Question

       The survival of about one fifth of the world’s vertebrates — animals with a backbone — is considered threatened, according to new research published in the journal Science. That’s a large fraction of Earth’s animals, but this new study held some good news too. Conservation efforts by humans have slowed the loss of many species of amphibians (两栖动物), birds, and mammals. Losses in these groups would have been about 20 percent greater had it not been for recent action of protection.

       Among the animal-conservation success stories is one about birds called Mauritius kestrels (红隼). In the 1970s, just four of these birds were left in the world. Through a special breeding program, scientists were able to increase their number to about 1,000 and release them into the wild.

       Humpback whales (座头鲸) have benefited greatly from recent conservation efforts as well. They were once on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) list of species threatened with extinction. But the species is now in less danger, thanks to laws that ban whale hunting. The IUCN even moved the humpback into “species of the least concern”.

       Over the past 100 years, the white rhino (犀牛) of South Africa has also made an amazing recovery because of habitat protection. The breed multiplied from just 50 animals to about 17.000. Their home has been turned into a protected area, safe from poachers (people who hunt animals illegally) and other threats.

      Stuart Butchart, one of the authors of the new study in Science, is encouraged by the positive effects of conservation. But he says, “Biodiversity (生物多样化) of species is in a frightening state. Its situation is getting worse. But our results show we can turn the situation around.”

       New conservation policies hopefully are on the way. One hundred ninety-three countries recently met in Japan at the Convention on Biological Diversity to set goals for preserving threatened wildlife and their habitats Only 1 percent of ocean and 12 percent of land areas were protected under earlier agreements. Two new goals set by the group are to designate (指定) 10 percent of the world’s ocean and 17 percent of land environments as protected areas to help increase endangered-animal population.

66. What can we learn from the passage?

A、Though there was a special breeding program, the number of Mauritius kestrels didn’t increase.

B、Conservation efforts should not only be made by human beings.

C、Humpback whales are not no the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list now.

D、Because many groups are working to protect wildlife, natural habitats are in good condition.

67. Which of the following is not mentioned in people’s conservation efforts?

       A、Habitat protection                                B、Breeding programs

C、Laws of banning whale hunting             D、Creation of studying organizations

68. The author uses some successful animal-conservation examples to show that _______.

       A、conservation works                             B、man conquers nature

C、animals are more important                   D、law is fair

69. From the last paragraph we can infer that _______.

       A、much more must be done to prevent species from becoming extinct

B、many animals should be removed from the endangered list

C、humans seem to be at a loss in face of the protection of biodiversity

D、people’s concern of species extinction is completely unnecessary

70. The purpose of the new goals set by the Convention on Biological Diversity is to ______.

       A、protect ocean habitats                         

B、build land environments

C、increase the population of endangered animals

D、control animal population

Answer 1

66.C推理判断题。根据第三段第二句和最后一句可知座头鲸曾经在该联盟的名单上，但现在已被去掉。

67.D细节理解题。第二、三、四段分别列出了三种受益于人类保护的动物，毛里求斯红隼数量的增加是由于一项特殊的繁殖计划，座头鲸是受益于禁止捕鲸的法律，白犀牛数量的增加是受益于人类对它的栖息地的保护。而D项没有提到。

68.A推理判断题。作者在文中引用毛里求斯红隼、座头鲸和南非白犀牛三个成功的例子，目的是表明人类的保护措施起了作用。

69.A推理判断题。根据此段的主题句“New conservation policies hopefully are on the way。”及下文《生物多样性公约》多设定的目标可知：对于人类来说防止物种灭绝任重道远。

70.C细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句“to help increase endangered-animal population”可知，设立两项新目标的目的是增加濒危动物的种群。

  【解题导语】在过去的十年间，英国的垃圾回收增加了三倍多。英国政府正在重新评估现行的垃圾策略，以便使垃圾回收更方便。