Logging has been the biggest threat to the endangered animal which takes bamboo as its main food.China carried out a logging ban in pandainhabited areas in 1998, in an attempt to help save the animal. But panda poaching remains a threat, even if it is rare. The traps5 set to catch other animals such as deer and bears have also accidentally killed pandas, Yu said.
China has set up two breeding centers to reintroduce6 captive pandas into wild. But, so far, the 200 pandas sent to the wild have either fallen sick or been injured, forcing them back.
【生词注释】
1. endangeredadj. 濒危的
2. elusiveadj. 难以捉摸的; 难以找到的
3. approximatevt.& vi. 近似, 接近
4. estimatevt.& vi. 估计；判断
5. trapn. （捕捉动物的）夹子, 罗网, 陷阱
6. reintroducevt. 再引入,再提出
1. What do the underlined words “holding on” in the first paragraph mean?
A. waiting
B. continuing
C. catching
D. offering
2. According to the text, most of the giant pandas are still living in .
A. northern China
B. Shaanxi province
C. south central China
D. wildlife garden
3. Which of the following is the biggest threat to the rare animal?
A. Logging.
B. Bamboo.
C. The traps set to catch other animals.
D. Deer and Bears.
4. What would be the best title for the text?
A. Rare pandas found in the wild of Shaanxi
B. Rare pandas found in south central China
C. Rare pandas found in the wilds of northern China
D. Rare pandas found in the wilds of China
Elephants that destroy crops and damage trees are a serious problem in many parts of Africa. But there could be a simple and relatively safe way to stop them in their tracks, by employing the talents of the tiny African honeybee.
The number of elephants in Kenya has risen over the past decade, with some disastrous1 results. Not only do these huge animals attack local farms, but they trample2 someone to death an average of once every two weeks, fuelling calls for the beasts to be killed. Now a biologist has discovered a possible deterrent3: the elephants are extremely careful of trees that house honeybee hives.
“I am puzzled why nobody has thought of this before,” says Fritz Vollrath at the university of Oxford. “When an elephant knocks a beehive, they run and the bees will follow them for miles.” He says that placing hives of the honeybee strategically4 around local farms could be an effective way to deter the animals.
Vollrath put 30 unoccupied and 6 occupied beehives in some of the trees growing on a hectare of bush frequently damaged by elephants on Laikipia Plateau in Kenya. On average the elephants attacked 9 out of 10 trees that didnt have hives, severely damaging a quarter. But they steered clear of all six trees with empty hives, suggesting that some had learnt not to take the risk.
The bees deter elephants by stinging vulnerable5 areas such as the eyes, belly, behind the ears and under the trunk. People could be at risk from the bees, admits Vollrath, but that may be outweighed6 by the risk of being killed by an elephant. Preliminary experiments by Vollrath show that elephants also avoid the sound of angry bees played from loudspeakers.
【生词注释】
1. disastrousadj. 灾难性的, 造成灾害的
2. tramplevt.& vi. 践踏, 蹂躏
3. deterrentn. 制止物
4. strategicallyadv. 战略上
5. vulnerableadj. 易受伤的, 脆弱的, 敏感的
6. outweighvt. 比（某物）更重要，胜过（某物）
1. What is NOT a disastrous result of the numerous elephants?
A. Local farmers are attacked and be trampled to death by the elephants.
B. The elephants often destroy crops and damage trees.
C. The number of the bees is increasing rapidly.
D. About two dozen people were caused to death owe to numerous elephants.
2. The underlined phrase “steered clear of” （in Paragraph 4 ）can be replaced by .
A. attacked
B. kept away from
C. feared
D. cut down
3. We can infer that .
A. African people are very afraid of elephants
B. bees can be used to kill large elephants
C. bees dont sting people in Africa
D. sounds of bees played from loudspeakers can also frighten large elephants away
4. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Elephant problem in Africa
B. African honeybee
C. Local farms
D. Preliminary experiments
“Fewer than 50 South China Tigers are left in the wild, with about 10 still live in the southwestern province of Yunnan, some 15 in Tibet, and 20 or so in northwestern Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.” Xie Yan, the China Country Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation1 Society said.
Even if take a step back and look at 12 Asian countries and Russia, it is thought that only about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild, compared to around 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.
Why are the tigers gone? The destruction and fragmentation2 of their natural homes is the main cause, along with the leaving of most of the animals that tigers need to live on. But poaching3 is also one of the reasons, with most of the demand coming from business people of traditional Chinese medicine and the illegal trade of tiger skins and bones.
Pretty much the only hope for the survival of tigers in China comes from the animals that are being artificially4 bred5. The Chinese authorities said that: “There are close to 6,000 tigers that have been artificially bred and raised in China. These tigers can breed over 1,000 baby tigers every year.”
But this is not without problems. Experts warn it will be difficult for these tigers to readapt to the wild. And most importantly: It is no use to put these tigers into the wild if we keep destroying their homes and poaching them. These problems must be solved first.
【生词注释】
1. conservationn. 保护,对自然环境的保护
2. fragmentationn. 分裂,破碎
3. poachvt.& vi. 侵入他人地界偷猎
4. artificiallyadv. 人工
5. breedvt.& vi. 生育; 繁殖
1. How many South China Tigers are left in the wild in China?
A. 35 or so.
B. Fewer than 50.
C. About 1,000.
D. Around 100,000.
2. In Paragraph 3 the writer mainly wants to tell us .
A. the reasons why the tigers are gone
B. the destruction and fragmentation of their natural homes
C. most of the demand coming from business people
D. the illegal trade of tiger skins and bones
3. The number of tigers is rising in China because of .
A. stopping poaching
B. breeding artificially
C. building more natural homes
D. putting more tigers into the wild
4. What should we first do to save the wild tigers?
A. Finding out the exact number of the tigers.
B. Raising more animals that tigers need to live on.
C. Putting more baby tigers into the wild.
