When you think of environmental problems you probably think of pollution, but the poaching of wild animals is one, too. Poaching has worried environmentalists for years and, despite laws, this terrible crime has yet to be stopped. Poaching is a serious problem, especially in Africa and Asia. This crime is done for commercial profit , meaning hunters kill animals illegally and sell their most worthy parts. Although poachers usually hunt tigers, elephants and rhinos, they kill sharks and whales, too. This illegal hunting has led to decreasing populations of many species. Many nations have banned poaching, but enforcement is difficult. The small number of police officers trained to deal with this creates an unfair advantage for poachers. Poachers usually kill animals for only one product: tigers are killed for their striped fur, elephants their ivory tusks and rhinos their large horn. The bodies of the animals are left to rot. Sharks' fins are cut off and their bodies thrown back into the ocean. Without fins they can't swim and will die. The illegally obtained fins are used to make shark fin soup. The laws that "protect" animals are no more than pieces of paper. The current poaching bans need better enforcement, and I have a plan. The number of enforcers needs to be increased so that there are enough to watch the herds and make sure poachers can't shoot the animals. The reserve parks in Africa should become a huge zoo so that the animals can move but within a fenced area. Another idea is to build a concrete enclosure instead of fences. Watchtowers could be constructed so enforcers can monitor a wide variety of poacher targets. This may not completely end the problem, but it would slow it down. Poaching is a serious problem and a criminal act. The effects of poaching will be felt for centuries to come, and if there are any still alive, the only place to see animals might be in a zoo. Poaching has not been stopped mainly because _ . A) there are no laws to ban this crime B) this crime has not been that serious C) effective measures have not been taken D) the author's plan has not been adopted
C
I WAS BORN and raised in the shadow of the Capitol, in prefix = st1 /Washington,D.C., as were my parents and my mother's parents. Our row house was on a tree-lined street just blocks from the building that was the heart of the federal legislative branch. When I was a child, in the 1940s, friends and I would pack a lunch or ride a streetcar to the Capitol. If we roller-skated, we hid the skates in the bushes in the park across the street before entering the building. I knew every corner of the Capitol. We'd play hide-and-seek and pretend we saw ghosts in the halls and stairways. I don't know how we got away with it.I remember the beautiful ladies' rooms, with their marble floors and sinks. I pretended that I was a fine lady in them. In those days, you could walk around the Capitol dome , which was a little scary for me. I loved the wonderful paintings and statues and the subway rides to the SenateOfficeBuilding. It was like an amusement ride. I even used to sit in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives--until I became bored with all the talk and went on another adventure. Whenever I ran up the steps to the huge bronze doors of the Rotunda, I would look back to the world below like a hero. As soon as the doors were opened, the sense of history surrounded me, and I knew it was someplace special. Those were lucky days, when an American citizen could wander in the Capitol and be a part of history. Once war was declared, some things changed in the nation's capital. Because of concerns that Washington might be attacked, as Londonhad been, everyone prepared. Kids at my elementary school wore dog tags, and each of us was fingerprinted. My father, a pipe worker, became a civil defense warden . During an air raid, his job was to turn off any leaking gas. Since he always had a cigarette in his mouth, maybe that was not a good choice, but he had a gas mask and flashlight hanging in the rafters of our basement...the mask looked like a monster in the ceiling. My 15-year-old brother was a junior civil... What is the writer's attitude towards the things that changed in the nation's capital? A) neutral B) positive C) negative D) ironic
C
Q: A new enemy is threatening Japanese traditions: leisure. A part of its attempt to increase imports, the government is trying to get people to work less and spend more. The workers are disgusted. The figures support the western prejudice that the Japanese are all working without play. Trying to force workers away from their desks and machines, the government said last April that the country should cut down from its 2,100 hours average work year to 1,899 hours and a five-day by 1992. Beginning in February, banks and offices two Saturdays a month. The government hopes that others will follow that practice. But some persuasion will be needed. Small companies are very angry about it and they fear competitions may not cut hour. The unions are no happier: they have even advertised in newspapers arguing their case against the foreign pressure that is forcing leisure upon them. They say shorter hours are a disguised pay cut. The industrialists, who have no objection to the government's plans, admit that shorter hours will help them cut costs. Younger Japanese who are supposed to be acting against their hard-working parents, show no sign of wanting time off either. But unlike older workers, they do spend money in their spare time. Not content with watching TV, they dance, dress up, sit in cafes, go to pop concerts and generally drive the leisure-industry boom. Now that they know how to consume, maybe the West can teach them to relax and enjoy themselves too. The passage mainly discusses _ . A) a new policy threatening Japanese tradition B) the balance between work and play C) different attitudes towards short working hours D) generation gap
A: C
(Question)
The world's largest solar thermal plant is set to begin producing power in the United States by the end of the year. Wind and energy from the sun are generally considered clean, unlike energy from coal-burning power stations. However, environmentalists now worry that too much solar power development could harm the local environment. A California company -- BrightSource Energy is building a huge solar power plant in the Mojave desert, about 60 kilometers southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The plant is known as the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. Joe Desmond works for the company. "This is actually one of the highest concentrations of sunlight in the world, out here in Ivanpah." explained Desmond. BrightSource Energy will deploy 170,000 specially designed mirrors to direct solar energy towards boilers on top of three power towers. The steam produced in the boilers will drive turbine to make electricity. Joe Desmond says the steam can reach temperatures of more than 260 degrees Celsius. "We can store the sun's thermal energy in the form of molten salt, so we can produce electricity even when the sun goes down. There is a lot of interest in concentrating solar power around the globe in environmnents where you have lots of sun, such as China, South Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, explained Desmond. Environmentalists generally support the idea of solar power, however, many are concerned about the effect of power plants on sensitive environment. Lisa Belenky is a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity, a private group. She says environmentalists are specifically worried about the effect of the Ivanpah Solar Project on the sensitive plant and animal life in that part of Mojave desert. "Even though the desert seems big, when you start cutting it up, it can really affect how the species and the animals and the plants are able to survive in the long run,"said Lisa Belenky. BrightSource Energy has already spent more than $ 50 million to move endangered desert tortoises away from the power plant.... The author's attitude towards the solar projects is _ . A) supportive B) critical C) indifferent D) cautious
(Answer)
D