Mike Wallace, a wildlife specialist at the San Diego Zoo, has suggested that some of the condors problems represent natural behavior that helps them survive as carrion eaters. The real key to successf
Mike Wallace, a wildlife specialist at the San Diego Zoo, has suggested that some of the condors' problems represent natural behavior that helps them survive as carrion eaters. The real key to successful condor reintroduction, he believes, lies in properly socializing young condors as members of a group that follow and learn from older, preferably adult birds. That, he argues, was missing from earlier condor releases to the wild. Typically, condors hatched in the spring were released to the wild that autumn or winter, when they were still less than a year old. Now, condor chicks at several zoos are raised in cave-like nest boxes. The chicks can see older condors in a large flight pen outside their box but cannot interact with them until they are about five months old. Then the chicks are gradually released into the pen and the company of the social group. The group includes adult and older juvenile condors that act as mentors for younger ones.
16.
According to the passage, the most impressive feature of the California condor is _______.
(A) its resemblance to Andean condor
(B) its ability to glide
(C) its colorful plumage
(D) its blunt talons
17.
In the first stage of the conservation program _______.
(A) eggs were removed from the nests of wild condors
(B) female condors were captured and studied carefully
(C) scientists and zookeepers tried to create genetic diversity
(D) condors were induced to lay more than one egg
18.
Which of the following is true about the attempts to save these birds from extinction?
(A) There is disagreement about the methods employed.
(B) The majority of condors released into the wild became ill.
(C) Attempts to breed condors in captivity have failed,
(D) Condors reintroduced into the wild are unable to hunt.
19.
Some chicks hatched by re-released condors died because _______.
(A) they fell into pools of water
(B) they fell prey to other animals
(C) they had odd drinking habits
(D) they swallowed dangerous objects
20.
According to Mike Wallace, there will be fewer problems _______.
(A) if young condors are taught not to eat so much carrion
(B) if the chicks are kept in cave-like nest boxes for five months
(C) if young condors can learn appropriate behavior from older birds
(D) if the chicks can have older birds for company when they hatch
Questions 21-25
We are not who we think we are.
The American self-image is suffused with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable-a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth.
The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research initiative led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: "The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. Only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top.
That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom fifth of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top fifth. Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest quintile are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder.
It is noted that even in Britain-a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the three studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents.
One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans.
The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes.
The median income of the families in the sample group was $55,600 in the late 1960s; their children's median family income was measured at $71,900. However, this rising tide has not lifted all boats equally. The rich have seen far greater income gains than have the poor.
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