The African elephant will disappear within two decades if urgent action is not taken to save one of the world's most iconic animal species, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has warned in a new campaign fundraiser.
The population of these elephants—the largest animal currently walking the earth—has declined by 70 percent in the last 40 years, in large part because of the illegal ivory trade, which is the biggest driver of elephant poaching, according to the non-profit.
In fact, 20,000 elephants are killed every year to feed this trade—which is equivalent to one death every 26 minutes.
Once an elephant is killed, poachers harvest the ivory to meet a growing demand for products made from this material. Ivory can be turned into ornaments and decorations, as well as being used in traditional Asian medicine for its intended therapeutic value. Elephants are also sometimes killed to provide a source of meat.
This poaching takes place despite a global ban on ivory sales under the CITES multilateral treaty (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which was introduced in 1990. Above the poachers are powerful organized criminal networks which commonly engage in corruption, money laundering and assassinations.
Part of the issue in policing the problem is that the governments of nations where Africans elephants live often lack sufficient resources to protect and monitor elephant herds, which often reside in remote and inaccessible habitats. When the animals are killed, they often suffer a brutal death.
African elephants are found in 37 countries across the continent and are categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a remaining population of around 415,000 in the wild, according to WWF.
These animals play a crucial role in the ecosystem, helping to maintain healthy habitats for many other species. This is because African elephants help to disperse seeds.
The population of African elephants—which are split into two subspecies—once numbered between three and five million during the last century. However, this figure has fallen dramatically as a result of poaching and other factors, such as habitat fragmentation or loss.
1.The word “poaching” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.
A.desperate desire B.severe damage
C.illegal hunting D.cruel killing
2.What is the main reason for the sharp decline in the number of African elephants？
A.They were hunted by other animals.
B.They failed to survive the natural disasters.
C.There is no suitable living environment.
D.They were illegally traded for ivory.
3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?
A.Absence of bans or regulations on ivory sales is the biggest driver of elephant poaching.
B.Elephants living in remote habitats are less vulnerable than those living in nations with adequate resources.
C.If the African elephant disappear, the ecosystem there is likely to be ruined.
D.African elephant herbs usually migrated in large population.
4.What’s the best title for this passage?
A.African Elephants Will Be Gone in The Future
B.African Elephants, Leading Role in Ecosystem
C.The Population of African Elephants
D.Different Types of African Elephants
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
The African elephant will disappear within two decades if urgent action is not taken to save one of the world's most iconic animal species, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has warned in a new campaign fundraiser.
The population of these elephants—the largest animal currently walking the earth—has declined by 70 percent in the last 40 years, in large part because of the illegal ivory trade, which is the biggest driver of elephant poaching, according to the non-profit.
In fact, 20,000 elephants are killed every year to feed this trade—which is equivalent to one death every 26 minutes.
Once an elephant is killed, poachers harvest the ivory to meet a growing demand for products made from this material. Ivory can be turned into ornaments and decorations, as well as being used in traditional Asian medicine for its intended therapeutic value. Elephants are also sometimes killed to provide a source of meat.
This poaching takes place despite a global ban on ivory sales under the CITES multilateral treaty (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which was introduced in 1990. Above the poachers are powerful organized criminal networks which commonly engage in corruption, money laundering and assassinations.
Part of the issue in policing the problem is that the governments of nations where Africans elephants live often lack sufficient resources to protect and monitor elephant herds, which often reside in remote and inaccessible habitats. When the animals are killed, they often suffer a brutal death.
African elephants are found in 37 countries across the continent and are categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a remaining population of around 415,000 in the wild, according to WWF.
These animals play a crucial role in the ecosystem, helping to maintain healthy habitats for many other species. This is because African elephants help to disperse seeds.
The population of African elephants—which are split into two subspecies—once numbered between three and five million during the last century. However, this figure has fallen dramatically as a result of poaching and other factors, such as habitat fragmentation or loss.
1.The word “poaching” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.
A.desperate desire B.severe damage
C.illegal hunting D.cruel killing
2.What is the main reason for the sharp decline in the number of African elephants？
A.They were hunted by other animals.
B.They failed to survive the natural disasters.
C.There is no suitable living environment.
D.They were illegally traded for ivory.
3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?
A.Absence of bans or regulations on ivory sales is the biggest driver of elephant poaching.
B.Elephants living in remote habitats are less vulnerable than those living in nations with adequate resources.
C.If the African elephant disappear, the ecosystem there is likely to be ruined.
D.African elephant herbs usually migrated in large population.
4.What’s the best title for this passage?
A.African Elephants Will Be Gone in The Future
B.African Elephants, Leading Role in Ecosystem
C.The Population of African Elephants
D.Different Types of African Elephants
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The world’s African elephants are in serious danger. 1. And if we do nothing to put an end to the illegal ivory trade, elephants will be extinct from the wild within the next 20 years.
Many believe that an illegal hunter could get ivory without killing the elephant-this is not true. 2. And the rest lies beneath the surface like an iceberg（冰山）in water. The tusk is not just bone but rather it is alive, filled with nerves and blood vessels（血管）and when broken off, the tusks would likely become infected and lead to a slow and painful death.
However, there is a new form of hope rising from nature itself. African elephants are being born without the tusks that illegal hunters have targeted for decades. But why is the largest land mammal on earth now being born tuskless?3.
Is such change beneficial to elephants’ survival in the long term? As we know, elephant tusks ate not just glorious-looking. 4. Therefore scientists are just benspecies.to track the newly tuskless among them, to see how this unfortunate adaptation affects the species.
Ivory hunters are not the only danger faced by elephants today. And more support is needed than ever to create a safe world where elephants can live together with humans happily, tusks and all.5..
A. Action should be taken to protect animals in the world.
B. They also have important uses such as self- defense and digging.
C. Only two-thirds of an elephant’s tusks（象牙）stick out of their mouth.
D. It is estimated that one is killed every 15 minutes for their ivory tusks.
E. That’s because elephants without tusks have a better chance of surviving.
F. After centuries of being hunted by humans, many African elephants are tuskless.
G. And it’s in our power to make this happen by cutting demand and raising awareness.
高二英语七选五困难题查看答案及解析
The rapid growth of cities worldwide over the next two decades will cause significant risks to people and the global environment, according to analysis.
Researches from Yale and Stanford predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by 590,000 square miles—nearly the size of Mongolia—to meet the needs of 1.47 billion more people living in urban areas.
“It is likely that these cities are going to be developed in places that are the most biologically diverse,” said Karen Seto, a famous scientist at Yale University. “They are going to be growing and expanding into forests, biological hotspots, savannas(热带稀缺大草原), coastlines—sensitive and vulnerable places.”
Urban areas, they found, have been expanding more rapidly along coasts. “Of all the places for cities to grow, coasts are the most sensitive. People and buildings along the coast are at risk of flooding and other environmental disasters,” said Seto.
The study provides the first estimate of how fast urban areas globally are growing and how fast they may grow in the future. “We know a lot about global patterns of urban population growth, but we know significantly less about how urban areas are changing,” she said. “Changes in land cover associated with urbanization lead to many environmental changes, from habitats loss and agricultural land conversion(转化) to changes in local and regional climate.”
The researchers examined studies that used satellite data to map urban growth and found that from 1970 to 2000 the world’s urban footprint had grown by at least 22,400 square miles—half the size of Ohio.
“This number is numerous, but, in actuality, urban land expansion has been far greater than what our analysis shows because we only looked at the published studies that used satellite data,” said Seto. “We found that 48 of the most populated urban areas have been studied using satellite data, with findings in journals. This means that we’re not tracking the physical expansion of more than half of the world’s largest cities.”
Half of urban land expansion in China is driven by a rising middle class, whereas the size of cities in India and Africa is driven primarily by population growth. “Rising incomes translate into rising demand for bigger homes and more land for urban development, which has a great effect on biodiversity conservations, loss of carbon sinks and energy use.”
1.According to the passage, the most dangerous place for city expansion is the _____.
A．forest B．desert C．savannas D．coastline
2.The underlined word “vulnerable” (in Para. 3) probably means “____”.
A．diverse in plants B．beautiful in scenery
C．easily damaged D．very productive
3.From Para. 5, we can infer that ____.
A．urbanization is a good way to improve people’s standards of living
B．cities develop very fast and more and more people come to live in cities
C．more and more agricultural farmlands are used to make room for local animals
D．in the past, researchers focused their attention on the expanding urban areas
4.Cities in Africa become bigger and bigger mainly because of their ____.
A．growing population B．rising middle class
C．unique living patterns D．economic development
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A．Improving the quality.
B．Worsening the state.
C．Fixing the time.
D．Deciding the conditions.
2.The passage is developed mainly by_________.
A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B．giving examples
C．pointing out similarities and differences
D．describing the changes in space order
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
B．The eating habit of African elephants.
C．Disappearance of African elephants.
D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food.
4.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A．They are home to many endangered animals.
B．They result from the destruction of rain forests.
C．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
D．They provide food mainly for African elephants.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth , is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原)surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat(栖息地).
It is the elephant's great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of
the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Fixing the time.
B. Worsening the state.
C. Improving the quality.
D. Deciding the conditions.
3.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C. They are home to many endangered animals.
D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4.The passage is developed mainly by________.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. pointing out similarities and differences
C. describing the changes in space order
D. giving examples
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem (生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big planteater, it largely shapes the forestandsavanna (稀树草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant's great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches of big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other planteaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed planteaters to move around and for small planteaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A．Disappearance of African elephants.
B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C．The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D．The eating habit of African elephants.
2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A．Fixing the time. B．Worsening the state.
C．Improving the quality. D．Deciding the conditions.
3.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A．They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B．They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C．They are home to many endangered animals.
D．They are attractive to planteating animals of different kinds.
4.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．The African elephant is the largest animal on earth.
B．African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day, including small trees and under bushes.
C．The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like other land animals.
D．If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won't be affected.
5.The passage is developed mainly by ________.
A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B．pointing out similarities and differences
C．describing the changes in space order
D．giving examples
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem（生态系统）. Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna（大草原）surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Improving the quality.
C. Fixing the time.
B. Worsening the state.
D. Deciding the conditions.
2.The passage is developed mainly by_________.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. giving examples
C. pointing out similarities and differences
D. describing the changes in space order
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
B. The eating habit of African elephants.
C. Disappearance of African elephants.
D. The effect of African elephants’ search for food.
4.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They are home to many endangered animals.
B. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
C. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
D. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原)surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat(栖息地).
It is the elephant's great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Fixing the time. B. Worsening the state.
C. Improving the quality. D. Deciding the conditions.
3.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C. They are home to many endangered animals.
D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4.The passage is developed mainly by _____.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. pointing out similarities and differences
C. describing the changes in space order
D. giving examples
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A．Improving the quality.
B．Deciding the conditions.
C．Fixing the time.
D．Worsening the state.
2.The passage is developed mainly by_________.
A．giving examples
B．showing the effect and then explaining the causes
C．pointing out similarities and differences
D．describing the changes in space order
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
B．The eating habit of African elephants.
C．Disappearance of African elephants
D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food
4.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A．They are home to many endangered animals.
B．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
C．They result from the destruction of rain forests.
D．They provide food mainly for African elephants.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant,the largest land animal remaining on earth,is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统).Unlike other animals,the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment.As a big plant-eater,it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives,therefore________of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat(栖息地).
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat.In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day,it kills small trees and underbushes,and pulls branches off big trees.This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas.In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example.In their natural state,the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor.By pulling down trees and eating plants,elephants make open spaces,allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor.In such situations,the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species.If the elephant disappears,scientists say,many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna,greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants’ search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Fixing the time.
B. Worsening the state.
C. Improving the quality.
D. Deciding the conditions.
3.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C. They are home to many endangered animals.
D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4.The passage is developed mainly by______.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. pointing out similarities and differences
C. describing the changes in spare order
D. giving examples
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析