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今天，小编为托福考生们准备了托福综合写作TPO31,希望各位考生们在TPO写作真题里能够得到锻炼，祝广大托福考生能够取得理想成绩。

托福TPO31综合写作 Reading Part:

A fossil skeleton of a dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx, preserved in

volcanic ash, was discovered in Liaoning, China, in 1996. Interestingly, the

fossil included a pattern of fine lines surrounding the skeletal bones. Some

paleontologists interpret the lines as evidence that Sinosauropteryx had

feathers. However, critics have opposed the idea that Sinosauropteryx was a

feathered dinosaur, citing several reasons.

First, the critics points out that the fine lines may not even represent

functional structures of a living dinosaur, but rather structures that were

formed after the animal’s death. After the animal died and was buried in

volcanic ash, its skin may have decomposed into fibers. The skin fibers then

became preserved as lines in the fossil; the lines were misinterpreted as

evidence of feathers.

Second, even if the fine lines are remains of real structures of a

Sinosauropteryx, scientists cannot tell with certainty what part of the

dinosaur’s anatomy the structures were. Many dinosaurs had frills, ornamental

fan-shaped structures growing out of some parts of their bodies. Some of the

critics argue that the lines surrounding the skeleton are much more likely

to be fossilized remains of frills than remains of feathers.

A third objection is based on the fact that the usual functions of feathers

are to help animals fly or regulate their internal temperature. However, the

structures represented by the lines in the Sinosauropteryx fossil were mostly

located along the backbone and the tail of the animal. This would have made the structures quite useless for flight and of very limited use in thermoregulation. This suggests that the lines do not represent feathers. 托福TPO31综合写作 Listening Part:

The evidence that the lines in the Sinosauropteryx fossil represent feathers is very strong. The arguments of the critics are unconvincing. First, it is unlikely that the lines are a result of the decomposition of the dinosaur ’s skin, because we don’t see any such decomposition in the fossils of other animals buried at the same site. In fact, the fossils of many other animals buried at the site show evidence that their functional skin structures have been beautifully preserved in volcanic ash. The well-preserved condition of the other fossils makes it likely that the Sinosauropteryx’s lines are also well-preserved functional structures, possibly feathers, and that they are not fibers caused by decomposition.

Second, the idea that the lines represent frills… well, there is an

important chemical difference between feathers and frills. Feathers contain a great deal of a protein called Beta-keratin. Frills, on the other hand, do not contain beta-keratin. Our chemical analyses suggest that the Sinosauropteryx structures did contain beta-keratin. So that indicates that the structures were feathers, not frills.

Third, feathers can be used for other functions than flight and

thermoregulation. Think of a bird, like peacock, for example. The peacock has long, colorful feathers in its tail. And it displays its tail in order to attract a mate. That’s a distinct function of feathers called the display

function. Recently, we have been able to do analyses on the Sinosauropteryx structures that show us that the structures were colorful. They were orange and white. The fact that they were colorful strongly supports the idea that they were feathers that this dinosaur use for display. 托福TPO31综合写作题目 Question:

Summarize the point made in the lecture, being sure to explain how the cast doubt on specific points made in the reading passage. 托福TPO31综合写作答案解析：

The reading passage refutes the idea that the lines in the Sinosauropteryx fossil indicated a feathered dinosaur by demonstrating several counterarguments. The lecturer, however, is strongly convinced that lines could represent feathers through addressing the questions advanced by the reading.

To start with, according to the reading, those lines may derive from

decomposition of a died dinosaur’ skin instead of being part of a living one. The lecturer does not believe this point for the reason that other animals’ fossils that are buried at the same site have not shown such kind of decomposition; instead, their functional skin structures have been perfectly preserved in the volcanic ash. Therefore, these lines are likely to be well-preserved feathers instead of fibers.

Moving on, the reading proposes that the lines may be the frills rather than remains of feathers. The listening argues this is not true. She further explains that there is an apparent chemical difference between feathers and frills. Feathers contain protein called beta-keratin while frills do not. And