考研人数逐年增加，竞争之激烈使得我们不得不加急复习的日程。众所周知，阅读理解占据了考研英语二100分试卷的一半分值，而考研英语阅读文章大多来自英美国家的主流报刊杂志，所以如果能在日常就多多阅读这些文章，对以后读懂文章做对题目来说会大有裨益。
学习步骤如下：
1.不看汉语译文自己看一遍短文做理解
2.看汉语译文比对自己理解的意思与之出入
3.强化记忆重点单词（以记忆其汉语意思为主）
文段一
Biologists estimate that as many as 2 million lesser prairie chickens---a kind of bird living on stretching grasslands—once lent red to the often gray landscape of the midwestern and southwestern United States. But just some 22,000 birds remain today, occupying about 16% of the species’ historic range.
短文翻译
据生物学家估算曾有两百万只小松鸡——一种生活在广阔草原上的鸟类——给美国中西部和西南部草原的灰色景观增添了一抹红色。但是时至今日大约只有 22000只小松鸡存活下来，仅占该物种历史数量的 16%。
重点单词
estimate [ˈestɪmət]
v.估价; 估算;
stretch [stretʃ]
v.拉长; 拽宽;
landscape [ˈlændskeɪp]
n.(陆上，尤指乡村的) 风景，景色
occupy [ˈɒkjupaɪ]
v.使用，占用
文段 II
The crash was a major reason the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)decided to formally list the bird as threatened. “The lesser prairie chicken is in a desperate situation,” said USFWS Director Daniel Ashe. Some environmentalists, however, were disappointed. They had pushed the agency to designate the bird as “endangered,” a status that gives federal officials greater regulatory power to crack down on threats. But Ashe and others argued that the “threatened” tag gave the federal government flexibility to try out new, potentially less confrontational conservations approaches. In particular, they called for forging closer collaborations with western state governments, which are often uneasy with federal action and with the private landowners who control an estimated 95% of the prairie chicken’s habitat.
短文翻译
这种锐减现象是美国鱼类和野生动物管理局（USFWS）决定正式将这只鸟列为受威胁鸟的一个主要原因。美国野生动物保护局局长丹尼尔·阿什说：“小草原鸡正处于绝望的境地。然而，一些环保人士对此感到失望。他们敦促该机构将这种鸟定为“濒危”鸟类，这一地位赋予联邦官员更大的监管权力，以打击威胁。但阿什和其他人认为，“威胁”标签给联邦政府灵活尝试新的，潜在的较少对抗的保护方法。特别是，他们呼吁与西方各州政府建立更紧密的合作关系，这些州政府往往对联邦政府的行动和控制着约95%草原鸡栖息地的私人土地所有者感到不安。
重点单词
range [reɪndʒ]
n.一系列; (变动或浮动的) 范围，界限
threatened = endangered
adj.濒危的
desperate [ˈdespərət]
adj.绝望的，歇斯底里的
designate [ˈdezɪɡneɪt]
v.命名; 指定; 选定
confrontational [ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃənl]
adj.对抗性的，挑起冲突的
conservation [ˌkɒnsəˈveɪʃn]
n.(对自然环境的) 保护; (官方对历史或艺术建筑的) 保护;
approach [əˈprəʊtʃ]
n.方式，方法
habitat [ˈhæbɪtæt]
n.(动植物的) 生活环境，栖息地;
