Taipei, with a population of two point nine million, it is one of the most modernized
cities in the Asia.
From this urban capital, a short 30minute _______1______will bring you to the
backyard worthinness, the Yangminshang National Park.
_____2_______an area of eleven thousand, four hundred and forty five acres, and
consisting of several mountain pieces, Yangminshang was formed by volcano
activities ______3______two million years ago.
Here hot springs and steamband are surrounded by tranquil lakes and
____4______fields, making it a prime location for the growth of chestnut tiger’s
favorite food, the Uptorian plant.
Each year in May, tens of thousands of chestnut tiger butterfly mysteriously
congregate here,_______5_______ most of their time drinking nectar from flowering
Uptorian plant, as if readying themselves for a long distance journey.
By_____6______June, they suddenly disappear.
But why, and where do they go?
Doctor Chenchi Chen is one of Taiwan’s foremost butterfly experts.
He has been tracking the chestnut tigers’ movement in this national park for the
______7______eight years.
He discovers that the butterflies’ wings are all fresh and complete,
_____8______evidence of the wear and tear of long distance fly, which means that
these butterflies start their lives here, ______9______just completed their
metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to butterfly.
Many breeds are here at the south west ____10______of Tatun mountain and
Ynagmingsun national park.
At the altitude of seven hundred and fifty meters, this wind-shelter forest provides an
abundant supply of food for butterfly larva.
With such ideal breeding ground, why _____11_______that the chestnut tigers
disappear at the end of each June?
…..
Wasbrop wasn’t the only threat, carnival wasp like this Restbud also feeds on
butterfly larva.
…..
Wasp may be one reason why these butterflies leave Yangmishang each year.
But, Fukuda, the butterfly expert from Japan, has ______12______theory.
Because Taiwan’s summers are extremely hot, chestnut tigers can not adapt, so they
must fly to _____13_______places.
Lack of food sources also poses a problem, as the flowers they feed from are not
available in the _____14________of summer. So that is why the chestnut tigers will
leave Yangmingshan.
But that still leaves a big question ____15______“where do all the butterflies go?”
Etymologist like Taiwan’s expert, Dr. Chen, and his graduate student, named Sin-de
Lee, use the “Mark-Release-and Recapture” method to track the chestnut tigers’
movement.
They’ve been tracking butterflies for four years ____16________part of their field
research.
A number code tells where and when the butterfly was marked and will help scientist
trace the butterflies one they are recaptured.
For example, “NTU” means National Taiwan University, _____17_______some of
these scientists do their research.
This is currently one of the most successful methods of tracing butterfly movement in
Taiwan.
It was Lee’s marked butterfly, 1032CNTU, that made ______18_______to Japan in
the summer of 2000.
That year Lee marked ______19_______four thousand butterflies.
It is really difficult to catch this marked and released butterfly again in the vast court.
And since they are so small, it’s hard to observe them once they have flown a distance
of ten meters.
Besides, the chances of catching them are quite small since they can only live for a
couple of months.
Despite a lot, these scientists have already made amazing achievement.
____20__________month after the first discovery in 2000, another butterfly marked
145ENTU was found in Kyoto, Japan.
The distance, 1790 kilometers.
Incredibly, it seems the butterflies travel_______21________.
Thanks to the marked and released in Japan, the next winter SOA1181K, a butterfly
from Japan, was founded in Taiwan.
The distance, a remarkable 2010 kilometers.
All______22_________, a total of three butterflies was found in Japan, and two in
Taiwan, sparking debate on whether this is evidence for butterfly migration. Or could
it be something else?
How can butterflies achieve _______23______distances by simply flapping their
wings?
Perhaps they know what the birds know.
Some birds that breed in northern hemisphere tend to migrate to the
______24________part of the south.
Many rely on the air currents, so they don’t have to reserve _____25_______energy
on their long journeys.
If birds utilize air currents for long distance fly, perhaps the chestnut tigers are
capable of doing______26_________.
Dr. Chungdao Chou is professor of atmospheric science at National Taiwan
University.
Taiwan is located _______27_______the world’s biggest continent, the Asia mainland,
and the world’s biggest ocean, the Pacific ocean. This region is most frequently
affected by seasonal winds.
In the winter time, the high pressure cold front from Sybaria, formed by a
combination of utmost current that flow from the land to the ocean, and earth rotation
creates what’s ______28________the north eastern current, that steers right in the
direction of Taiwan in the winter.
In the summer the land is warm, and the air current from the sea flow toward the land,
combined with earth’s rotation, creates a south western current for Taiwan.
Beginning in May and _______29______through October, this large air mass will
pass through Taiwan from South China Sea to the east Asia Island Chain, all the way
to Japan.
The chestnut tigers leave Yangmingshan in June ______30______the current can
blow them straight to the ocean toward Japan.
The problem is butterflies don’t fly as fast as migratory birds, their bodies are not as
powerfully built, and they don’t live_____31________.
With just the help of the air currents and their fly muscles, how fast and how long can
they possibly fly?
Take 747 airplane for example.
At 180.8 tons in weight, 70.7 meters in length, and 64.4 meters in wing span, it takes
a ________32______an hour from Taipei Taiwan to Kyushu Japan, with speed of 900
kilometers an hour, in an altitude of ten thousand meters.
By comparison, the chestnut tiger butterfly marked 1032CNTU was found 1140
kilometers away in Japan, just thirteen days after it ______33________marked and
released in Taiwan.
______34______, we can determine that if wind direction is ideal, the butterfly
weighing under a gram, with ten centimeter of wing span, can glide in air current and
travel nearly one hundred kilometers per day.
But within these thirteen days, ______35______the chestnut tiger need to stop and
rest?
How long can they fly without food and water?
Chasing the butterfly over the ocean is extremely difficult.
We may never find out how they accomplish this kind of travel.
But the_____36______ that five butterflies make these journeys prove that such fees
are possible.
Maybe we can’t trace butterflies over the ocean. Perhaps we can still learn from
chestnut tiger’s close relative, found in Taiwan’s Valley of purple butterflies.
Taiwan is often called the kingdom of butterflies, and ______37______good reason.
Home to nearly four hundred species, it has one of the highest concentration of
butterfly species in the world.
1.drive
2. Covering
3. some
4. grass
5. spending
6. late
7. past
8.with no
9. having
10. foot
11. is it
12. another
13. cooler
14. heat
15. as to
16. as a
17. where
18. its way
19. nearly
20. Just one
21. both ways
22. in all
23. such great
24. warmer
25. as much
26. the same
27. between
28. known as
29. continuing
30. right when
31. as long
32. little over
33. was first
34. From this
35. won’t
36. fact
37. with