| Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
African elephants have been slaughtered at alarming rate over the past decade, largely because they are the primary source of the world’s ivory. Their population has been dwindled from 1.3 million in 1979 to just 625,000 today, and the rate of killing has been accelerating in recent years because many of the older, bigger tusked animals have already been destroyed. “The poachers now must kill as many elephants to get the same quantity of ivory,” explained Curtis Bohlen, Senior vicepresident of the World Wildlife Fund.
Though its record on the environment has been spotty so far,the government last week took the lead in a major conservation issue by imposing a ban on ivory imports into the US.The move came just four days after a consortium of conservation groups,including the World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation International,called for that kind of action, and it made the US the first nation to forbid imports of both raw and finished ivory.The ban,says Bohlen,sends a very clear message to the ivory poachers that the game is over.
In the past African nations have resisted an ivory ban, but increasingly they realised that the decimation of the elephant herds poses a serious threat to their tourist business. Last month Tanzania and several other African countries called for an amendment to the 102nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that would make the ivory trade illegal worldwide. The amendment is expected to be approved at an October meeting in Geneva and to go into effect next January. But between now and then, conversationists contend, poachers may go on a rampage, killing elephants wholesale, so nations should unilaterally forbid imports right away. The US government brought that argument, and by week’s end the twelvenation European Community had followed with its own ban.
31. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A) African Elephants and the Ivory Trade.
B) A Bid to Save the Elephant.
C) The Poachers.
D) Elephants in Danger.
32. According to the passage, “dwindle” means .
A) decreaseB) enlargeC) weakenD) elimilate
33. Since many of the older, bigger tusked animals have already been destroyed, what did the poacher do?
A) They gave up poaching.
B) They killed more elephants to get the same quantity of ivory.
C) To them, game is over.
D) They realized it was illegal to slaughter elephants.
34. Why did the African nations welcome an ivory ban?
A) The rate of killing has been accelerating.
B) The US government forbids imports of both raw and finished ivory.
C) They realised that the killing of elephants is a serious threat to their tourist business.
D) African people advocated an ivory ban.
35. What’s the author’s attitude?
A) Subjective.B) Neutral.C) Pessimistic.D) Active.
Passage Four
Questions 35 to 40 are based on the following passage.
Carbon dioxide makes up less than one percent of the Earth’s atmosphere. But the gas is very important to life on Earth. Scientists are finding that processes involving carbon dioxide affect our climate in ways that are difficult to understand.
Last month, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington released a report. It confirmed that world temperatures increased about sixtenths of a degree Celsius in the last one hundred years. The report also confirmed evidence that the level of carbon dioxide is increasing.
The best information about climate in the past comes from tests of ice many kilometers deep in Antarctica and Greenland. The tests show changes in temperature during the past fourhundredthousand years. These tests show that levels of carbon dioxide today are the highest ever measured. These findings have led scientists to believe that carbon dioxide is a major cause of climate warming.
Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when fuel is burned. Oil, coal and wood are all fuels that release the gas. When biological waste breaks down, it also releases carbon dioxide.
However, plants use carbon dioxide in the process called photosynthesis. This process provides food for almost all life on Earth. Some groups that support burning oil and coal want to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They oppose international efforts to control carbon dioxide.
Some scientists believe that forests and trees are able to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air. Some groups even suggest that an increase in carbon dioxide could cause plants to grow faster.
A recent study in North Carolina found that more carbon dioxide in the air could cause trees to grow faster. But the researchers found the effect appears to last for only three years. Another study showed that much of the carbon dioxide that is taken in by trees is released within three years. The study noted that leaves release carbon dioxide when they fall from trees and break down in the soil. Plants also naturally release carbon dioxide through the process of respiration.
The natural balance of gases in the atmosphere is a complex scientific issue. The debate over carbon dioxide is only one part of efforts to understand world climate change.
36. Which one is NOT mentioned in this passage that can be the source of carbon dioxide?
A) Oil.B) Trees.C) Wood.D) Soil.
37. The committee report of National Academy of Sciences in Washington reveals that .
A) ice from Antarctica and Greenland is appropriate to show the change
B) carbon dioxide is released mainly from the fuel
C) level of carbon dioxide increases with global temperatures
D) carbon dioxide is helpful for tree growth
38. According to this passage, those people disagree with the control of carbon dioxide because .
A) they think that carbon is beneficial for plant growth
B) they want to use more fuels that can emit carbon dioxide
C) they think carbon dioxide is not the main reason for global warming
D) they think it will destroy the natural balance of gases in the world
39. The word “issue” in the last paragraph can be replaced as .
A) organB) topicC) publicationD) result
40. Those studies carried out in North Carolina suggest that .
A) trees’ function for absorbing carbon dioxide is limited
B) carbon dioxide is the main cause for global warming
C) leaves falling from trees can emit more oxygen
D) more carbon dioxide is beneficial for trees’ growth for many decades |
