2023年高考英语外刊时文精读 专题 11 拯救美洲狮.doc

1、2023年高考英语外刊时文精读精练 (11)Save the Mountain Lion拯救美洲狮主题语境：人与自然 主题语境内容：野生动植物保护【外刊原文】（斜体单词为超纲词汇，认识即可；下划线单词为课标词汇，需熟记。）Los Angeles, as everyone knows, is a noodle bowl ofhighways. As everyone may not know, it is also one of only two cities in the world where big catswanderwild inside the cityboundaries(the

2、other is Mumbai). One even livenear the Hollywood sign. But big cats andhighwaysdo not mix,which is why Los Angeles will soon be home to one of the worlds biggestwildlifecorridors（走廊）.The cats are mountainlions. They live in the Santa Monica Mountains. Their numbers arestable. Theirhabitatis mostlyw

3、ilderness（荒野）, full ofdeer, thelionsfood. The ecology of their range, the largesturbannational park in the world, is healthy, thanks in part to theirpresence. Yet animals can come under threat withouthabitatloss.Geneticdegradation（退化）can be just as deadly.Cutting through the mountains is Route101, c

4、arrying up to10,000vehicles an hour. It cuts the Santa Monica range off from a largerwildernessto the north. The southern area is not big enough for all thelions, which each requirehuntinggrounds of60-150square miles. The result is a populationtrappedon an environmental island, withinbreeding(近亲繁殖)a

5、ndgeneticdegradation. A study in2016found that, given their environment, the Santa Monica mountainlions chances of extinction in50years would be15-22%; because of theirgeneticdeterioration, the chance of extinction was more like99.7%.Four years after that study came the first evidence that the big c

6、ats weresufferingphysicaldamage: a young male was found with a90-degree kink(扭结) in histail. Researchers had seen that before. In the early1990sbiologistsstudying the Florida panther, a closely related animal, found that many of the males had the samegeneticflaws(缺陷). The Florida pantherescapedextin

7、ction only thanks to theintroductionoffemalesbrought from Texas to refresh the gene pool.California does not need to go that far. There are healthy mountain-lion populations north of the Santa Monica range,separatedby theribbonof road. Hidden cameras show the animalscrouched(蹲)at the side of thehigh

8、way, notdaringto cross. Thesolutionis a165-foot-wide dirtbridgewhich would allow them to travel high over the traffic.Such corridors have worked elsewhere, from large spans forelk（麋鹿）over the Trans-Canadahighwayto asmallclawbridge formigratingredcrabs（红蟹）on Christmas Island. Last month the governor,

9、 Gavin Newsom,launchedconstruction.The animals becomesexuallymatureat2 to3years and have babies every other year. So within ten years of thecorridorscompletionthe great-grandchildrenof the firstmatingbeyond the mountains could have cubs. Genetically, even a few matings would make a difference. “Well

10、definitelysave the mountain lion,” thinks Paul Edelman of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. “Its just a matter of how long it takes.”【课标词汇精讲】1.boundary n.分界线；边界National boundaries are becoming increasingly meaningless in the global economy.在全球化的经济中，国界已经变得越来越没有意义了。2.mix v. (使)混合,掺和

11、,融合Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. 把所有的配料放在碗里,搅和一下。 I dont like to mix business with pleasure 我不喜欢将社交活动和做生意混在一块。3.stable adj.稳定的；稳固的；牢固的If the foundations of the house arent stable, collapse is possible.如果房子的地基不稳，就有可能倒塌。The hospital said she was in a stable conditionfollowing the operati

12、on.院方说她手术之后情况稳定。4.habitat adj.（动植物的）生长地，栖息地With so many areas of woodland being cut down, a lot of wildlife is losing its natural habitat.大片林地被砍伐，很多野生动物在失去它们的天然栖息地。5.urban城市的；城镇的；都市的Most of the population is an urban population.绝大多数人口都是城镇居民。6.presence出席，在场；（事物的）存在，出现She was scared by the presence of

13、 so many people.这么多人在场，把她吓坏了。The document was signed in the presence of two witnesses.这项文件签署时有两个证人在场。7.deadly致命的;a deadly poison致命的毒药a deadly weapon致命武器deadly disease / virus致命疾病/病毒8. trap设陷阱（或夹子、捕捉器）捕捉;被困住；陷入困境She survived in the forest by eating berries and trapping small animals and birds.她靠着吃浆果和

14、设陷阱捕捉小动物和飞鸟，在森林活下来了。Jack left the job after ten years because he was beginning to feel trapped.杰克十年后辞掉这份工作，因为他开始感到被束缚住了。9.extinction灭绝，绝种Many species of plants and animals are in danger of/threatened with extinction多种动植物都面临绝种的危机。Some people predict the extinction of family life as we know it today.一

15、些人预言我们现在熟知的家庭生活方式将会消失。10.suffering疼痛；折磨；痛苦Death finally brought an end to her suffering. 死亡终于结束了她的痛苦。11. escape逃跑，逃脱Two prisoners have escaped.两个犯人逃走了。A lion has escaped from its cage.一头狮子逃出了兽笼。12. refresh使恢复活力，使再振作The shower had refreshed her.淋浴使她恢复了活力。13.separate（使）分离；（使）分开The north and south of t

16、he country are separated by a mountain range.这个国家的南北两部分被一条山脉隔开。The top and bottom sections are quite difficult to separate.顶部和底部很难分开。13. launch启动，推出，发起The scheme was launched a year ago.这项计划是一年前开始实施的。The Canadian police plan to launch an investigation into the deal.加拿大警方计划对这宗交易展开调查。14. construction建

17、造，建筑The hotel is currently under construction.这家旅馆目前正在建造之中。Work has begun on the construction of the new airport. 新机场的修建已经开工。15. completion完成，完结；完满Work on the new golf course is nearing completion.新的高尔夫球场即将竣工。The completion date is early next year.完工日期是明年初。16. make a differenceWhatever she did, it m

18、ade no difference.不管她做了什么都没有关系的。One more person wouldnt make any difference to the arrangements.多一个人对安排不会有影响。17.definitely肯定，当然，毫无疑问Have you definitely decided to go to America?你已经决定肯定去美国了吗？He definitely said hed be here.他肯定地说了他会到这里来的。【课标词汇精练】根据语境，从上面的“课标词汇”和“重点短语”中选用合适的单词及其正确形式将句子补充完整。1 Most areas

19、are close to a park.绝大多数城区附近都有公园。2 I awoke feeling calm and .我睡醒后心情平静，精神振作。3 The war will cause widespread human .战争会给很多人带来苦难。4 She was lucky to serious injury.她真是万幸，逃过一劫，没有受重伤。5 The Ural mountains mark the between Europe and Asia.乌拉尔山脉是欧洲和亚洲的分界线。6 They want to teaching from research.他们想把教学和研究分开。7 H

20、es usually quite polite in my .在我面前他通常很有礼貌。8 The two men died when they in a burning building.这两名男子因被困在燃烧的大楼里而丧生。9 The of the dinosaurs occurred millions of years ago.恐龙在几百万年前已经绝种10 The grassland is an important for many wild flowers.草原是很多野花的重要生长地。11 The organizationa campaign to raise $150,000.为了筹集

21、 15 万美元，该组织发起了一场募捐活动。12 Work out the exact design before you start .开始施工之前要先搞好具体的设计。13 The project is due for in the spring.这项工程预定在明年春季竣工。 14 Where you live can to the way you feel.住在哪里会极大地影响你的感受。15 If you blue and yellow, you get green. 蓝色和黄色相混合就是绿色。 16 After several part-time jobs, hes now got a j

22、ob in a bank.做了几份兼职工作之后，他目前在银行找到了一份稳定的工作。17 I shall be at the airport to meet you.我肯定会到机场去接你。Keys:1 Most urban areas are close to a park.2 I awoke feeling calm and refreshed.3 The war will cause widespread human suffering.4 She was lucky to escape serious injury.5 The Ural mountains mark the boundar

23、y between Europe and Asia.6 They want to separate teaching from research.7 Hes usually quite polite in my presence.8 The two men died when they were trapped in a burning building.9 The extinction of the dinosaurs occurred millions of years ago.10 The grassland is an important habitat for many wild f

24、lowers.11 The organization has launched a campaign to raise $150,000.12 Work out the exact design before you start construction.13 The project is due for completion in the spring.14 Where you live can make such a difference to the way you feel.15 If you mix blue and yellow, you get green. 16 After s

25、everal part-time jobs, hes now got a stable job in a bank.17 I shall definitely be at the airport to meet you.【译文】众所周知，洛杉矶的高速公路纵横交错。但大家可能不知道，它也是世界上仅有的两个有大型猫科动物在城市边缘内漫步的城市之一(另一个是孟买)。有一只大型猫科动物甚至就栖息在好莱坞标志附近。但是大型猫科动物和高速公路不能融为一体，这就是洛杉矶将很快成为世界上最大的野生动物走廊所在地的原因。我们所讨论的猫科动物正是美洲狮。它们生活在圣莫尼卡山脉，数量稳定。它们的栖息地大多是原始的荒

26、野，到处都是鹿即狮子的猎物。它们的生态活动范围是世界上最大的城市国家公园，这里有良好的生态生活环境，其部分原因是美洲狮的存在。然而，即使没有丧失栖息地，动物们也会受到威胁。基因退化可能同样致命。101号公路贯穿群山，每小时可通过1万辆汽车。它将圣莫尼卡山脉从北部更大的荒野中分割开来。南部的土地不够大，不能容纳所有的美洲狮，每只狮子需要60-150平方英里(160-390平方公里)的捕猎场。后果是一个美洲狮种群被困在一个环境孤岛上，导致近亲繁殖和基因退化。2016年的一项研究发现，照美洲狮的生存环境，圣莫尼卡美洲狮在50年内灭绝的几率将为15-22%；由于其基因退化，灭绝的可能性更接近99.7%

27、。这项研究四年后，第一次有证据表明这些大型猫科动物受到了身体伤害：发现一只年轻的雄狮尾巴上有一个90度的扭结。研究人员之前已经注意到了这一点。20世纪90年代初，生物学家在研究佛罗里达美洲狮(一种近亲动物)时发现，许多雄性狮子也有同样的基因缺陷。多亏了从德克萨斯州引进的雌性美洲狮刷新了基因库，佛罗里达美洲狮才得以逃脱灭绝的命运。加州不需要舍近求远。圣莫尼卡山脉以北有健康的美洲狮种群，该种群被带状道路隔开。隐藏的摄像头显示，动物们蹲在高速公路的一边，不敢穿越。解决办法是建造一座165英尺宽的土桥，这样他们就可以在交通路线上方通过。这样的走廊在其他地方已卓有成效，从横跨加拿大高速公路之上的麋鹿大跨

28、径到圣诞岛上迁徙红蟹的小爪桥。上个月，州长加文纽森启动了建设工程。美洲狮这种动物在2岁半到3岁时性成熟，每隔一年生一次幼崽。因此，在走廊建成后的十年内，山那边第一次交配的曾孙们就可以生育幼崽了。从基因上讲，即使是几次交配也会有所不同。“我们肯定会拯救美洲狮，”山区娱乐和保护管理局的保罗埃德尔曼认为。“只是时间长短的问题。”【背景知识】佛罗里达美洲狮被政府认为是美洲狮的一个亚种。但它们严重近亲繁殖，与其他种群没有任何联系，出现了大量精子畸形、睾丸畸形和尾巴扭曲的个体。1995年，8只雌性得州美洲狮被引入，以拯救这个种群，扭转了种群数量下降的趋势，提高了基因多样性。为了最近的研究，Huffmeye

29、r和同事收集了整个洛杉矶地区的美洲狮观察情况。根据加州大学戴维斯分校兽医学院野生动物健康中心的生物学家Winston Vickers和Justin Dellinger的数据，大约12只美洲狮生活在圣莫尼卡山脉，12只生活在北部的圣苏珊娜山脉，这里被101号公路分隔开来。约20只生活在城市东南部的圣安娜山，在半岛东部更远的内陆地区，生活着更多美洲狮。为了提升基因多样性，需要有更多的美洲狮进出这些孤立的种群。4月22日，环保团体联盟开启了沃利斯安纳伯格野生动物立交桥项目。这座立交桥造价9000万美元，将跨过101号公路的10条车道，让美洲狮、郊狼、鹿和其他很多动物在圣莫尼卡山脉和圣苏珊娜山脉之间穿行。