Resilient oasis in the desert

河南 劉同功

新疆塔克拉瑪干沙漠中部北緣橫著一道長84 千米的人工生態林，新疆生產建設兵團“90后”護林員夏萬林便是這片生態林的守護者之一。他用腳步丈量林地，用心靈守護林帶，一干就是10個年頭。

主題語境：環保人物 篇幅：341詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1 A 100 to 400-meter-wide, 84-kilometerlong artificial eco-forest in the northern Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has the proud name of“359”eco-forest.

2 Xia Wanlin, a post-90s forest ranger (護林員) from the 11th regiment (兵團) at the first Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps,has been stationed here for 10 years since he was 17.“When I first started working, the young trees had just been planted here.We had to replant young trees for three or four years in a row to achieve the scale we have today,”Xia said.“Now, this place has become a home for various sand-loving plants such as elm,mulberries,white wax trees,flower sticks,and bitter beans,”he added.

3 Xia manages over 10,000 acres of forest land,which is extremely harsh and remote.For the past 10 years, there has been almost no place where his footsteps could not reach,whether they were the bumpy dirt roads on the edge of the desert or the overgrown weeds deep in the forest.“We have to patrol about 14 kilometers every day, both driving and walking, mainly to check for any forest fires, illegal logging, and hunting,”Xia said.“Sometimes we encounter some problems.Just the other day, my car got stuck in the sandy terrain and almost couldn't get out.”

4 In 2022, Xia patrolled over 5,000 kilometers in total.Thanks to his and his colleagues'efforts, the ecological environment of the forest has been improving, attracting many wild animals such as Tibetan antelopes,wild rabbits,pheasants,wild boars,and hedgehogs to settle in the protected area.“Better protecting every blade of grass and tree here and making this protective forest grow better is our contributions to our hometown and the country,”he said.

5 Up to now, the 11th regiment has planted a total of 354 kilometers of forests, covering an area of 6,500 acres, and planted 324,800 trees.In 2022, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps completed the afforestation of 441,500 acres, grassland improvement of 484,000 acres,and the control of desertified land of 623,800 acres.

Reading Check

Inference1.How does Xia feel about the present condition of“359”eco-forest?

A.Relieved.B.Worried.

C.Uncertain.D.Disappointed.

Detail2.What presents the biggest challenge to Xia in his work?

A.Wild animals.

B.Road conditions.

C.Extreme temperatures.

D.Water resources.

Gist3.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A.Xia's expectations of life.

B.Xia's contributions to the forest.

C.The environment of the desert.

D.The endangered species in the forest.

Inference 4.Which words can best describe Xia?

A.Loving and generous.

B.Lucky and optimistic.

C.Devoted and ambitious.

D.Helpful and open-minded.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentence in the text

For the past 10 years, there has been almost no place where his footsteps could not reach, whether they were the bumpy dirt roads on the edge of the desert or the overgrown weeds deep in the forest.在過去的10 年里，幾乎沒有一個地方是他的腳步無法到達的，無論是沙漠邊緣崎嶇不平的土路，還是雜草叢生的森林深處。

【點石成金】本句是一個復合句。主句是there be 句型，where 引導的是限制性定語從句；whether...or引導的是一個讓步狀語從句。

Ⅱ.Text-centered chunks

in a row 連續地；一個接一個地；接連不斷地

the other day 前幾天；（不久前的）某一天

get stuck in 陷入

in total 全部；總共

thanks to 由于；多虧

settle in 在……定居