In order to save this species from
2 . More and more birds are flying to settle at Qinghai Lake, one of the highest inland lakes in China, thanks to the protection efforts of local governments. Covering an area of over 4,000 square kilometers. Qinghai Lake is also the country's biggest saltwater lake. Located in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the lake is famous for the two islands at its northwest point--Cormorant Island and Egg Island. The two islands have plenty of floating grass and various schools of fish, offering rich food sources for birds. The islands have become a paradise(天堂) for different kinds of groups of birds and have been called"Bird Islands".
Each March and April, when ice and snow covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau starts to melt, over 20 kinds of birds fly to the Bird Islands to lay eggs. During the months, flocks of birds cover the whole sky over the islands and birds eggs can be found everywhere. Visitors can hear the singing of birds from miles away. These have become a world famous symbol of the lake.
To protect this paradise for birds and support calls for ecological protection, China set up the Qinghai Lake Natural Protection Zone at the end of 1997. Meanwhile, the State has pointed out the Bird Islands and Spring bay of the Qinghai Lake as central protection zones.
Inspection(视察) officials and management employees often patrol(巡逻) the lake, improving local residents' knowledge of related laws and spreading knowledge about animal protection to visitors. They are making great efforts to call on people to love and protect the birds. At the same time, they have built special fences around the island area to prevent wolves, foxes and other carnivorous(食肉的) animals, as well as illegal hunters from breaking up the birds’nest building,egglaying and breeding. As a result, more and more birds are coming to the islands for sheltering and breeding.
1. Why are more and more birds coming to the biggest salt-water lake in the Great Northwest?A.Because it is getting warmer and warmer. |
B.Because it is being reformed. |
C.Because environments there are getting more and more agreeable for them to live in. |
D.Because the people there are becoming richer and richer. |
A.floating fish and various grass. |
B.grass moving on the water surface and different kinds of fish. |
C.salt water and plenty of grains. |
D.corn from the local farmers. |
A.The ice and snow covering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau doesn't change into water. |
B.Flocks of birds fly up to the whole sky over islands to lay eggs. |
C.Visitors can listen to the singing of birds from miles away, but they couldn't see any bird. |
D."The ice on the Plateau begins to change into water" means spring is coming. |
A.let the farmers there know the animal protection law. |
B.tell the farmers there some knowledge about animal protection. |
C.call on people to love and protect the bird. |
D.all of the above. |
During the World Elephant Day on Thursday, Chinese and foreign experts gathered in one online forum(论坛)
The 15 wild Asian elephants among
Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, mentioned an idea which focused
Zhang Chenglin, Deputy Director of the Beijing Zoo,who introduced some measures taken by Chinese zoos to take good care of elephants,
“
Every day we use energy. We use it for cooking, for heating and for lighting our cities. The energy comes from many different
These fuels come from the remains of plants and animals. It takes millions of years
We need to have a strong sense of
What about turning off anything
Cars consume a lot of fuel, but there
New Yorkers were shocked in early December when a creature as big as a school bus
Scientists say NYC0089, which hasn't been spotted in several weeks, has likely returned to deeper waters south of the Hudson. Still, the
“With these numbers increasing
Scientists say the
“Seeing more whales in this area is a sign
6 . My interest in wildlife and rainforests began at an early age, when my parents introduced me to nature books and magazines. I was
Over the years I have seen many beautiful
Today I
A.frightened | B.comforted | C.fascinated | D.disturbed |
A.chose | B.encouraged | C.decided | D.explored |
A.possibly | B.only | C.mostly | D.greatly |
A.respect | B.destroy | C.balance | D.govern |
A.figures | B.gifts | C.places | D.tools |
A.made | B.watched | C.heard | D.helped |
A.adventures | B.dreams | C.experiments | D.questions |
A.prevented | B.needed | C.shown | D.caused |
A.disliked | B.forgot | C.enjoyed | D.climbed |
A.experience | B.solution | C.challenge | D.field |
A.mountain | B.rainforest | C.desert | D.plain |
A.waste | B.spend | C.avoid | D.miss |
A.method | B.major | C.strength | D.goal |
A.fresh | B.old | C.late | D.serious |
A.promise | B.decision | C.plan | D.difference |
7 . Nola (August 21, 1974—November 22, 2015) was a northern white rhino who lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California. At her death, she was one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The other three lived in Kenya. World Rhino Day, held on September 2, is to raise awareness(意识) of the less than 30, 000 other rhinos left on Earth.
''Rhinos need our help today, not tomorrow,'' Nola's lead keeper Jane Kennedy said. ''Last year we lost over 1, 200 rhinos just in South Africa. If we continue to lose more than 1, 000 rhinos a year, in 10 to 20 years all the rhinos on the planet will be gone. ''
''Unfortunately, most animals are in danger of dying out because of humans,'' Kennedy says. ''Humans have either poached animals, or because there are over seven billion of us, we've taken up too much of the world's resources''. Poachers illegally hunt rhinos for their horns. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, to be used for art, jewelry, and decorations. Experts believe that one rhino is poached every eight hours.
In 1975, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo, a program through which researchers have collected cell (细胞) samples from more than 8, 000 different types of animals, including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will get greater understanding of it, and will find ways to increase its numbers.
Jane Kennedy describes World Rhino Day as a celebration of rhinos along with an awareness campaign for everybody across the world to know that rhinos need our help. ''At the San Diego Zoo, children and adults are welcome to visit and speak with zookeepers to learn about rhinos. But you don't have to live in San Diego to celebrate World Rhino Day. It is observed around the world, with zoos and wildlife parks holding special events and programs to teach people about rhinos, and enable them to see the animals up close. For more information, go to www. worldrhinoday. org.
1. What do we know about Nola?A.It was a baby white rhino. |
B.It was one of the last of its kind. |
C.It lived with other northern white rhinos in Kenya. |
D.It died on September 22 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. |
A.The rhinos' uncertain future. |
B.The rhinos' strange activities. |
C.The limited natural resources. |
D.The rare animals in South Africa. |
A.Invent new kinds of animals. |
B.Keep animals from dying out. |
C.Prevent rhinos from being hunted. |
D.Raise public awareness of rhinos. |
A.To help people know more about animals. |
B.To encourage people to protect rhinos. |
C.To report special events in San Diego. |
D.To introduce World Rhino Day. |
8 . Plans to bring wild tigers back to their original home , their historical range(历史分布范围) in the IliBalkhash region, have been announced by Kazakhstan( 哈萨克斯坦 ) and an agreement with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to conduct a tiger reintroduction program has been signed . “It will not only bring wild tigers back to their original home, but also protect the unique ecosystem of the IliBalkhash region,” said Askar Myrzakhmetov, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
If successful, Kazakhstan will be the first country in the world to bring wild tigers back to an entire region where they have died out for nearly half a century. Tiger reintroduction projects have only been achieved within national borders and in areas that are considered current tiger habitats . Kazakhstan's tiger reintroduction program is unique and it badly requires the restoration of a vast forest that is part of the wild tiger's historical range.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, wild tigers have lost over 90 per cent of their historical range. Wild tigers have completely disappeared from the region since the late 1940s, due to the loss of habitat. To prepare for the return of wild tigers, on 1st January 2018 Kazakhstan will set up a new nature reserve in the southwestern IliBalkhash, in order to restore the unique forest habitat. This will include the protection of existing wildlife, and reintroducing important prey ( 猎物 ), such as the endangered wild Bactrian deer(中亚红鹿).
Restoring tigers will also help protect Lake Balkhash and prevent it from repeating the fate of the Aral Sea, formerly the world's fourth largest lake and now 10 percent of its original size. “The hard work remains ahead of us. We have to spare no effort to make this region ready for tigers and involve all the relevant people to make this happen. That means dealing with illegal activities, having these people who govern parks be welltrained and equipped, increasing prey populations and involving local communities,” said Ekaterina Vorobyeva, Director of the WWF program.
1. What is Askar Myrzakhmetov's attitude toward the tiger reintroduction program?A.Doubtful. | B.Favorable. |
C.Concerned. | D.Disapproving. |
A.The increasing loss of prey. | B.The evolution of the species. |
C.The lack of natural living places. | D.The serious environmental pollution. |
A.Regulating human activities. | B.Limiting the number of prey. |
C.Building a reserve for tigers only. | D.Training tigers to be more adaptable. |
A.Efforts to restore forests in Kazakhstan |
B.Bringing tigers back home to Kazakhstan |
C.Attempts to handle illegal activities effectively |
D.Preventing tigers disappearing in Kazakhstan |
Some of the threats are natural, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, floods and so on. But the biggest threats to the food chain come from you and me. These threats include overhunting, overfishing, logging, farming, development, pollution, etc. The food chain is endangered anywhere humans have had an effect on the natural environment.
A recent study shows that the overfishing of large sharks is damaging the food chain along the US Atlantic coast. Canadian and American scientists say sharks are being killed in great numbers for their meat and fins(鳍). Now, not enough sharks are around to eat the cownose(牛鼻) ray. The ray’s population has increased and they have eaten up the shellfish to the point where it has hurt commercial(商业的) fishing.
Many of us disturb the natural environment in our own backyards. It’s up to us to take care of the environment and try not to disrupt the natural food chain. If we don’t act responsibly, animals will start disappearing.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
A.The food chain is not easy to be broken. |
B.The energy of an animal usually disappears when it dies. |
C.Increasing the links will not break the balance of nature. |
D.Breaking the food chain is bad for the biodiversity of the environment. |
A.human activities can be a big threat to the food chain |
B.we are all responsible for the breaking of the food chain |
C.natural disasters are hard to break the food chain |
D.hunting large sharks for meat is beneficial |
A.explain what the food chain is |
B.tell us something interesting about Nature |
C.suggest that we stop eating meat to save animals |
D.suggest that we not disrupt the natural food chain |