Question

【题目】Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main points of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

California condors are North American’s largest birds, will wing-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.

In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild, and there are nowmore than 150 flying overCaliforniaand nearbyArizona,Utahand Baja inMexico. Electrical lines have been killing them off. “As they go in to rest for the night, they just don’t see the power lines,” says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once. So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-freed condors died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.

Lead poisonous has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead.This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011.

Rideout’s team thinks that theCaliforniacondors’ average survival time in the wild is nowjust under eight years. “Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now,” he says. “They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them.”

Answer 1

【答案】Two measures have been taken to save California condors from extinction for decades. First, to keep condors away from electrical lines, electric shock training let them experience bitter but not fatal shock. Second to clear lead from their blood, some are given medical treatment at the zoo. As the statistics show, these efforts have had good results.

【解析】

本篇书面表达是概要写作，要求概括避免加州秃鹰的灭绝的两项措施：一是对秃鹰电击训练以让它们远离电线：二是清除血液中的铅，一些秃鹰在动物园接受治疗，这些努力取得了良好的效果，注意词数要求和使用自己的语言。

1、写之前，需要认真仔细地读几遍原文材料，让理解更深刻。

2、遵循原文的逻辑顺序，对重要部分的主题、标题、细节进行概括，全面清晰地表明原文信息。

3、给摘要起一个好标题，比如：可以采用文中的主题句。

4、尽量使用自己的话完成，不要引用原文的句子，篇幅控制在原文的三分之一或四分之一长。