there’s a whole islandful of things to see and do. South-central is where the main chain of mountains runs; snow-capped for four months of the year and a popular climbing and walking venue in gentler seasons. The coastline is longer than mainland Italy’s entire western side, with resorts dotted around natural harbours and scenic inlets. You could take in most of them in a two-day tour by car. But nothing compares with the Costa Smeralda or the Riviera del Corallo. It just depends on how you like your gelati. The tourist destination mentioned in the passage is ______.
The art teacher who accused Prince Harry of cheating has won her ease against Eton College for unfair dismissal. Sarah Forsyth, 30, took the public school to an employment tribunal after her contract was not renewed. The tribunal yesterday upheld Ms. Forsyth’s claim that she had been bullied by Eton’s head of art, Ian Burke. But it rejected her allegations that Mr. Burke had ordered her to help Prince Harry cheat in his AS-level art by completing his written work for him. It also criticised as "unprofessional" her decision to secretly record a conversation with the prince on his way to his final exam to try to support her claim. Ms. Forsyth brought the case after the school, which charges ￡23,688 a year, decided not to renew her contract after the summer of 2003. She also accused Mr. Burke of bullying her and giving improper assistance to pupils during exams. At her hearing in May, Ms. Forsyth claimed she had written most of the text of the prince’s AS-level art coursework journal, something she said was "unethical and probably constituted cheating". She also claimed Mr. Burke "touched up" aboriginal-inspired artwork which was displayed to the media as an example of Prince Harry’s work when the prince finished his time at Eton. The prince has strenuously denied any suggestion that he cheated and an investigation by the examination board found no evidence of any improper behaviour. In its 40-page judgment, the tribunal said it was for the exam board to rule whether cheating had occurred. While the report described Ms. Forsyth as consistent and "truthful" on the whole, it rejected her allegations about Prince Harry. It ruled that her relationship with Mr. Burke was so bad that it was not plausible that he would have tried to enlist her help in any attempt to cheat. It concluded that her account of the help she had given the prince was muddled and that Mr. Burke’s story was more believable. She claimed she had written a sample answer for the prince to use as a guide which, in her account, was given to Prince Harry, cut up and stuck in the journal. The tribunal sided with Mr. Burke, who said that Ms. Forsyth had not written the piece on her own but simply sat with Prince Harry and suggested vocabulary. However, the panel was critical of Mr. Burke and said its "inevitable conclusion" was Ms. Forsyth’s dismissal had been unreasonable. The panel said, "He did undermine and bully her." Anthony Little, Eton’s headmaster, was criticised for failing to look at the case fairly. The school was criticised for failing to produce any written "capability procedure" to the tribunal. A spokesman for Eton said the school regretted its employment procedures had not been "up to scratch", but said it was pleased the tribunal had rejected the "publicity-seeking" allegations regarding Prince Harry. He added the school would be calling for the tribunal to award no compensation to Ms. Forsyth, arguing she would have been dismissed for secretly tape-recording a conversation with a pupil. What’s the decision made by the tribunal about Harry’s cheating
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