Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history.
Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more.
Animals are more than beautiful or interesting or a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems.
For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks (鹰), the farmers' stores of corn and grain were destroyed by mice. Why? Because hawks eat mice. With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the mice multiplied quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.
Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid the killing of any animal or plant on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
语篇解读：本文是一篇关于动物保护的说明文。目前，世界范围内动物的数量正在不断下降，保护动物刻不容缓。保护动物不仅是为动物，也是为我们人类自己的生存考虑。幸运的是，现在有的国家已经开始行动，例如成立保护组织或设立法律等对动物进行有效的保护。
1．What is the best title for the passage?
A．Save the Animals B．Useful Animals
C．Laws for Animals D．Animals in Danger
解析：选A 标题归纳题。文章提到动物面临的生存现状、保护动物的必要性以及目前一些国家对野生动物采取的保护性措施等方面都体现了保护动物的主题，故文章标题应是“保护动物”。
2．Animals are important to us mainly because ________.
A．they give us a source of food
B．they are beautiful and lovely
C．they keep the balance of nature
D．they give us a lot of pleasure
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第四段中“Animals are more than ... in the balance of nature.”可以看出，每一种动物的存在都是有道理的，都是为了维持自然界的平衡。
3．Which of the following is NOT true?
A．People care much about animals because they need them.
B．People must not kill any animal or plant.
C．Killing all mice may cause some new problems.
D．Once a certain kind of animal is gone forever, there will never be any more.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Because we need animals.”可确定A项正确。根据第四段中的“Every animal has its place in the balance of nature.” 可确定C项正确。根据第二段中的“Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the earth forever. ”可确定D项正确。B项说法过于绝对，文章最后一段中“These laws forbid the killing of any animal or plant on the danger list. ”人们可以捕杀动物，但要有一定的限度。
4．We can infer from the passage that ________.
A．people have known the importance of animal protection for a long time
B．animals play an important role in people's life
C．the number of hawks is on the decrease
D．many countries passed laws forbidding the killing of any animal
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据第一段和第四段的描述可以看出，此前人们对于动物的保护并不关注，当然也并未意识到动物保护的重要性，故A错。通过对文章第四段的理解可以得知动物在人们的生活中起着重要作用，故B项正确。文中提到鹰的数量由于人类的捕杀而减少，但并非现在的情况，故可排除C项。D项中提到许多国家制定了法律来禁止对一切动物的捕杀，忽略了文中on the danger list这个说法，故该项是不对的。
