W: Chris, when you are only in the fourth grade, you decided to dedicate your life to studying dinosaurs. Many forth-graders are fascinated with dinosaurs, but they grow up to be police officers, doctors or lawyers. What inspired you at such an early age to choose the study of dinosaurs as your life career.

M: Actually it was a magazine, the September 7th, 1963 issue of Life magazine with dinosaurs on the cover. (Question 27) I still have the magazine today. I was visiting my grandfather's house and this magazine was sitting on the porch table. I opened it up and found not just fantastic pictures of dinosaurs, early reptiles and sea monster, but an article entitled the Pageant of Life. It was the story of how evolution works. It was wonderful. What got me was not just that dinosaurs were near and grotesque but that they were part of a much bigger history, a Greek historical story. So in the fourth grade, in 1964 I announced to my parents that I spend the rest of my life studying dinosaurs. And my parents nodded their heads and said "That's nice dear. It's a stage. You'll grow out of it."

W: But you didn't grow out of that stage, did you?

M: NO, I often wonder why most people cannot maintain their first love with nature, with dinosaurs or elephants or whales. You take any kids to a zoo or museums, and they'll be captivated by what they see. But that captivation dies away in high school, why? Think part of is that the adult world tells kids, "Hey, to like zoos or museums is childish thing. (Question 28)You shouldn't like them. Be interested in dating and cars or making money." So they have lost their sense of wonder at nature. Nevertheless, you'll find a lot of adults enjoying taking their kids to museums to look at dinosaurs.

W: You're involved with many aspects of education and educational programs, and you lecture to groups of students all over the country. What are the most common questions the students ask you?

M: They often ask about the Loch Ness monster in Scotland. They ask "Is there any possibility of their still being a living dinosaur? (Question 29)No, for the following reason. You could hide one monster in Lock Ness. It's a deep enough lake. But you could not hide a breeding population of monsters. If you want to preserve a species, you need a minimum of 500 so that they can breed every generation and can have enough diversity in their genes so that they can keep on going. You can't hide 500 or 600 monsters because there'll always be death. (Question 30) Dead animals float to the surface of lakes or swamps, they get washed up onshore. And someone is going to find them.

Q27: According to the man, what inspired him to dedicate his life to studying dinosaurs?

Q28: Which of the following is considered childish by the adult world?

Q29: What mistaken idea do many people have about the L monster in Scotland?

Q30: What reason does the man give to deny the existence of a living monster in Lock Ness?

大意：采访类对话，主要问了一个恐龙专家是如何从小立志从事恐龙研究的，他也解答了大多学生对恐龙生存情况的主要疑问。