Giraffes Are Being Killed for Their Tails

Documentary filmmaker David Hamlin recalls how excited he was at the sight of three giraffes standing in a small clearing when he was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Garamba National Park in late June. “Seeing these giraffes from the air was really exciting,” says Hamlin, who was working for National Geographic. That’s because Garamba is huge, extending over nearly 2,000 square miles of mostly forested land, and it’s a rare, lucky event to come across any of its 40 remaining giraffes.

But Hamlin’s thrill at seeing and photographing the giraffes didn’t last long. Twelve hours later, people looking after the national park reported hearing gunshots, and they later discovered three bullet-riddled bodies of dead giraffes in the sun. “It was horrible for me and the team,” Hamlin says “to realize that most likely it was these guys, the ones we’d seen.” Hamlin decided to document the sad event to raise awareness about illegally shooting animals in the park.

Garamba is Africa’s second oldest national park and has been hit hard by illegal shooting in recent years. Its rhinos have been wiped out, and elephants have suffered huge losses. The same goes for its Kordofan giraffes, one of Africa’s nine giraffe subspecies. Fewer than 2,000 now wander central Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Garamba’s Kordofan giraffes represent the last population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “If the number slips in half, then we’re in an extremely serious situation,” Fennessy says. “Every single giraffe is valuable.”

Congolese usually kill the giraffes for one body part, their tails, considered a rank symbol in some communities. Meanwhile men from neighboring South Sudan target the giraffes for their meat to feed poor villagers. But the massive bodies (giraffes can grow to 18 feet and weigh up to 3,000 pounds) of these three giraffes were complete — only the ends of their tails were missing. According to Leon Lamprecht, joint operations director for African Parks, “men use the tail as treasure to the bride’s father if they want to ask for the hand of a bride.” “What an absolute waste!” Lamprecht says.

1.What made Hamlin so excited when he was flying over the park?

A. Filming the huge national park.

B. Reporting the event in the air.

C. Picturing the running rhinos.

D. Spotting the rare animals.

2.What does the underlined part “the ones” refer to?

A. The filmmakers.B. The elephants.

C. The giraffes.D. The hunters.

3.What did Hamlin decide to do after learning about the event?

A. Uncover the ancient African traditions and customs.

B. Call on people to protect the habitat of wild animals.

C. Improve people’s knowledge of preserving wild animals.

D. Become a volunteer in the animal conservation foundation.

The new two-child policy is making job hunting more difficult for women when about 40 percent of them said they were asked whether they planned to have a second child during job interviews, according to a report in Chongqing.

China dropped its decades-long one-child policy in October and allowed each family to have two children. The country now has about 270 million married women of childbearing age.

This change has put millions of career women in a dilemma between family and career. Employers also face big challenges as more female workers will have two childbearing leaves, seven to eight months altogether.

A human resources website www.job.cq.qq.com conducted a survey among 500 employers and 5,000 job seekers about how the two-child policy affects the job market.

Though two thirds of employers said the policy would make no difference to their recruitment(招聘), the survey showed that more than 70 percent of job seekers believe that bearing a second child will make women less popular in the job market. Forty percent of employers said they will give priority to married women with two children, according to the survey.

Lin Xia, 29, quit her job after giving birth to her first child. She is now preparing to return to work. After several inquiries at a job fair, she found that the employers are concerned about future birth plans. "I thought it would be easier to find a job after giving birth," she was quoted as saying by the website. "I had to answer whether I will have a second child before I could get a chance for a job interview."

Liang Siqi, 23, a college graduate, said although employers did not ask her the child question yet, she will not plan to have two children. "It (having two children) will definitely affect my career and personal life, so I will have only one," she said.

Zhou Jiansong, who is in charge of human resources at a large private high-tech group in Chongqing, said the company will discuss birth issues with interviewees in order to make a better work plans. "We fully respect a women's right to bear a child or two," he said. "But you don't want them to go on a childbearing leave soon after they join your company." The experts expect more labor dispute cases concerning childbearing leave rights when bearing a second child in future.

1.As for the influence of the new policy on working women, which of the following is TRUE?

A. They will find it more difficult to ask for a leave in a company.

B. Most of them will be forced to choose to have two children.

C. Many of them will stay at home instead of working outside.

D. Those who have two children may find it easier to get a job.

2.In the opinion of Zhou Jiansong, what will employers probably do when interviewing women interviewees?

A. They will pay no attention to women’s right to have a child or two.

B. They will let women interviewees make a future plan.

C. They may hope to know more about women interviewees’ childbearing plan.

D. They may expect more labor debate cases about interviewees’ second-child plan.

3.What can we infer from the report in the passage?

A. All the women surveyed in the passage are married.

B. The women bearing a second child get the same chance as before to get a job.

C. About 70 percent of the women were asked whether they planned to have a second child.

D. Bearing a second child affects the women’s career to some degree.

4.What is the writer’s attitude towards the new two-child policy?

A. Positive.B. Neutral.C. Indifferent.D. Critical.

The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:

“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”

“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”

But, one younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”

I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.

Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim, chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.

This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.

Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.

1.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed

B. How to make friendship last for ever

C. You are who your friends are

D. Friends are the most important in one’s success

2.The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ________.

A. the musicians’ living conditions are quite poor

B. people have poor taste in music

C. people have different attitudes towards the same thing

D. young people have greater chances of succeeding

3.By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7(underlined), you can ________.

A. improve a lot in making more friends

B. come to the right way of making friends

C. develop a better relationship with your friends

D. arrange the time with your friends properly

4.The passage is mainly written for ________.

A. musicians B. managers

C. negative people D. people wanting to succeed

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