Unit 3 Conservation 延伸拓展阅读(Word讲义)-【满分思维】2026-2027学年高中英语选择性必修第一册学生用书（北师大版）

延伸拓展阅读 (节选自外研版选择性必修第二册 Unit 5) MACQUARIE ISLAND: from Chaos to Conservation I am standing on Macquarie Island, in the South-west Pacific Ocean, halfway between Australia and Antarctica. Strong winds and stormy seas have helped sculpt its long, thin shape. The green grass and bare rock of its landscape contrast dramatically, giving it a wild and natural beauty. No visitor would think it surprising that the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nor would they fail to imagine how its native inhabitants, including royal penguins, king penguins, and elephant seals, existed in perfect harmony with their natural habitat for thousands of years. But the island’s more recent history tells a different story. It’s a tragic story that began in 1810 when humans arrived on the island. In their ships they unknowingly brought rats and mice. These small animals quickly took over the island, eating the birds’ eggs and attacking baby birds. Cats were brought to the island to control the rats and mice. Unfortunately, the cats subsequently developed an appetite for the birds, too. Meanwhile, rabbits were introduced to the island as a source of food for humans. Loose on the island, they did what rabbits do best—they multiplied rapidly and began eating the native vegetation and digging holes, which caused soil erosion. The exploding rabbit population provided plentiful food for the cats, meaning that the number of cats also increased. This in turn led to more cats hunting the birds. The end result was that parakeets, once large in number and native to the island, died out in 1891. Even after Macquarie Island became an official nature reserve in the 1970s, the rabbits remained out of control. Experts felt it necessary to come up with a plan to remove all the rabbits from the island. With this goal in mind, a virus was released onto the island. But although the virus caused the rabbit population to decrease from 130,000 to around 10,000, it also meant less food for the cats. The cats in consequence turned their attention—and their stomachs—back to the native birds, killing up to 60,000 each year. In the 1980s, traps and dogs were used to catch the cats. The last Macquarie Island cat was caught in 2000. But as the saying goes, “While the cat’s away, the mice will play.” With the departure of the cats from the island, the mouse and rat population started to increase. And remember those 10,000 or so rabbits? It turned out that they developed an immunity to the virus, and their numbers exploded once again. Then, in 2006, the rabbits’ digging caused some land to collapse, and killed a substantial number of penguins. This incident made it clear that the rat, mouse and rabbit problem needed solving once and for all. So, I am here on Macquarie Island to participate in the programme to tackle this very problem. The first step involved poison being dropped from helicopters. The next step is to remove the last remaining invading species, and that’s where I come in—with my dogs. They have been trained to find every last one, without harming the native animals. This intervention is a long, much-delayed ending to a sad story, but we humans owe it to the island to give it a happy ending. Postscript: In 2014, Macquarie Island was declared pest-free and the island’s ecology is finally on the road to recovery. 【好词好句积累】 1.stormy adj.有暴风雨(或暴风雪)的 2.dramatically adv.显著地 3.in harmony with与……和谐相处 4.unknowingly adv.不知不觉地;无意中 5.subsequently adv.随后;之后 6.develop an appetite for对……产生食欲/欲望 7.in consequence因此 8.once and for all彻底地,一劳永逸地 9.pest-free adj.没有害虫的 10.Loose on the island, they did what rabbits do best—they multiplied rapidly and began eating the native vegetation and digging holes, which caused soil erosion. 由于在岛上放任其生存,它们做了兔子最擅长的事情——它们迅速繁殖,开始吃当地的植被并挖洞,导致了土壤侵蚀。 11.The next step is to remove the last remaining invading species, and that’s where I come in—with my dogs. 下一步是清除最后剩下的入侵物种,这就是我的工作了——和我的狗一起。 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $