In this non-fiction essay, we learn why dinosaurs disappeared from the earth. This read will be challenging for beginners in terms of vocabulary, but not in terms of sentence structure. In other words, there are a lot of intermediate-level words, but the structure of the sentences are very simple, so I’m hoping that adds up to a beginner read. If you struggled with this one, let me know where you struggled in the comments!
Key vocab
消失 – xiāoshī – to disappear
科学家 – kēxuéjiā – scientist
撞 – zhuàng – to hit/crash into
摧毁 – cuīhuǐ – to destroy
灰 – huī – dust/ash
遮住 – zhēzhù – to block/cover
生长 – shēngzhǎng – to grow
后代 – hòudài – descendant/offspring
恐龙为什么消失了？
恐龙为什么消失了？
很久很久以前，地球上有恐龙。恐龙非常大，非常强壮。它们在地球上生活了很长很长时间。但是后来，它们都消失了。为什么？
科学家说，大约六千六百万年前，一块非常大的石头从天上落下来，撞到了地球。这块石头非常非常大——比一座城市还要大。它撞到地球的时候，发出了很大很大的声音，周围的一切都被摧毁了。
但是最大的问题不是撞击本身。石头撞到地球以后，天上出现了很多很多的灰。这些灰遮住了太阳。没有太阳，地球变得非常冷，植物也不能生长了。
恐龙需要吃很多东西。有些恐龙吃植物，但是植物没有了。有些恐龙吃别的动物，但是那些动物也没有食物了。慢慢地，恐龙越来越少，最后全部死了。
但是有一件很有意思的事：不是所有动物都死了。小动物活下来了，因为它们不需要吃很多东西。科学家说，今天的鸟就是恐龙的后代。所以恐龙没有完全消失——它们变成了另外一种动物，现在还在我们身边。
Why Did the Dinosaurs Disappear?
Why did the dinosaurs disappear?
A very, very long time ago, there were dinosaurs on Earth. Dinosaurs were very big and very strong. They lived on Earth for a very, very long time. But later, they all disappeared. Why?
Scientists say that about 66 million years ago, a very large rock fell from the sky and hit the Earth. This rock was extremely big – even bigger than a city. When it hit the Earth, it made a very loud sound, and everything around it was destroyed.
But the biggest problem was not the impact itself. After the rock hit the Earth, a lot of dust appeared in the sky. This dust blocked the sun. Without the sun, the Earth became very cold, and plants could no longer grow.
Dinosaurs needed to eat a lot of food. Some dinosaurs ate plants, but the plants were gone. Some dinosaurs ate other animals, but those animals had no food either. Slowly, there were fewer and fewer dinosaurs, and finally they all died.
But there is something very interesting: not all animals died. Small animals survived because they didn’t need to eat very much. Scientists say that today’s birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. So dinosaurs didn’t completely disappear – they changed into another kind of animal, and they are still around us today.