1 . Chen Guanghui is a guardian for black-necked cranes (黑颈鹤) in the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve of Zhaotong city, in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Whistling is the secret language Chen uses to communicate with the black-necked cranes, a type of migratory bird under first-class protection in China. She says different whistles signal different things. When she whistles in an increasing tone, she tries to tell the cranes: ask your companions to come back for lunch, and they would chirp (吱喳叫) to spread the message right away.
Living near the Dashanbao Nature Reserve, a major winter habitat for the rare species, Chen started to take care of them in 2003, a mission she took over from her mother, whose devotion dates back to the 1990s. “In the first few days, I remembered they ran away as soon as I approached them. I was very upset and asked my mom to come back, and I was worried they would starve,” says Chen. “I first tried everything, even singing folk songs to attract them, but failed. Later, I used special whistles and gradually formed close bond with the cranes.”
“I treat them as if they were my own children, and I’m always concerned about them, especially during snowy days when they can’t get food. I feel uncomfortable and anxious when I hear them chirp and usually rush to prepare corn for them.” It’s never been an easy job, and Chen has sustained quite a few injuries over the years, even falling into frozen marsh (沼泽) while trying to save a trapped crane in 2008. However, she never gave up. With love and responsibility, she has persisted in caring for the cranes for about 20 years.
Thanks to the joint protection efforts of Chen and staff members at the nature reserve, now more than 1,900 black-necked cranes overwinter in the area each season every year, up from about 300 when the nature reserve was established.
1. How does Chen Guanghui communicate with black-necked cranes?| A．By singing folk songs. | B．By making hand gestures. |
| C．By imitating chirps of birds. | D．By blowing special whistles. |
| A．Rescuing injured animals. | B．Restoring habitats for rare species. |
| C．Looking after black-necked cranes. | D．Building Dashanbao Nature Reserve. |
| A．Efforts bear fruit. | B．Virtue is its own reward. |
| C．Fortune favors the brave. | D．A miss is as good as a mile. |
The 1980s and 1990s were bad times for the Tibetan antelope. Hunters were shooting antelopes to make profits. Their habitats were becoming
3 . You may have heard of the Tasmanian tiger — but you most certainly have never seen one. Along with many other species over the past hundred years, this creature became extinct because of humans. Now, scientists in Australia and the US are trying to bring it back to life.
Bringing species back from the dead is known as de extinction. Though it sounds like something from a science fiction movie, new technologies have made de-extinction a very real possibility. To “bring back” an extinct species, scientists take stem cells from a closely related living animal and edit the genes. Then, the cells grow into a new animal. This new animal is not an exact copy of the extinct one, but it’s very close. In theory, scientists could create entire populations of animals and set them free in the wild.
If successful, the de-extinction project in Australia could have a favorable impact on the environment. Tasmanian tigers could help bring balance to Australia’s remaining forests by hunting and killing animals that are harming the trees. Indeed, something similar happened when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in 1995, with deer and plant populations rebalanced as a result.
De-extinction is not a perfect solution, however. For one thing, it won’t change the human behaviors that cause animals to become extinct in the first place. If we continue polluting and destroying the environment, animals will continue to die out. The only way we can truly protect them is by changing our habits. Bringing extinct species back to life won’t magically make us respect nature more.
Also, the money that we spend on de-extinction would probably be better spent on other conservation projects. Or, as those against de-extinction would put it, it’s better to spend money on the living rather than the dead. The reason for this is that, compared to other efforts, de-extinction is extremely expensive. In fact, for the cost of bringing one extinct species back to life, traditional conservation efforts could save up to eight threatened ones.
The power of science is amazing, but it might be time for us to stop and decide whether de-extinction is something we really want to achieve. With the technology we currently have, the question is no longer “can we?” but “should we?”
1. Why does the writer mention “wolves introduced to Yellowstone Park”?| A．To test the effect of de-extinction. | B．To discuss the importance of de extinction. |
| C．To illustrate the possible effect of de-extinction. | D．To present a successful example of de-extinction. |
| A．It demands large expenses. | B．It helps adjust human behaviours. |
| C．It threatens the current ecosystem. | D．It restores the balance between humans and nature. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Opposed. | C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
4 . Brothers Cole and Blake Meyer are aged 10 and 8. They were on their bikes headed to go fishing in June when they saw something
There were a bunch of dead baby turtles,
The boys are still at it, spending at least an hour or two a day picking up Western Painted Turtles that
“What these kids are doing is
| A．common | B．awful | C．confusing | D．desirable |
| A．flattened | B．strengthened | C．brightened | D．weakened |
| A．safely | B．regularly | C．slowly | D．finally |
| A．pretended | B．commented | C．suspected | D．decided |
| A．lift | B．chance | C．name | D．trial |
| A．fall | B．choose | C．cross | D．wait |
| A．so that | B．only if | C．even though | D．in case |
| A．collected | B．used | C．trained | D．saved |
| A．wonderful | B．strange | C．embarrassing | D．legal |
| A．adventure | B．freedom | C．conservation | D．observation |
