拯救棱皮龟

吕品

Save a leatherback turtle

棱皮龜是龟鳖目中体型最大者，头较大，颈、尾较短，四肢呈桨状，无爪，前肢特别发达。它的游泳速度快且能力极强，主要栖息于热带海域的中上层，分布在大西洋和太平洋海域。

1 Every year， massive leatherback turtles cross both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans to nest and feed， averaging about 10，000 miles.

2 Named for their leather?like shells， the massive sea turtles are one of the migratory animals in the world. Coastal residents in Massachusetts expect to see these creatures in their waters， but when an adult male leatherback was stranded （使搁浅） on a mudflat along the Herring River on Cape Cod， locals knew something was wrong.

3 Concerned citizens reported the turtle to Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary， which dispatched a team of volunteers to keep the animal from moving farther inland with the tide. “We wanted to keep it from being stranded somewhere we couldnt rescue it，” Director Emeritus Bob Prescott said. “If it got away， there was no telling where it would be stranded next.”

4 The turtle weighed about 600 pounds and was about 5 feet long！ They called in more animal rescuers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare， asking them to bring special heavy?duty transport carts， mats， and stretchers which are typically used to move beached dolphins and small whales. Together， they relocated the animal to Herring Cove in Provincetown.

5 Once he was safely in the cove， staff from New England Aquariums Rescue and Animal Health gave the turtle a health checkup. “Our initial evaluation indicated that the turtle was very strong and in good body condition， and this helped us to decide that he was a good candidate for release，” said Dr Charles Innis， director of animal health at the New England Aquarium.

6 Before getting the turtle back to ocean home， Charles gave him some vitamins and mild pain reliever injections and attached small ID tags and a microchip so they can track him by using satellites. Staff from the aquarium plan to track the turtle to make sure he survives for the next 30 days; then they will monitor his migration patterns for the next five to ten years.

Detail 1. How did the locals feel about the turtle when he was in trouble？

A. Surprised.

B. Shocked.

C. Worried.

D. Disappointed.

Vocabulary 2. What does the underlined word “dispatched” probably mean in paragraph 3？

A. Sent.

B. Warned.

C. Expected.

D. Helped.

Gist 3. Whats the main idea of paragraph 4？

A. The turtle was big and long.

B. Carts were used to move the turtle.

C. How did animal rescuers save the big turtle.

D. Rescuing a turtle of this size wasnt easy.

Detail 4. What can we know about the turtle from the text？

A. He would move farther inland.

B. He would be monitored for at least 10 years.

C. He was strong and the aquarium let him go after the checkup.

D. He was attached a microchip by concerned citizens.

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. Named for their leather?like shells， the massive sea turtles are one of the migratory animals in the world. 这种巨型海龟因其皮质外壳而得名，是世界上有迁徙习惯的动物之一。

【点石成金】句中的Named是过去分词作状语，表被动，主句是the massive sea turtles are one of the migratory animals in the world。

2. They called in more animal rescuers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare， asking them to bring special heavy?duty transport carts， mats， and stretchers which are typically used to move beached dolphins and small whales. 他们从国际爱护动物基金会叫来了更多的动物救援人员，要求他们带上专用重型运输车、垫子和担架，这些通常是用来运送搁浅的海豚和小鲸鱼的。

【点石成金】asking...and stretchers在句中作伴随状语，和主句的谓语动词的动作几乎是同时发生的；which在从句中作主语，引导定语从句。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

get away 离开；脱身

call in 召来；叫来

special heavy?duty transport cart 专用重型运输车

be used to do 被用来做……

health checkup 健康检查

get back 返回；回家

in the cove 在海湾