Word Pairs

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The words
Most of us might [think / thought] that the world's oldest colour is black or dark grey. However, scientists have found out that bright pink is the oldest [known / knowing] colour. Researchers looked at 1.1-billion-year-old rocks [deep / deeply] beneath the Sahara Desert. They [crashed / crushed] the rocks into powder and found the bright pink colouring in [there / them] . This means that pink is the oldest colour on [geology / geological] record. Dr. Nur Gueneli from the Australia National University [led / fed] the research. She made the discovery in a [label / lab] in Australia. Dr. Gueneli said the colour was produced [by / to] ancient organisms that lived in the oceans. She added that the oceans are so old they no longer exist. At that time, tiny organisms were the largest life forms [in / on] Earth.

Dr. Gueneli said her first [react / reaction] was "sheer amazement". She said her team thought the rock powder might [turning / turn] black when they were [doing / done] their experiments on it. Instead, it [turning / turned] pink. Another researcher said: "I remember I heard [those / this] screaming in the lab. Dr. Gueneli came running [into / onto] my office and said, 'look at this,' and she had this bright pink stuff…It [tuned / turned] out to be real colour, 1.1 billion years old." The rocks could contain other colours, from a blood red to a [depth / deep] purple. Gueneli explained how important her find was. She said: "Imagine you could find a fossilized dinosaur skin that [still / already] has its original colour - green or blue. That is [exactly / exact] the type of discovery that we've made."

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