新托福阅读材料：WhalefossilstuckinEgyptcustomswrangle

会计考友

四千万年前还是一片汪洋大海的地区如今是什么样子呢?答案是一片沙漠。很少有人能想到，如今黄沙遍野的上埃及地区曾充满海水，曾是鲸鱼的乐园。  
　　Its name in Arabic is Wadi Hitan but it is known as the Valley of the Whales.

% o) H( T: s+ O) M　　For years palaeontologists have been unearthing a remarkable collection of whale fossils, all the more surprising because the area is now inland desert in upper Egypt.
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　　It is believed that about 40 million years ago the area was submerged in water, part of the Tethys Sea. As the sea retreated north to the Mediterranean it left a series of unique rock formations and also a cornucopia of fossils.
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　　One of the most exceptional finds was a 37 million-year-old whale from the species Basilosaurus isis, unearthed by a team led by Prof Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan in the United States.
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, @3 R8 t# z& ?3 Z　　But now it has become the subject of a bizarre customs wrangle at Cairo airport.
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; X5 t7 y7 ~; i, L; b7 Y　　Prof Gingerich explained that this was the only complete specimen from this species of whale.

　　It provides evidence of how whales evolved from being land-based creatures to go back into the sea - a reverse of the usual evolutionary process.

　　Basilosaurus isis retained tiny feet, a useless reminder of its evolution from land animal to sea-dweller.
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+ [$ ~8 i+ [" U" p　　The limbs are human sized, even though the creature is 15m-16m long.

　　For the past two years Prof Gingerich and his team have been painstakingly reassembling the skeleton back in Michigan. It is now being returned to Egypt for a new museum, planned for the Valley of the Whales.
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　　But according to the Egyptian media the whale skeleton is stuck at Cairo airport.
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: R6 I' V: y" Y　　Customs agents are demanding a $40,000 fee.
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　　It is not clear how they came to that figure as prehistoric fossils have no agreed market value.
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7 Q* b" H% w7 j　　In any case the Egyptian authorities who are importing the fossil are refusing to pay.

: B4 D8 b: [; C3 V% I3 B　　A senior official from the ministry of tourism has warned that the issue needs to be resolved speedily, otherwise it could cause a "big scandal" for Egypt, he said.
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　　Prof Gingerich joked that it had taken two-and-a-half years to be allowed to export the fossil to the United States, and it could take another two-and-a-half years to get it back.