When man and nature try to co-exist, man usually wins out. But that wasn’t the case in a small town in southern India when a native Robin recently chose to build her nest in an extremely inconvenient location.

The village of Potthakudi contains only 120 homes and has a total of 35 streetlights. Unfortunately ,the misguided mama bird had decided to set up housekeeping in the town’s main lighting switchboard (配电板).

The nest and its inhabitants were first discovered by Karuppu Raja, the man tasked with turning on the streetlights each evening. A lifelong bird lover, Raja posted his find to local social media to warn the citizens of his discovery and ask for their cooperation in taking a hands-off approach to the unexpected guests.

“Switching off the lights is the only solution because the bird will fly once it realizes there is a human touch or contact near its nest,” Raja wrote on WhatsApp. “We should save the bird and its babies at any cost.”

While some initially voiced concerns that lack of nighttime illumination (照明) would be inconvenient ,Raja was eventually able to persuade his fellow villagers that any sacrifice would be worth it in the long run. “I explained that so many birds have died out and we should not let Indian Robin go the same way,” Raja recalled.

So, rather than ousted the bird, the villagers agreed to observe a blackout (断电) until the baby birds were old enough to fly away. The town spent a total of 45 days and nights in the dark, even disconnecting the switchboard from the power source to keep the mom and her chicks safe.

After mama Robin and her babies finally took off, the blackout was lifted, but the village’s extraordinary protection efforts for the sake of one lone bird and her babies didn’t go unnoticed.

A bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush, but a bird in the switchboard has earned Potthakudi a reputation for kindness that’s likely to light up smiles for quite some time to come.

【小题1】What can we know about Karuppu Raja?

A．He does his job carelessly.	B．He loves birds all the time.
C．He argues with his villagers.	D．He is the leader of the village.

【小题2】Which can replace the underlined word “ousted” in Paragraph 6?

A．Protected.

B．Set free.

C．Killed.

D．Drove away.

【小题3】What is the text mainly talking about?

A．The reasons why many birds have died out.

B．The kind villagers in Potthakudi.

C．What villagers do to help the birds.

D．How to protect Indian Robins.

【小题4】What can we infer from the text?

A．Man will conquer nature.

B．Man and animals can live in harmony.

C．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

D．A bird is known by its note and a man by his talk.