Working with animals

主題語境：動物保護 篇幅：326詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1Do you dream of a career working with animals? Dr Elena Hoellein Less has made her dream a reality.Less is an associate animal curator(監護人)at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Cleveland,Ohio.

2Less studied biology in college.She earned her PhD at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio,where she did research on animal care and conservation.Less has worked at the Cleveland Zoo for 18 years.For the past 10 years,she has served as one of the zoo's four associate curators.She heads a team of 14 zookeepers who care for animals in the Primate,Cat,and Acquatics area.Primates,including gorillas and monkeys,are her specialty.

3Less makes sure that the animals get the best care.She and her team also develop training routines for new animals.“What's exciting is that I think we're really starting to lead the country,maybe even globally,in gorilla research and animal training.Training animals is not what a zoo visitor might think.We don't train them like in a circus to do a trick,”she explained.“They're trained to get vaccines,blood draws,blood pressure,things like that.We trainthemfor the benefit of their own health,”Less said.

4Less is also involved with special projects.These include a proposed Primate Forest and structural repairs at the zoo.The best part of her job is spending time with the animals.“That's the highlight of my week,”she said.

5Zoos have changed a lot over the years.They now focus on animal health research and the protection of wildlife.Less hopes that such efforts will inspire zoo visitors to get involved in protecting endangered animals.“There are a lot of animals that are struggling to survive out in the wild.We're developing empathy (同理心) and getting people to care about what's happening with our Earth and what's happening to the wild places that are becoming smaller everywhere.”

Reading

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Detail 1.Where did Less do research on animal care and conservation?

A.At Case Western Reserve University.

B.At the Cleveland Zoo.

C.In a forest.

D.In the wild.

Vocabulary 2.What does the underlined word“them”in paragraph 3 refer to?

A.Training routines.

B.Zoo visitors.

C.Circuses.

D.Animals.

Inference 3.What's Less's attitude to her working with animals?

A.Unclear.

B.Happy.

C.Doubtful.

D.Dismissive.

Gist 4.What does paragraph 5 mainly talk about?

A.Less's expectation of animal protection.

B.Special projects set up by Less.

C.Highlight of a week in zoos.

D.Development of Earth.

Language

Study

I.日積月累

realityn.現實

conservationn.保護

globallyadv.全球地

specialtyn.專業；特長

explainv.解釋

pressuren.壓力

trickn.詭計；竅門；戲法

involvev.包含；牽涉；使參與

endangeredadj.瀕危的

strugglev.奮斗；艱難行進

survivev.幸存

serve as 擔任

for the benefit of 為……的利益

be involved with 參與

get involved in 參與

inspire sb to do 鼓舞某人去做……

struggle to do 努力做……

Ⅱ.單句填空

1.She left the meeting room without________(explain).

2.We want to involve as many people as possible________the celebrations.

3.The sea turtle is an________(endanger)species.

4.The sofa will serve________a bed for a night or two.

5.By visiting schools,the actors hope to inspire children________(put)on their own productions.