The arrival of a swallow cannot indicate spring, but when a flock of geese break through the mist of the March warm current, spring has arrived.
If a bishop's finch sings about spring to the warm current, but finds that it has made a mistake, it can correct its mistake and continue to maintain its winter silence; if a chipmunk wants to If you are basking in the sun and encounter a blizzard, you can go back to sleep; but a goose that migrates regularly has made a bet to fly 200 miles in the dark. Once it sets off, it will not be so easy to get back.
The geese that announce the arrival of the new season to our farm know many things, including Wisconsin ① [Wisconsin] The name of a state in the United States, located in the center of the United States. regulations. The flocks of birds flying south in November flew over our heads arrogantly, almost silently even when they found their favorite beaches and swamps. The crow is usually thought of as flying straight, but its flight is curved compared to that of the wild goose, which flies steadfastly 200 miles south to the nearest big lake. When the geese arrived at their destination, they sometimes loitered on the wide water surface, and sometimes ran to the newly harvested cornfield to pick up corn kernels. The geese know that from dawn to dusk there are shotguns aimed at them in every marsh and pond.
The wild geese in March are different. While they can be under fire for much of the winter, now is a truce. They twist and turn along the curves of the river, through hunting spots and islets where shotguns are no longer available, whispering to each beach like a long-lost friend. They zigzagged low over the swamps and meadows, saying hello to every newly melted puddle and pond. After several tentative hovers over our swamp, their white tails pointed toward the hills in the distance, and finally they slowly flapped their black wings and glided down quietly toward the pond. As soon as it touches the water, our newly arrived guests will scream, as if their splashes can shake off the fragile cattails. Cattails are perennial herbaceous plants, also known as cattails and cattails, which are the raw materials for making artificial cotton and paper. . Winter on my body. Our wild geese are back.
Once the first group of geese arrived, they shouted an invitation to each group of migrating geese. Within a few days, they could be seen everywhere in the swamp. On our farm, the abundance of spring can be measured by two numbers: the pines planted and the geese stopping. On April 11, 1946, we recorded 642 wild geese.
As in the fall, our spring geese make a trip to the cornfield every day, but never in secret. From morning to night, they flew noisily in groups to the harvested cornfields. There was a loud and interesting debate before each departure, and an even louder one before each return. The returning flock of geese no longer circled tentatively over the swamp, but swayed down from the sky like withered maple leaves and stretched out their feet towards the cheering birds below. The whispers that followed were discussing the value of food. The corn kernels they eat now have been covered with thick snow all winter, so they are not affected by the crows and cottontail rabbits who search for corn in the snow. ① [Cottontail rabbit] A kind of wild rabbit in North America with a gentle temperament . , voles and ring-necked pheasants (ring-necked pheasants), also known as pheasants and pheasants, are mainly distributed in Asia and are native to my country. In the early 19th century, they were introduced from Europe and the United States, and their numbers increased dramatically, becoming the main local hunting resource. discovered.
Through observation of the daily routine of spring goose gatherings, people noticed that all solitary geese have a kind of sexual nature: they fly and chirp frequently, and their voices are melancholy, so people conclude that Conclusion: These lonely geese are sadly single.
My students and I noticed the numbers that made up each team of geese. Six years later, an unexpected ray of hope appeared in the explanation of Lone Goose. From the numerical analysis, it was found that a team of six or multiples of six geese is much more common than one that occasionally appears. In other words, the wild geese are families, or an aggregation of families, and those lone wild geese roughly fit the imagination we proposed earlier. They are survivors who have lost their loved ones. Monotonous and boring numbers can further arouse the sentimentality of bird lovers.
On April nights, when it is warm enough to stay outside, we love to listen to the calls of the geese as they gather in the marsh. There were long stretches of silence, and all one heard was the flapping of a snipe's wings, the distant hoot of an owl, or the sniff of an amorous American semi-snipe. A gurgling sound. Then, suddenly, there was the shrill cry of the geese, with a rapid, confused echo. There was the flapping of wings on the water, the sound of webbed paddles, and the cries of heated debate among spectators. Then, a deep voice spoke last, and the noise gradually became lower, and only some vague and sparse conversations could be heard.
When the Pulsatilla flowers bloom, our gatherings of wild geese will gradually decrease. Come May, our marsh becomes a grassy place again, enlivened by red-winged blackbirds and black-faced frogs.
At the Cairo Conference in 1943, people discovered that alliances between countries were unpredictable.
However, this idea of ??union among wild geese has been around for a long time. Every March, they make bets with their lives to realize this basic belief.
Since the Pleistocene ① [Pleistocene] The early part of the Quaternary Period, from 1.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago. Since then, every March, from the China Sea to Siberia, from the Euphrates River to the Volga River, from the Nile River to Murmansk, from Lincolnshire to the Spitsbergen Islands, the geese have blown the horn of unity.
Because of this international migration of wild geese, Illinois corn kernels are able to pass through the clouds and be carried to the Arctic tundra. What the continent receives in this annual migration is a wholesome and wild poetry that falls from the March sky.
Discuss and practice
After reading this article, refer to the following materials and talk about what the author described about the wild geese, and what "lost things" the author found in the wild geese.
The author said in the preface of "Sand Country Almanac": "What is described here is what our family saw on the weekend in that paradise far away from excessive modernization - the 'wooden house' and do. On this farm of sand, first drained and then abandoned by our increasingly arrogant and perfect society, we try to rebuild with shovels and axes what we are losing elsewhere. Those things. It is here that we explore and discover the essence that God has given us.”
2 Carefully understand the following sentences and talk about the thoughts and feelings expressed in these sentences.
1? The arrival of a swallow cannot mean spring, but when a group of geese break through the mist of the March warm current, spring has arrived.
2? As soon as they hit the water, our newly arrived guests screamed, and the splash they made made the fragile cattails shake off the winter.
3. In this annual migration, what the entire continent receives is a wholesome and wild poem shed from the March sky.
Read and write
Silent, spying, hunting, scruples, withered, gliding, arrogant
Speaking depends on the person you are talking to
Students say it every day When speaking, I wonder if you have noticed this problem: speaking is always two-way. Whether you are giving a speech in a public place or talking casually with others, in addition to yourself (the speaker) who is speaking, there is also the person you are speaking to (the speaker). obedient person). For this reason, the speaker cannot just say whatever he wants, but must look at the object and speak different words based on the different characteristics of the object, thereby creating a harmonious and harmonious atmosphere and achieving the purpose of speaking.
Remind students to be frank and cordial when speaking to children or peers; to respect the elderly or your teachers, making people feel that you are an educated and polite junior. .
To understand the person you are speaking to, you must first understand the person. You are very familiar with your family, relatives and friends, and you will naturally notice different characteristics when speaking. It's not so easy for people you meet for the first time. Gender and age are easy to see, but identity, occupation, cultural accomplishment, etc. must be understood through conversation. Therefore, when meeting strangers, don't rush to say anything, but listen to what the other person has to say first. If the other person is polite, you should also be elegant, kind, and humble; if the other person speaks straightforwardly and won't beat around the bush, you should also be frank and realistic, and say whatever comes to your mind; if the other person is depressed, doesn't like to talk, and doesn't want to listen, You should say less or not at all. In short, you should say appropriate and polite words based on understanding the target.