2. 职称英语
  3. Watching bison(野牛)up close is mesmerizing(令人着迷的), like watching a grass fire

Watching bison(野牛)up close is mesmerizing(令人着迷的), like watching a grass fire

游客2024-02-01  7
问题     Watching bison(野牛)up close is mesmerizing(令人着迷的), like watching a grass fire about to leap out of control. With their huge, wedge-shaped heads and silver-dollar-size brown eyes, the 2,000-pound animals are symbols of another place and time. More than 100 bison now roam the 30,000-acre American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana—the first time they’ve inhabited that region in a century. Direct descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once populated the Western plains, they represent an epic effort: to restore a piece of America’s prairie to the national grandeur that Lewis and Clark extolled two centuries ago.
    And the region remains a trove of biodiversity. Plovers, curlews, and dozens of species of songbirds breed here. Sage grouses(艾草榛鸡), though greatly reduced in number, still do a fancy fandango of a mating dance on the springtime prairie. In its quest to protect what’s here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife(something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004. It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57 ,000. Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest tract of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States.
    Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike. Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals. And of course there are the bison. "I’m hoping we can fix up a little mini-migration when we have maybe 400-to 500 of them," says Bill Willcutt, the reserve’s original manager. "That’ll be something to see. "
    Not everyone shares APF’s vision. Some residents of Phillips County(pop. 3,904)worry that the area couid become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists. But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space. " People like me have no intention of selling their ranches," says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886. "They’ve been a labor of love through the generations. " Instead, he wants APF to pay or subsidize ranchers to raise bison. This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land outright.
    It may just be a waiting game. "We see this as a long, slow process," says Sean Gerrity, the foundation’s president. His strategy for wooing(求爱)the ranchers is to be neighborly, shop locally, and offer a fair price for the land, using money donated by individuals and foundations with an interest in conservation. Ranchers who sell to APF can also stay on the ranches as long as they like and keep their cattle if they wish. [br] What’s the American Prairie Foundation’s aim of land purchase?
选项 A、To compete with the local ranchers.
B、To protect and reintroduce wildlife.
C、To devote to the World Wildlife Fund.
D、To assemble land for a National zoo.
答案 B
解析 推理判断题。由该段第四句“In itsquest to protect what’s here and reintroduce long—gone wildlife…the American Prairie Foundationbegan purchasing land…”可推知，购买土地的目的是为了保护现存的动物并引进其他的濒危野生动物，B)选项含义与之相符，故为正确答案。
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