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【阅读理解】Reading: The Roller of Sycamore Ridge
In June 2019, Marcus Whitfield, a 14-year-old boy with a sharp eye for details, was helping his mother, Dr. Elena Whitfield, check tree hollows on Sycamore Ridge in southern Ohio.
Elena, a vertebrate ecologist, had studied the 3,200-hectare ridge for eleven years.
The ridge was home to 47 breeding pairs of a small mammal called the roller, which depended on old-growth trees.
Elena had recorded a sharp decline: from 1,400 rollers in 2008 to only 220 by 2018.
A timber company that owned the land had started clear-cutting, leaving only small patches of forest.
"This isn't just about one species," Elena said. "It's about what happens when we divide a forest into slices too small to sustain anything."
Marcus pulled his arm out of a hollow. In his hand was a young roller, barely 80 grams, its fur damp. "Mom," he said. "This one's alive."
In July, Elena sent a report to the state environmental agency, stressing that the ridge's ability to recover had fallen below a critical level.
The agency replied with a letter focusing on economic concerns: the timber company employed 280 people in a county with 9.1 percent unemployment.
Closing the operation would cut off those workers from their only income.
Elena understood the problem. She had grown up in a similar town 60 miles north, where her father worked in a paper mill until it closed in 1996.
But she also knew the ridge was a remnant of an ecosystem that once covered 40 percent of the continent.
"We can't just let it go extinct," she told the county board. "We have to find another way."
The board gave her six months to propose an alternative. She had no funding, no staff, and no clear plan—only 14 volunteers, a borrowed truck, and a growing sense of urgency.
In September 2019, a local landowner named Harold Pines, a 67-year-old retired farmer with a sharp business sense, approached her after a town meeting.
Harold owned 180 acres next to the ridge. He had been leasing it to the timber company for $12,000 a year.
"I've been thinking," he said. "What if we turn this into something else?" He proposed a wildlife corridor and a small eco-tourism site.
Elena was doubtful. She had seen too many conservation projects fail because they relied on goodwill rather than commerce.
But Harold was persuasive. He had already secured a $45,000 grant from a regional trust.
"I'm not a regent of the forest," he said, laughing. "I'm just a guy who wants his grandchildren to see a roller."
By January 2020, they had planted 8,000 native saplings. The work was hard, and the weather was hostile. But the saplings survived.
The roller population, however, continued to fall. By June 2020, only 160 remained.
"We're not out of the woods," Elena said. "But we're not done fighting."
Then came the winter of 2021. A sudden ice storm toppled 3,000 trees across the ridge, including 40 percent of the remaining old-growth hollows.
The roller population crashed to 52. Elena's volunteers, now numbering 31, were devastated.
Harold's eco-tourism project, which had attracted 1,200 visitors in its first year, was closed for repairs.
The timber company offered to buy Harold's land for $250,000. He refused. "I've seen what happens when you sell," he said. "The forest becomes a parking lot."
Elena, meanwhile, had begun a captive breeding program. She converted an old barn into a climate-controlled facility.
The first litter, born in March 2022, consisted of seven pups. Four survived. It was a small victory, but it was something.
"We're not trying to reclaim the past," she told a reporter. "We're trying to create a future where the roller isn't just a memory."
The reporter asked if she was optimistic. Elena paused. "I'm realistic," she said. "That's different."
By 2024, the ridge had become a patchwork of hope and loss. The breeding program had produced 38 rollers, 22 of which had been released into the wild. The population hovered at 89.
Harold's eco-tourism site had reopened, attracting 3,400 visitors and generating $78,000 in revenue.
Questions
1. What was the roller population on Sycamore Ridge in 2008?
A. 1,400 B. 160 C. 220 D. 52
2. Why did the state environmental agency focus on economic concerns in its reply to Elena?
A. Because the timber company was owned by the government. B. Because Elena had asked for financial support for her volunteers. C. Because the county had a high unemployment rate and the company employed many people. D. Because Harold Pines had proposed an eco-tourism project.
3. What does the word "remnant" in paragraph 12 most likely mean?
A. A large and growing area. B. A small remaining part. C. A protected region. D. A type of ecosystem.
4. What can be inferred about Elena's attitude from her statement "I'm realistic"?
A. She thinks the eco-tourism project is more important than the breeding program. B. She is confident that the roller will fully recover. C. She accepts the challenges but remains determined to continue efforts. D. She believes the situation is hopeless.
5. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. How to Run a Successful Eco-Tourism Business B. The Struggle to Save the Roller on Sycamore Ridge C. The Economic Benefits of Clear-Cutting D. A Young Boy's Discovery of a Rare Species