Question

The poaching，or illegal killing，of rhinos(犀牛) in South Africa is growing worse each year．The government recently reported that a record number of rhinos were poached in 2014，a year which had more rhino killings in South Africa than ever before．

The World Wildlife Fund，or WWF，says about 20，000 rhinos live in South Africa．That is more than 80 percent of the rhinos in the world．Edna Molewa，South Africa’s environmental issues minister，says，“During 2014，we are sad to say this，1，215 rhinos were killed．This is a rise in the number of poached rhinos from 1004 in 2013 and indeed very worrying．”

The animals are hunted for their horns(犀牛角)．Many people in Asia believe the horn has curing power，which drives poachers，at all costs，mad for more horns．But there is no scientific evidence for this belief．The horn is made of keratin．That is the same thing as human hair， fingernails and toenails．

Ms．Mo1ewa said 386 suspected poachers were arrested last year，an increase from the year before．But rhino protection workers say poachers often go unpunished after arrest．South Africa’s legal system is ineffective．Ms．Molewa said more needs to be done and South Africa is taking strong measures to protect rhinos．The efforts include moving some of the animals to secret places in neighboring countries．“Now approximately 100 rhinos have been moved to neighboring states in the SADC region during 2014 and 200 more rhinos will be moved this year”Molewa said．

Jo Shaw，the rhino program manager at the WWF，said，“we’re talking about a loss of a hundred rhinos a month．Or more than three a day．We really need to see effective action not just at a national level but internationally．”She says officials should find the criminal groups responsible for the poaching and punish them．Government officials are to meet in Botswana in March at the Inter-governmental Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade．

1.What do we know about rhinos?

A．Half of the rhinos live in South Africa．

B．Less than 1，000 rhinos were killed in 2013．

C．The killing reached the highest point in 2014．

D．There are only 20，000 rhinos left in the world．

2.What is the main reason for people to hunt rhinos?

A．To get more keratin．

B．To protect the farmland．

C．To use them for decoration．

D．To make money from horns．

3.Jo Shaw thinks that_________．

A．many criminal groups are well organized

B．new laws are needed to punish the killers

C．rhino protection needs international cooperation

D．conferences about protecting rhinos are to be held every year

4.What can we infer from the text?

A．Rhino protection has a long way to go．

B．No one would like to buy horns in the future．

C．The illegal killing of rhinos will soon disappear．

D．Rhinos living in South Africa will move to other countries．

Answer 1