主题阅读：保护动物练习
The "strangest parrots on earth“ are being saved 号嘤曼匐E在^
它们白天睡觉，晚上出来活动，能攀爬却不能飞行。它们被称为“世界上最蠢萌的鹦鹉”。
难词探意
1.plump /adj.微胖的;饱满的兰花土
2.triple / adj.三倍的
病毒有细胞结构吗
3.第八届网商大会breed / v,繁殖;饲养
4.snugly / adv.紧贴地
抱拳5.pellet / n.小球;小弹丸
6.poach / v.（侵入他人地界）偷猎
仙人走兽Ifs as plump as a goo, has the face of an owl and waddles like a duck. It sleeps in the day and is active at night. And it can climb just about anything but can't fly anywhere. No wonder people call the kakapos the strangest parrots on earth.
Once found in large numbers all over New Zealand, kakapos have been on the edge of disappearing for more than a century. In 1977, trackers counted just 18 kakapos left in the entire country and all of them were males. Then something amazing happened. A previously unknown kakapo population was found. It included the first females en in more than 60 years. This exciting discovery made the local government help the parrots by moving them to three small, predator? Free islands.
New Zealand is an isolated island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Many of its plants and animals, like the kakapo, are found nowhere el. Protecting them is a matter of national pride as well as urgency. "As the largest type of parrot on earth, they are quite the sight in person,n said Wes Sechrest of Global Wildlife Conrvation, which is helping the kakapo recovery program. 'They have a teddy?bear quality with their soft feathers, wi
de eyes and owl like expressions.Today the recovery program counts 147 adult birds, nearly triple the number since its start in 1995. And that number will soon grow, as the current breeding ason is expected to t a record and add 30 to 50 healthy chicks.
太湖谜语
To improve kakapo breeding, recovery team members watch and track the parrots using nest cameras, infrared beams (红夕卜光束)， microchips and radio transmitters in small "backpacks" fitted snugly under the birds wings. Individual feeding stations supply extra pellet food and clean water. The stations have electronic scales to check weight and are programmed to open only for the target bird, automatically locking if a parrot wearing the "wrong" transmitter tries to poach from another parrots station.
Eggs are often removed from the nest and put in incubators (孵化器)， machines that help them develop. In their place, team members leave 3D?printed "smart eggs" that make noi and get the moms ready to rai their chicks once they hatch and are brought back.
Recovery team caretakers are very dedicated. They hike the forest all day with equipmen
t and supplies weighing nearly 50 pounds, then curl up at night in tents near the birds. Like new parents, they awake veral times each night to tend to their assigned nest. Every new chick is celebrated. A few years ago, when a female accidentally crushed her egg, team members patched it with tape and glue. Days later, they watched excitedly as the first kakapo chick in three years hatched. Success!
Reading Check
事实的意思
True (T) or Fal (F)
7.1. Kakapos are called as the strangest parrots mainly becau of their sleeping habits.
8.2. There were only 18 kakapos left in New Zealand in 1977.
9.3. The recovery program helps the kakapos a lot in their recovering.
10.. Modern technologies are ud to improve kakapo breeding.
11.. Taking care of kakapos is a tough but wonderful job for the recovery team workers.
1.F 2, T 3. T 4. T 5. TThreats that tigers face
号称“森林之王”的老虎如今也生存不易，面陶种种威胁。是什么导致这种情况？
难词探意
1.degrade / v.（使）退化
2.shrink/v.（使）缩小;收缩;减少
3.retaliation / n.报复;还击
4.mangrove / n.红树林植物
5.mitigation / n.减轻;缓解
In some areas, tigers are still in crisis and declining in number. Here are some threats that tigers are faced with.
Habitat loss
嫩白肌肤
Tigers have lost an estimated 95% of their historical range. Their habitat has been destroyed, degraded, and broken apart by human activities. The clearing of forests for agriculture and woods, as well as the building of road networks and other development activities, po rious threats to tiger habitats. Tigers need wide swathes （一长条） of habitat fortheir survival since they have large home ranges and are very territorial. Fewer tigers can survive in small, scattered islands of habitat, which leads to a higher risk of inbreeding and makes tigers more vulnerable to poaching as they venture beyond protected areas to establish their territories.
Human? Wildlife conflict
People and tigers increasingly compete for space. As forests shrink and prey becomes scarce, tigers are forced to leave protected areas in arch of food and to establish territories. This takes them into human? Dominated areas that lie between habitat fragments, where they can hunt domestic livestock that many local communities depend on for their livelihood. In retaliation, tigers are sometimes killed or captured. "Conflicf tiger
s can end up for sale in black markets. Local community dependence on forests for fuel wood, food, and timber heightens the risk of tiger attacks on people.
Effects of climate change
One of the world5s largest, and most uniquely? Adapted, tiger populations are found in the Sundarbans-a large mangrove forest area shared by India and Bangladesh on the coast of the Indian Ocean. It is also the only coastal mangrove tiger habitat in the world. The mangrove forests harbor a variety of species, including tigers, and protect coastal regions from storm surges and wind damage. However, rising a levels caud by climate change threaten to wipe out the forests and the last remaining habitat of this tiger population. According to a WWF study, without mitigation efforts, projected a?level ri-about a foot by 2070一could destroy nearly the entire Sundarbans tiger habitat.
