2023届高考英语二轮复习外刊阅读训练：改造岛屿面临很多问题

23年高考英语外刊阅读理解训练——改造岛屿面临很多问题 ——改编自Wallabies and trees face chop in island clearance A couple's plan to buy and alter an island in Loch Lomond, Scotland is being met with objections. Kirsty Young and Nick Jones bought the island, Inchconnachan, for £1.6 million in 2020 from a Scottish family who owned it for over 700 years. Their plans to cut down trees and remove non-native species on the island has been met with objections from locals, nature organizations, and even the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The couple is also facing a formal objection from the Woodland Trust, which has legally binding conservation designations in place to preserve the ancient oak forest on the island. In addition to removing non-native species, the couple plans to build a luxury holiday lodge, boathouse, and interconnecting boardwalk on the island. They claim that the island is in poor condition due to visitors, anti-social behavior, and grazing herbivores. Reports suggest that the red-necked wallabies, deer, and grey squirrels on the island are contributing to negative impacts on the ground flora and regeneration of the forest. However, the couple has denied plans to cull the wallabies and intend to relocate them instead. The Woodland Trust argues that established non-native species have legal protection even in ancient woodland and that the couple's plans will involve the loss of irreplaceable veteran trees. The island is under special conservation designations and is in a national park. The objections suggest that if ancient woodland isn't safe in this location, something is far wrong. While the couple's plans may aim to reverse the declining woodlands, objections raise valid concerns about the impact that removing non-native species and building on the highly wooded island could have on the natural habitat. 【重点词汇】 1. couple ['kʌpl] n. 夫妻 2. alter ['ɔːltər] v. 修改 3. island ['aɪlənd] n. 岛屿 4. Loch Lomond [lɑk 'lɒmənd] 罗蒙湖 5. Scotland ['skɒtlənd] n. 苏格兰 6. obje