The squirrel

黄馥

一只松鼠每隔一年都会在核桃收获的季节将采集起来过冬的核桃储藏在比尔的卡车引擎盖里。

题材：动物 体裁：记叙文 文章词数：282 建议用时：6分钟

It seems a red squirrel has been causing some trouble for Bill Fischer of Fargo， North Dakota.

The salesman returned from a four?day trip in early September and opened the hood （引擎盖） of his truck， only to find lots of walnuts （核桃） stored inside.

Fischer knew who did that. Since 2013， the red squirrel has been hiding walnuts in his truck every two years when his neighbor's tree produces walnuts. Fischer said last year's walnut collection was the most the squirrel had ever filled in the hood of his truck.

Every walnut season， Fischer had to empty the hood of his truck and gave the walnuts away. “The squirrel will sit in the tree and watch me clean up the nuts almost like， ‘That's mine， friend， as it's watching me clean up his winter storage，” Fischer said.

Fischer also said the squirrel overlooked other cars. “There are other cars very close to that tree， and it's always my truck，” he said. “I've even parked purposely out on the street—as far away as I can from the walnut tree—but it still finds my truck and hides them there.”

“It's very possible that this funny squirrel considers Bill Fischer's truck to be part of its home，” Aliperti said， who led a study that found that ground squirrels' personali-ties are tied to risk?taking. Aliperti added that the hood of a truck is a perfect hiding place to a squirrel because it's concealed and dry. Since the squirrel has taken over Fischer's truck again and again， while Bill has thrown the walnuts away year by year， Aliperti laughed and said this one might be very forgetful.

ReadingCheck

1. What trouble did the squirrel cause for Bill Fischer？

A. Storing food in his truck. B. Building a home in his truck.

C. Opening walnuts in his truck. D. Breaking the hood of his truck.

2. How were the walnuts dealt with by Fischer？

A. They were returned to the squirrel.

B. They were hidden in another place.

C. They were collected for the winter.

D. They were cleaned up from the hood.

3. According to Aliperti， why does the squirrel hide walnuts in Bill's truck？

A. The truck is red， clean and empty.

B. The truck is the closest to the tree.

C. The truck is considered as its home.

D. The truck is convenient for transporting walnuts.

4. What does the underlined word “concealed” in the last paragraph mean？

A. Cool. B. Quiet. C. Large. D. Secret.

LanguageStudy

Difficult sentence

“It's very possible that this funny squirrel considers Bill Fischer's truck to be part of its home，” Aliperti said， who led a study that found that ground squirrels' personalities are tied to risk?taking. 阿莉帕蒂说：“很有可能这只滑稽的松鼠把比尔·费希尔的卡车当成它家的一部分了。”她最近的一项研究发现囊地鼠具有冒险的个性。

【点石成金】这是一个主从复合句。who led a study that found that ground squirrels' personalities are tied to risk?taking是一个由who引导的非限制性定语从句，先行词是Aliperti。DB4D7D74-B74B-4B0D-8A0F-A3C8037FCAFF