Las cigüeñas que dejaron de viajar (The storks that stopped travelling)
MCER B1249 palabras
Every autumn, for as long as anyone could remember, the storks left. They nested on the church towers of Spanish villages in spring, raised their young in summer and flew south to Africa before the cold arrived. Children were told that the storks would come back in March, and they always did.
Then the storks began to stay.
My aunt has been counting the nests in her town since 1998. She is not a scientist: she is a retired teacher with a notebook and binoculars. In her first year she counted eleven nests and no birds at all in December. Last December she counted forty-one nests and more than thirty birds.
The reason is not romantic. A few kilometres from the town there is a rubbish dump, and a rubbish dump has food in January. Flying to Africa is dangerous and expensive: a young stork can die of hunger, thirst or exhaustion on the way. A bird that finds enough food in winter has no reason to go.
My aunt is careful about what she says. She has data for one town, not for a country, and she knows the difference. But she does say one thing without hesitating: 'We taught the children that the storks always leave. Now we have to teach them that animals change their habits when we change the world around them.'
The dump closes in two years. Nobody knows what the storks will do then, and my aunt has already bought a new notebook.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- storkcigüeña
- nestnido
- to raise (young)criar, sacar adelante
- binocularsprismáticos
- rubbish dumpvertedero
- exhaustionagotamiento
- to hesitatedudar, titubear
- habitscostumbres, hábitos
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
What did the storks traditionally do in autumn?
They flew south to Africa — Anidaban en primavera, criaban en verano y volaban al sur antes del frío. Volvían en marzo.
The aunt has been counting the nests since ___.
1998 — Since 1998. No es científica: es una maestra jubilada con un cuaderno y unos prismáticos.
How did the December count change between her first year and last year?
From no birds to more than thirty — Cuidado con los números: 11 y 41 son NIDOS. Los pájaros en diciembre pasaron de ninguno a más de treinta.
According to the text, why do many storks no longer migrate?
Because they find food all year near the town — El texto lo dice sin adornos: hay un vertedero a pocos kilómetros y en enero tiene comida. Un pájaro que come en invierno no tiene motivo para irse.
The aunt says her numbers prove what is happening in the whole country.
False — Falso, y es lo que la hace de fiar: dice que tiene datos de UN pueblo, no de un país, y que sabe la diferencia.
Why has the aunt bought a new notebook?
Because the dump is closing and she wants to see what the storks do next — El texto no lo explica: pone las dos frases juntas. El vertedero cierra en dos años, nadie sabe qué harán las cigüeñas, y ella ya tiene cuaderno para contarlo.