Q: For millions of years, sharks have been the kings of the oceans, the top of the food chain. But these days, the hunter has become the hunted, because of better methods from commercial fishermen who are looking for fins to make expensive soup sold mostly in Asia. Shark fins are far more valuable than shark meat, so fishermen cut the fins off live fish and throw the sharks overboard to maximize the catch they bring back. Shark finning is illegal in the United States, but there're tournament sport fishermen, who target and kill the biggest ones they take from the sea. These tournaments, the prizes of which can reach $5,000 or more, attract large crowds of anglers but also draw protests from animal rights groups and environmentalists. The competitors say they are enjoying a fun and legal sport, the impact on the overall shark population is very small, and most of the sharks caught are returned to the ocean. Dave Johnson, who is from Kennebunkport, Maine, said no one ever comes close to the limit set by the government of killing one shark per day during the three-month season. "I enjoy watching these animals, but I also enjoy catching and releasing them, and very rarely killing them and eating them," he said. "If I thought killing one shark was endangering the species and contributing to their decline I'd stop doing it tomorrow." That is exactly what marine biologists like Luke Tipple want to happen. "I believe that they should just stop it. In fact, we don't need to be targeting, in any way, any of these threatened populations," he said. Up to 73 million sharks are killed annually, and many species are at risk of extinction . Fishermen throw the sharks back into the sea after catching them to _ . A) drop useless shark meat B) let them grow new fins C) avoid law punishment D) make higher profits
A: D

Q: While all my classmates seen to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars , I'd rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won't have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won't be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return? Steve Minear, UK Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory...For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements. Donal Trollop, Canada There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that sometime before the end of the century, there will be a human colony on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that tow-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space Flight is in the launches and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement on another world. Enough supplies can be sent on ahead. And every two years more supplies and more people will needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space. Paul Davies. USA The main purpose of Steve Minear's writing is _ . A) to report his classmates' discussion B) to invite an answer to his question C) to explain the natural state of Mars D) to show his agreement on going to Mars
A: B

Q: Let us say there is something you don't know how to do. In the past if you were determined to learn, you might have called friends or s, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term. But now a host of websites are springing up to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of. In one sense, these" how - to" sites represent a part of the growing world of online learning. These FAQs(Frequent Answers and Questions), many of which still circulate(go round continuously), took a special subject and explained it to complete _ . But, "how - to" sites take the FAQ idea in a somewhat different direction by addressing subjects that aren't necessarily associated with discussion forums .These sites take the style of a written tutorial and a tone of friendly advice. Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn 2.com(www. learn2. com)It offers nearly 1, 000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently for a job interview. At ehow. com(www. ehow.)you can learn how to train for your first marathon, how to buy a vacation home, or how to make a movie in eight steps. From the passage we may guess that _ . A) a deaf person can teach himself at home by visiting "how-to" sites B) "how - to" sites are specially designed for the disabled C) you can just click your mouse at home to question anything D) it is pleasant to listen to the advice on "how-to" sites
A: A

Q: The world's native languages are dying out at an unprecedented rate, taking with them irreplaceable knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study. The study identified five global "hot spots" where languages are _ faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. "Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction," linguistics professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world's 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century. Native people had an intimate knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. "Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads," he said. "We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base." Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. "The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them," he said. "When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,'This is a dying language, we need to learn it'." Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct. The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues. According to Harrison, language extinction _ . A) causes the researchers lots of worries B) speeds up the pace of species extinction C) threatens the existing of Spanish and English D) brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment
A: D