RECOGNIZING AN EFFECTIVE SUMMARY    Directions: Choose the Appropriate Letter

question 126

Multiple Choice

RECOGNIZING AN EFFECTIVE SUMMARY    Directions: Choose the appropriate letter to identify the best summary of the original.
Original :  Around the world, there have been several mysterious incidents in which hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dying birds dropped from the sky.The birds were dead upon landing or died shortly afterward. According to ornithologists, who study bird behavior, it's often hard to tell exactly why these tragic events happen. There are any number of reasons, ranging from disease to fireworks.
In Canada, however, there is no mystery as to why large numbers of bald eagles are dropping from the sky in the Canadian province of British Columbia.The birds are starving to death. Too weak to fly, they plummet to the ground. If they don't die on impact, they still lack the strength to get up.With flying no longer an option, they are easy prey for predators.Normally, the starving eagles--which only recently started to make a comeback from near extinction--can rely on salmon as a major source of nourishment. Salmon in the region, however, have markedly diminished due to overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction.Although eagles once dined on the plentiful salmon that headed back up the rivers where they were born in order to spawn, the birds' chances of finding dinner in a salmon run * are rapidly decreasing.The eagles surviving without salmon in their diet are staying alive by scavenging for food left in Canadian landfills. Often, however, the birds are poisoned by eating rats and toxic scraps that make their way into landfills, a fact that has further diminished the bald eagles' numbers.The hope is that the eagles that manage to stay alive will be able to fatten up again when herring head for the rivers to give birth to the their young. But that hope may be overly optimistic, since herring have also begun to diminish from the same causes currently depleting salmon.
* The term refers to the instinctive behavior of salmon.They go back to where they were born in order to lay their eggs.
Summary

• A) For the Canadian bald eagles of British Columbia, salmon were once a diet staple. The birds could pluck their dinner out of the water as the salmon headed for the ocean in what is known as a salmon run. But salmon supplies are rapidly decreasing due to overfishing, polluted waters, and the destruction of their habitat.As a result the eagles are starving to death.
• B) The Canadian bald eagles of British Columbia are falling from the sky in huge numbers.They are falling because they have been weakened by starvation and don't have the strength to fly.The eagles used to rely on salmon for food, but salmon have dramatically decreased in number.The eagles that manage to stay alive, despite the reduced food supply, may revive once the herring runs begin.But no one knows for sure if the herring can save the birds since herring are also diminishing in number.
• C) Although the event is shocking and unusual, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of birds have been known to drop from the sky, either already dead or dying on impact. Usually these events are mysterious, so much so that even ornithologists can't explain them. In Canada, though, there is no mystery involved.Bald eagles are falling from the sky because they are starving and too weak to fly.       The birds used to make salmon a big part of their diet, but that is no longer possible.Salmon have diminished in numbers.They are the victims of pollution, habitat destruction, and overfishing. Because they can't rely on salmon anymore, the eagles have started joining the seagulls at land fills. However, the toxic chemicals from landfills are killing them faster than starvation.The eagles that are still alive may be able to make it if they can keep going until herring swim from the oceans into Canada's rivers, where they give birth to their young. But even that vaguely happy outcome is doubtful.Like the salmon, herring are also diminishing in numbers from the same three causes. What's particularly tragic about the eagles' demise is that they have just barely survived extinction and their numbers were just beginning to grow.The Canadian disaster will only further diminish an already endangered species.

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Definitions:

Assignable Causes

Specific reasons for variations in a process that can be identified and often corrected, unlike random causes that are inherent to the process.

Natural Causes

Reasons or factors that occur in nature and cause events or conditions without human intervention.