Section 5: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the answer to each of the question.
Scientists have identified two ways in which species disappear. The first is through ordinary or "background" extinctions, where species that fail to adapt are slowly replaced by more adaptable life forms. The second is when large numbers of species go to the wall in relatively short periods of biological time. There have been five such extinctions, each provoked by cataclysmic evolutionary events caused by some geological eruption, climate shift, or space junk slamming into the Earth. Scientists now believe that another mass extinction of species is currently under way – and this time human fingerprints are on the trigger.
How are we are doing it? Simply by demanding more and more space for ourselves. In our assault on the ecosystems around us we have used a number of tools, from spear and gun to bulldozer and chainsaw. Certain especially rich ecosystems have proved the most vulnerable. In Hawaii more than half of the native birds are now gone - some 50 species. Such carnage has taken place all across the island communities of the Pacific and Indian oceans. While many species were hunted to extinction, others simply succumbed to the "introduced predators' that humans brought with them: the cat, the dog, the pig, and the rat.
Today the tempo of extinction is picking up speed. Hunting is no longer the major culprit, although rare birds and animals continue to be butchered for their skin, feathers, tusks, and internal organs, or taken as savage pets. Today the main threat comes from the destruction of the habitat of wild plants, animals, and insects need to survive. The draining and damming of wetland and river courses threatens the aquatic food chain and our own seafood industry. Overfishing and the destruction of fragile coral reefs destroy ocean biodiversity. Deforestation is taking a staggering toll, particularly in the tropics where the most global biodiversity is at risk. The shinking rainforest cover of the Congo and Amazon river basins and such place as Borneo and Madagascar have a wealth of species per hectare existing nowhere else. As those precious hectares are drowned or turned into arid pasture and cropland, such species disappear forever.
Source: Final Countdown Practice Tests by D.F Piniaris, Heinle Cengage Learning, 2010
Question 21: What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The tempo of extinction of species today
B. The two ways in which species disappear
C. Deforestation as a major cause of mass extinctions of species
D. Human activity and its impact on a mass extinction of species
Question 22: The word “assault” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________
A. development B. influence C. attack D. effort
Question 23: All of the following are mentioned as a form of habitat destruction EXCEPT ____________
A. cutting down forests B. hunting rare birds and animals
C. destroying coral reefs D. damming wetlands and rivers
Question 24: What was the main threat to biodiversity in Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans until recently?
A. human assault on ecosystems B. vulnerable rich ecosystems
C. tools used by human beings D. hunters and introduced predators
Question 25: The word “them” in paragraph 2 refers to _____________
A. oceans B. predators C. humans D. species
Question 26: Which is no longer considered a major cause of the mass extinction under way currently?
A. the building of dams across rivers B. the killing of animals for their body parts
C. the destruction of habitats of species D. the shrinking of rainforests in the tropics
Question 27: The word “butchered” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________
A. killed B. cooked C. traded D. raised
Question 28: It can be inferred from the passage that ___________
A. it's impossible for scientists to identify the causes of mass extinctions of species
B. hunting is the major contributing factor that speeds up the extinction of species
C. the current mass extinction is different from the other five in that it is caused by humans
D. habitat destruction makes a minor contribution to the current mass extinction of species
