Question

California Condor’s Shocking Recovery

California condors are North America’s largest birds, with wing-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning(铅中毒) nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.

In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona, Utah and Baja in Mexico.

Electrical lines have been killing them off. “As they go in to rest for the night, they just don’t see the power lines,” says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.

So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-freed condors died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.

Lead poisonous has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011.

  Rideout’s team thinks that the California condors’ average survival time in the wild is now just under eight years. “Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now,” he says. “They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them. ”

1.California condors attract researchers’ interest because they .

A.are active at night

B.had to be bred in the wild

C.are found on in California

D.almost died out in the 1980s

2.Researchers have found electrical lines are.

A.blocking condors’ journey home 

B. big killers of Califorbnia condoras

C. rest places for condors at night

D. used to keep condors away

3.According to Paraghaph 5 ,lead poisoning.

A.makes condors too nervous to fly     

B. has little effect on condors’ kidneys

C. can hardly be gotten rid of form condors’ blood

D. makes it different for condors to produce baby birds

4.The passage shows that .

A.the average survival time of condors is satisfactory

B.Rideout’s research interest lies in electric engineering

C.the efforts to protect condors have brought good results

D.researchers have found the final answers to the problem

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：加利福尼亚神鹰是北美最大的鸟类，双翼展开可达3米。由于频繁的触电和铅中毒，加利福尼亚神鹰几乎绝迹。现在，电击和药物治疗正在拯救加利福尼亚神鹰。

1.D推理判断题。根据第三段“As they go in to rest for the night”排除A；根据第二段“In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wil”可知，condors一直生活在野外，排除B；根据第二段“more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona, Utah and Baja in Mexico”可知，不止加利福尼亚有condors，排除C，故选D。

2.B细节理解题。根据第三段“Electrical lines have been killing them off...Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.”可知，神鹰不知道停在电线上会触电身亡，它们经常停在电线上休息，结果，很多被电死了，故选B。

3.D段落大意题。根据“This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death”可知，金属铅会刺激神鹰神经系统，影响它们的生育能力，导致肾衰竭和死亡，故选D。

4.C推理判断题。根据“just under eight years”可知，神鹰的平均寿命太短，排除A；根据“Although these measures are not effective forever”可知，目前采用的措施并不能永远有效，排除D；根据第六段“They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them.”可知，Rideout团队的研究兴趣在于怎样挽救这一濒危物种，故选C。

考点：环保类短文阅读