主题阅读：保护动物 练习The “strangest parrots on earth”are being saved 鸮鹦鹉正在被拯救它们白天睡觉，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2. triple / adj. 三倍的3. breed / v. 繁殖;饲养4. snugly / adv. 紧贴地5. pellet / n. 小球;小弹丸6. poach / v. （侵入他人地界）偷猎Its as plump as a goose， 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 cant 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 seen 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 else. 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，” said Wes Sechrest of Global Wildlife Conservation， which is helping the kakapo recovery program. “They have a teddy?bear quality with their soft feathers， wide 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 season is expected to set a record and add 30 to 50 healthy chicks.To improve kakapo breeding， recovery team members watch and track the parrots using nest cameras， infrared beams （红外光束）， 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 noise and get the moms ready to raise their chicks once they hatch and are brought back.Recovery team caretakers are very dedicated. They hike the forest all day with equipment and supplies weighing nearly 50 pounds， then curl up at night in tents near the birds. Like new parents， they awake several 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！ReadingCheckTrue （T） or False （F）（ ）1. Kakapos are called as the strangest parrots mainly because of their sleeping habits.（ ）2. There were only 18 kakapos left in New Zealand in 1977.（ ）3. The recovery program helps the kakapos a lot in their recovering.（ ）4. Modern technologies are used to improve kakapo breeding.（ ）5. 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 “森林之王”遇威胁号称“森林之王”的老虎如今也生存不易，面臨种种威胁。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;反击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 lossTigers 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， pose serious threats to tiger habitats. Tigers need wide swathes（一长条） of habitat for their 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 conflictPeople and tigers increasingly compete for space. As forests shrink and prey becomes scarce， tigers are forced to leave protected areas in search 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. “Conflict” tigers can end up for sale in black markets. Local community dependence on forests for fuel wood， food， and timber heightens the risk of tige