Mother asked May she doing her homework.

    Karen lived with her parents in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. The Karoo was famous for plant and animal fossils(化石) ,Karen's father was a paleontologist(古生物学家) ,and Karen enjoyed looking at the dinosaur bones in his office. She hoped to discover her own dinosaur someday.

    Every summer, Karen's father invited paleontologists from around the world to the Karoo. As they hiked through the dry land, he would show them fossil samples(样本) within the layers of sedimentary rock(沉积岩) and ash.

    This summer, Karen asked her father if she could go along on the hike. He agreed, but he asked her to stay close by. As they drove to the trail(小径) ,Karen's heart beat quickly with excitement. There were so many places to visit.

    The hike was interesting, but Karen was too curious to stay on the trail. Without asking, she ran down into a nearby ravine(峡谷) and looked among the rocks, Then, he heard her father's voice calling to her. She ran up the side of ravine. Suddenly, she spotted something white and shiny. "Dad!" she shouted excitedly.

    Karen's father stood at the top of the ravine with the other people. They looked worried until Karen pointed to the shiny object. All the paleontologists examined it. They nodded to each other in surprise. It was the skull(骨头) of a dinosaur nobody knew about! The paleontologists took pictures and shook Karen's hands. Her father smiled, "Karen." he said. "You are now the youngest paleontologist in the Karoo!"