古老鱼种重返伊利诺伊州水域

重庆垫江第二中学校 吴冬梅

伊利诺伊州放生了一种名为鳄雀鳝的古老鱼种，专家认为这种鱼最早出现在一亿多年前的白垩纪早期，让其重返伊利诺伊州水域是为了保持物种平衡。

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is returning a fish called the alligator gar to the state's rivers. Some people call the fish a “living fossil”. Experts believe the fish first appeared during the Early Cretaceous period more than 100 million years ago.

Randy Sauer is an Illinois state fisheries biologist. He says the fish disappeared from the state's rivers in the 1990s, although they have continued to do well in southern states. “Biologists want to bring the fish back to northern rivers because it is important to have top predators （捕食性动物） to balance the species below them,” he said.

Sport fishermen like to try to catch the alligator gar. Alligator gars are the second-largest freshwater fish in North America. They can grow as large as 2.7 meters and weigh more than 136 kilograms. Sauer says their large size is one reason why they disappeared in the 1990s. Experts say alligator gars are “opportunistic feeders”. This means they will eat almost anything—including small turtles or ducks. They also eat invasive species such as Asian silver carp. Sauer hopes the reintroduction of the alligator gar will help the state's efforts to control the carp. Because alligator gars can live up to 60 years, the program will continue to increase for many years.

Sauer notes that female alligator gars do not sexually mature until 11 years, and the male not till 6 or 7 years. That means the biologists will try to raise and release a lot of fish early in the program to reintroduce them. “We're probably going to stock （贮备） more heavily than 10 or 20 years down the road when hopefully these fish will find each other and start doing the job on their own,” Sauer says.

Small devices have been placed in 7,000 of the fish so they can be observed after they are released into the waterways of Illinois. As it rains and floods, biologists expect some of the fish will follow the rivers into the states of Louisiana and Texas.

Reading Check

1. Why do people call the alligator gar a “living fossil”?

A. It can grow up to 2.7 meters.

B. Its fossil can be found on earth.

C. It can grow up to 136 kilograms.

D. It has existed for over 100 million years.

2. Why will biologists reintroduce the alligator gar to northern rivers?

A. To keep the species' balance.

B. To help people make more money.

C. To help to protect the environment.

D. To increase the number of the alligator gars.

3. According to Randy Sauer, why did alligator gars die out in northern rivers?

A. They ate almost anything.

B. They were very huge in size.

C. The rivers were polluted then.

D. They were caught by sport fishermen.

4. What can we learn from the underlined part in paragraph 4?

A. 10 or 20 years will be needed to find these fish.

B. It will be decades before these fish produce young.

C. There is a long way to go before the fish find each other.

D. These fish can find each other themselves along the waterways.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

He says the fish disappeared from the state's rivers in the 1990s, although they have continued to do well in southern states.

【翻译】_____________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】这是一个主从复合句，although they have continued to do well in southern states是although引导的让步状语从句，He says the fish disappeared from the state's rivers in the 1990s是主句，其中the fish disappeared from the state's rivers in the 1990s是动词says的宾语从句，省略了从属连词that。