小藍企鵝，萌寵上線

浙江 周晨曲

主題語境：人與自然 篇幅：310詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1In July, a group of the world's smallest pen?guins waddled (搖搖晃晃地走) into the California spotlight. The group of 15 flightless birds, known as little blue penguins, weigh about 3 pounds and are 12 inches tall. These fast divers are named for their blue feathers and known for their playful behavior.

2Little blue penguins are native to Southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zea?land,where I first saw them.In 2019,my family and I visited Akaroa,a town on the South Island of New Zealand. While there, we observed the birds alongside field researchers who were restoring the little penguin's population.

3Because of their tiny size, the penguins have many predators (掠奪者) in the wild.This summer,penguins on the New Zealand coastline have been struggling,and many have died. Scientists believe that rising ocean temperatures, due to climate change, are leading to the starvation(饑餓)of the penguins.

4Megan Hanna is a marine resource specialist for birds and green sea turtles in San Diego.“Due to rising ocean temperatures, some of the penguins' breeding (繁殖) mi?grations and feeding migrations are changing a little bit. The prey they're used to eating,and some of their habitats,are starting to look a little bit different,”Megan said.

5Local young people are inspired to learn more about marine biology. Riley Crescenzo, 13, enjoys swimming and surfing.“I love the green sea turtles because they're so calm and peaceful when they glide (滑行)through the water,”the teen said.“It's so cool to see them returning to California, especially San Diego. I look forward to seeing more in the future.”

6Riley enjoys observing the work that Megan and other scientists are doing.“I want to be a marine biologist because I want to help save the planet,”Riley said.“Those people who devote their lives to saving animals are my heroes.”

Reading Check

1.What are little blue penguins famous for according to the text?

霉菌飼料的使用同樣是引發疾病的重要因素之一。高溫高濕的環境下，會促進各種霉菌的生長繁殖，導致各種飼料以及制作飼料的原料霉變，產生霉菌毒素（如玉米、魚粉等蛋白質飼料更容易發霉變質）。霉菌和霉菌毒素造成的損害不僅存在于胃中，也存在于腸、肝、腸系膜等部位，但會根據霉菌的攝入量、持續時間、種類以及毒素的不同有所區別。要有效控制霉菌造成的危害，首先要做好雞舍或雞場的清潔工作，保持雞舍干燥，定時清理水線料槽，保證其干凈衛生，在腺病毒高發季節，適當使用脫霉劑等產品抑制霉菌的滋生，有效降低霉菌誘發疫病的概率。

A.Their pace.

B.Their diving habits.

C.Their weight.

D.Their playful behavior.

2.What's the third paragraph mainly about?

A.Effects of climate change.

B.The appearance of little blue penguins.

C.The challenges little blue penguins face.

D.Ways to increase little penguins'population.

3.Why does Riley love the green sea turtles?

A.They dive fast through the water.

B.They're quiet when moving through the water.

C.They migrate often in their lives.

D.They're brave when facing dangers.

4.What does the underlined word“their”in paragraph 6 refer to?

A.Turtles'.

B.Penguins'.

C.Hunters'.

D.Protectors'.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Little blue penguins are native to Southern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand,where I first saw them.小藍企鵝分布于澳大利亞南部、塔斯馬尼亞島和新西蘭，我第一次看到它們就是在新西蘭。

【點石成金】該句中，where引導非限制性定語從句，對先行詞New Zealand 進行補充說明；be native to意為“原產于……”。