Back from Extinction
In 2004, two biologists were canoeing in a remote part of Arkansas. They were searching for a bird that local people said was there. As the men floated along, they listened for a bird call neither had ever heard before. Then a crow-sized woodpecker flew across the river and got lost among the tall trees. It had a red crest on its head, a pale beak, and white bars on its black wings. The men stared, and then they looked at one another. Then they burst into tears. They had proved something amazing: Ivory-billed woodpeckers still graced the planet. But they were supposedly extinct. The last positive sighting of an ivory-bill had been 60 years earlier, in 1944.
Victims of Disappearing Habitat
Ivory-bills are America’s largest woodpeckers. According to experts, they need large areas of old-growth forest, including many big, dead trees, in order to survive. Beneath the bark of dead and dying trees they find beetle larvae, which is their main source of food. As the old forests were logged, the birds gradually disappeared. The last ivory-bills seen lived in northeast Louisiana. They survived there because the area had never been logged. In the 1940s, the timber company that owned the area where the ivory-bills lived “harvested” the forest, and the birds seemingly disappeared forever. But they weren’t gone for good. In large tracts of forest along rivers in southeastern Arkansas, there are forested wetlands that house centuries-old cypress trees, giant tupelo and sweet gum trees—and ivory-billed woodpeckers. At first, scientists kept the discovery secret. They were afraid the news of its rediscovery would cause a stampede into the area, which they wanted to avoid until they could be sure there was a healthy population of the birds. The people who live near the ivory-bills, on the other hand, could have knocked the hats off the scientists. The ivory-bills are a financial bonanza. Tourists are flocking to the area—exactly what the scientists feared. Local people couldn’t be happier that the scientists’ fears were realized.
Questions Remain
There are still unanswered questions about ivory-bills:
How far does each bird move around?
How much dead wood do they need to sustain their population?
Where do they nest?
Until biologists know the answers, the future of these beautiful birds will be uncertain.
Based on reading only the titles and headings, what would you expect to learn from the article?
A. the environmental factors affecting an animal population.
B. how scientists have saved an animal population.
C. how an animal population has overcome the challenges of its habitat.
D. the ideal habitat in which an animal population can thrive.
D
What fact can be discovered by only previewing the article?
A. beetle larvae is the main source of food for ivory-billed woodpeckers.
B. ivory-billed woodpeckers have red crests on their heads.
C. ivory-billed woodpeckers were officially rediscovered in 2004.
D. wetlands in Arkansas have cypress trees and sweet gum trees.
1. I agree.
2. ??
I have no idea for 2, but I think it is either A or B.
I think it's the fact stated in the first paragraph.
So it's B?
I prefer c.
Okay. I have another question about this article.
How would you describe the tone of the last section of the article?
A. optimistic
B. cautionary
C. regretful
D. elated
B