Question

   At first glance,why anyone would want to save California  condors(禿鷹) is not entirely clear. Unlike the closely related Andean condors with their white neck feathers,California condors are not much to see. Their dull black color,featherl'ess head and neck and oversized feet are hardly signs of beauty oi^ strength. Their appeal begins to become evident when they take flight. California condors can fly almost effortlessly for hours,often covering hundreds of miles a day 一 far more than other creatures of the air.

   When it was discovered that the condor population was becoming dangerously small,scientists and zookeepers sought to increase condor numbers quickly to preserve as much of the species’ geneic(基因的) diversity as possible. From studying wild condors,they already knew that if a pair lost an egg,the birds would often produce another. So the first and sometimes second eggs laid by e往ch female were removed,and artificially hatched. Such techniques quickly proved effective.

   Despite these successes,the effort to save California condors continues to have problems. Artificially hatched condors released(釋放) to the wild have died at what to some people are alarmingly high rates. Others have had to be brought back again after they acted foolishly.

   Some of the odd behavior on the part of these re-released birds is hard to explain. At times they landed on people's houses,walked across roads and airport runways,walked into park visitor centers and fast food restaurants,and took food offered by picnickers and fishermen. None are known to have died by doing so,though. Most recently,some of the first chicks hatched in the wild died after their parents fed them bottle caps,pieces of plastic and other man-made objects.

   Mike Wallace,a wildlife specialist at the San Diego Zoo,has suggested that some of the condors’ problems represent natural behavior that helps them survive. The real key to successful condor reintroduction lies in properly socializing young condors as members of a group that follow and learn from older,preferably adult birds. That,he argues,was missing from earlier condor releases to the wild.

28. What is the California condor's most impressive feature?

   A. Its beautiful colors.

   B. Its remarkable flying ability.

   C. The large size of its neck and feet.

   D. The similarity it has to the Andean condor.

29. In the initial stage of the conservation programme, .

   A. eggs were taken from the nests of wild condors

   B. female condors were caught and studied carefully

   C. scientists and zookeepers tried to create genetic diversity

   D. condors were encouraged to produce a lot more eggs

30. What did some of the condors released into the wild do?.

   A. They adapted surprisingly quickly to their new surroundings.

   B. They showed a tendency to seek out human contact.

   C. They died from eating too much fast food.

   D. They kept changing their eating habits.

31. According to Mike Wallace,there will be fewer problems if .

   A. young condors are trained not to eat man-made objects

   B. the chicks are surrounded by older birds when they hatch

   G. the chicks are released into the wild as soon as they hatch

   D. young condors are taught appropriate behavior by adult birds

Answer 1

28. B 29. A 30. B 31. D

(自然)

本文是說明文。文章介紹了科學家為保護加州禿鷲所做出的努力、出現的問題及解決方法等。

28. B.細節理解題。根據第一段的Their appeal beginstobecomeevidentwhentheytakeflight. California condors can fly almost .effortlessly for hours,often covering hundreds of miles a day — far more than other creatures of the air 可知，雖然 加州禿鷲外表不顯眼，但是卻是飛行高手。

29. A.推理判斷題。根據第二段的So the first and sometimes second eggs laid by each female were removed,and artificiay hatched 可知，為增加加

州禿鷲的數量，科學家在了解了野生禿鷲的習 性后，把雎禿鷲下的頭幾個蛋拿回來進行人工 孵化。

30. B.推理判斷題。根據第四段的theylandedon people* s houses,walked across roads and airport runways,walked into park visitor centers and fast food restaurants,and took food offered by picnickers and fishermen可知，這些人工鮮化后 被放歸野外的禿鷲好像對人沒有畏懼感，它們 喜歡和人接觸。

31. D.細節理解題。根據最后一段的The real key to successful condor reintroduction lies in properly socializing young condors as members of a group that follow and l??m from older,preferably adult birds 可知，Mike Wallace 認為人 工孵化的禿鷲想在野外成功生存的話，必須讓 它們提前融入集體生活，以便跟成年禿鷙學習 生存的本領。