Trying to help injured, displaced or sick creatures can be heartbreaking; survival is never certain. However, when it works, it is simply beautiful.
I got a rescue call from a woman in Muttontown. She had found a young owl(猫头鹰) on the ground. When I
arrived, I saw a 2-to 3-week-old owl. It had already been placed in a carrier for safety.
I examined the chick(雏鸟) and it seemed fine. If I could locate the nest, I might have been able to put it back,
but no luck. My next work was to construct a nest and anchor it in a tree.
The homeowner was very helpful. A wire basket was found. I put some pine branches into the basket to make
this nest safe and comfortable. I placed the chick in the nest, and it quickly calmed down.
Now all that was needed were the parents, but they were absent. I gave the homeowner a recording of the
hunger screams of owl chicks. These advertise the presence of chicks to adults; they might also encourage our chick to start calling as well. I gave the owner as much information as possible and headed home to see what news the night might bring.
A nervous night to be sure, but sometimes the spirits of nature smile on us all! The homeowner called to say
that the parents had responded to the recordings. I drove over and saw the chick in the nest looking healthy and active. And it was accompanied in the nest by the greatest sight of all — LUNCH! The parents had done their duty and would probably continue to do so.
24. What is unavoidable in the author’s rescue work according to paragraph 1? A. Efforts made in vain. B. Getting injured in his work. C. Feeling uncertain about his future. D. Creatures forced out of their homes. 25. Why was the author called to Muttontown? A. To rescue a woman. B. To take care of a woman. C. To look at a baby owl. D. To cure a young owl.
26.What made the chick calm down? A. A new nest.
B. Some food.
C. A recording.
D. Its parents.
27.How would the author feel about the outcome of the event?
A. It’s unexpected. C. It’s humorous.
C
B. It’s beautiful. D. It’s discouraging.
Some of the world’s most famous musicians recently gathered in Paris and New Orleans to celebrate the first annual International Jazz Day. UNESCO( United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recently set April 30 as a day to raise awareness of jazz music, its significance, and its potential as a unifying(联合) voice across cultures.
Despite the celebrations, though, in the U.S. the jazz audience continues to shrink and grow older, and the music has failed to connect with younger generations.
It’s Jason Moran’s job to help change that. As the Kennedy Center’s artistic adviser for jazz, Moran hopes to widen the audience for jazz, make the music more accessible, and preserve its history and culture.
“Jazz seems like it’s not really a part of the American appetite,” Moran tells National Public Radio’s reporter Neal Conan. “What I’m hoping to accomplish is that my generation and younger start to reconsider and understand that jazz is not black and write anymore. It’s actually color, and it’s actually digital.”
Moran says one of the problems with jazz today is that the entertainment aspect of the music has been lost. “The music can’t be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same,” says Moran.
Last year, Moran worked on a project that arranged Fats Waller’s music for a dance party, “just to kind of put it back in the mind that Waller is dance music as much as it is concert music,” says Moran. “For me, it’s the recontextualization. In music, where does the emotion(情感) lie? Are we, as humans, gaining any insight(感悟) on how talk about ourselves and how something as abstract as a Charlie Parker record gets us into a dialogue about our emotions and our thoughts? Sometimes we lose sight that the music has a wider context,” says Moran, “so I want to continue those dialogues. Those are the things I want to foster.” 28. Why did UNESCO set April 30 as International Jazz Day? A. To remember the birth of jazz. B. To protect cultural diversity. C. To encourage people to study music. D. To recognize the value of jazz.
29. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 3 refer to?
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