Forest police protect wildlife森林警察，使命在肩

蒋建平

森林警察在打击破坏森林和野生动植物资源违法犯罪方面，发挥了不可替代的作用，同时也遇到了很多的困难。

主题语境：职业 篇幅：359词 建议用时：7分钟

1 Forest police from Hongtupo Township，Southwest China’s Yunnan Province， finished theirannual patrol （巡逻） of a famed stopover site andhabitat for migratory birds in the Ailao Mountainarea.

2 Officers with the forest police station ofHongtupo， Nanhua County， enter forests in the Nanhua area of the Ailao Mountain NationalNature Reserve every September and remain there until the following February， says Zhang Yueping， an instructor with the police station. During their stay， the officers patrol theforests in Dazhong Mountain， deep in the Ailao area to prevent poaching （偷猎） and otherwildlife crimes.

3 The Hongtupo Forest Police Station， known as “a migratory police station”， wasestablished in 1984 in response to illegal poaching in the mountain. A huge variety ofwildlife was hunted to near extinction， according to Zhang. The police station got off to arough start， with no running water， no phone service， and significant challenges in thedelivery of supplies. Initially， the officers had no option but to live in tents.

4 It was not until 2010 that a house was built for the officers at the foot of DazhongMountain. Over nearly four decades， forest police in Hongtupo have endured all kinds ofharsh conditions to protect wildlife in the mountain. “Skin peeling after bad sunburn，frostbite， sleeping for half a month under a mouldy （發霉的） blanket and hearing bears growl at night are what we’ve experienced，” says Zhou Piyin， former head of the policestation， who worked at the station for eight years.

5 Difficult as the journey has been， generations of protection efforts have paid off.Since 2019， zero cases of poaching have been reported. Villagers have also stepped up andcreated their own forest protection members.

6 Over the years， the forests have seen a growing number of birds. During the migrationseason， birds can be seen flying right over people’s heads.“ In October， there are birds allover the mountain， which is quite splendid，” says Liu Yan， a female officer with the policestation.

7 As the ecosystem improves， Zhang says， the police station has been relocated outsidethe forests to the town， and officers are sent to carry out patrols in the forests during themigration season.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What’s the responsibility of the forest police station of Hongtupo？

A. To go through the forests.

B. To save endangered species.

C. To protect wildlife in the forests.

D. To stop people cutting down forests.

Inference

2. Which of the following can best describe the Hongtupo forest police？

A. Critical.

B. Humorous.

C. Warm?hearted.

D. Strong⁃willed.

Gist

3. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about？

A. A story about“ a migratory police station”.

B. Some facts about protecting wildlife in Hongtupo.

C. The difficulties the forest police met in Hongtupo.

D. The working environment of the forest police in Hongtupo.

Detail

4. What can we learn about the Hongtupo forest according to the last two paragraphs？

A. It no longer needs officers’ patrol.

B. The number of birds has been growing.

C. Its police station has always been there.

D. Many birds are all over the mountain in spring.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Discover useful structures in the text

1. it is/was not until...that意为“直到……才……”，其中包含了强调句式

It was not until 2010 that a house was built for the officers at the foot of Dazhong Mountain. 直到2010年，大中山脚下才建造了为森林警察准备的房子。

2.“ adj.+as+主语+...”结构中，as引导倒装句，意为“尽管”

Difficult as the journey has been， generations of protection efforts have paid off. 尽管路途艰难，但几代人为保护（森林）做出的努力得到了回报。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

extinction significant initially response to carry out

1. We have________ increased the number of people in education but the size of the classes hasn’t changed.

2. At the current rate of decline， many of the rainforest animals could become________in less than 10 years.

3. The agency was heavily criticized for its tardy________the hurricane.

4. The competition encouraged young people to________their bright ideas.

5. After she had overcome her________shyness， she became very friendly.