The terrifying physics of prehistoric sea monsters
Short Wave

The terrifying physics of prehistoric sea monsters

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 16, 20269 min
  • Science

While dinosaurs roamed the earth, giant monsters roamed the sea. Mosasaurs were like the deadly T-rexes of the ocean: They grew up to the size of a bus and chased down their smaller prey. A recent study in the journal Current Biology details just how exactly they might have done that. And the answer is fast – way faster than humans can swim – and sneakily. Interested in more animal or paleontological news? Email us what you want us to talk about at [email protected] Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

["

Hey, Regina Barber here.

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B20:59
  • C12:46
  • B23:30
  • B23:35
  • C15:13
  • B27:15
  • C19:03
  • B210:26

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 46%A2 31%B1 16%B2 5%C1 2%
  • 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 219 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 66 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

["The Hey, Regina Barber here. To ask if you'll share this episode of Shortwave with at least one friend.

0:30

It's a little action that goes a long way for growing our show. Speaking of which, we've got one for you right now. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

0:41

Okay, Scott Detrow. I'm gonna start us off with a question. How much do you know about real life sea monsters? Like, are we talking Loch Ness?

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (8 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy