坠落的小鹰

袁泉

主题语境：人与自然 篇幅：358词建议用时：7分钟

Before going to bed on a Friday night，Nicole Desnoyers checked up on a family ofthree baby eagles through a camera located onSan Clemente Island. When she checkedagain on Saturday morning， one of them wasmissing. Nicole， a project manager for the Institutefor Wildlife Studies， guessed that the baby bird must have fallen out of the nest. Sheknew she needed to investigate in person and make sure the chick was alright.

However， she also knew it wouldnt be an easy trip. Not only would she have to waituntil Monday for transportation， but shed have to hike for an hour to reach the rockyspot where the baby eagle would have fallen. Then， there were time limitations due to theSan Clemente Shore Bombardment Area （SHOBA）， an area of the island used for navytarget practice.

Thankfully， Nicole was able to access the tricky location with a rescue team. It didnttake them long to find the fallen baby eagle， who was stranded on one of the rocks. Not onlywas he alive， but he also seemed to be unharmed and well?nourished. In fact， he still hadsome leftover fish in his claws， according to a post from the Institute for Wildlife Studies.

“ I thought，‘ Oh， is this chick going to be fine？” Nicole recalled. Looking up， Nicolesaw the chicks mom watching over him. Thats when she realized that the baby bird hadntbeen alone. She and her team believed that the little guys parents had been keeping himsafe and fed the entire time！ Since they were unable to reach him on their rocky perch， theylikely dropped food down to him from above.

When Nicole finally returned the chick to his nest， his parents were overjoyed. Sheknew this because she caught their reaction on camera！ Looking over her photos from therescue， she noticed shed snapped a picture of one of the babys parents flying down togreet him.“ You can actually see one of the adults coming in， in the background，” Nicolesaid.“ Like， immediately，‘ Oh my goodness， I have three chicks in my nest again.”

ReadingCheck

1. What made it difficult for Nicole to reach the fallen baby eagle？

A. The lack of transportation. B. The dangerous rocky spot.

C. The baby eagles hiding. D. Walking for many hours.

2. How was the fallen baby eagle when he was found？

A. Injured and weak. B. Hungry and scared.

C. Unharmed and well?fed. D. Lost and disoriented.

3. How did the parents of the fallen baby eagle react when he was

returned？

A. They ignored him. B. They attacked Nicole.

C. They flew away. D. They were overjoyed.

4. Which of the following can best describe Nicole？

A. Ambitious. B. Humorous.

C. Responsible. D. Sensitive.

LanguageStudy

Difficult sentence in the text

Not only would she have to wait until Monday for transportation， but shed have to hikefor an hour to reach the rocky spot where the baby eagle would have fallen. 她不仅要等到周一才有交通工具，而且还要徒步一个小时才能到达小鹰可能坠落的岩石点。

【点石成金】本句中，Not only位于句首，句子用了部分倒装；where引导的是一个定语从句，先行词是the rocky spot。