Unit 3 Inventors and inventions language points课时作业

I．阅读理解

　　For centuries，elephants have played a big role in the world's economies，culture and religion.They have done everything from entertaining us in circuses，to being tamed and used in wars，to being regarded as gods in some civilizations. The African elephant used to be found all over Africa and the Asian elephant traveled from Syria to China to Indonesia. Nowadays，elephants are found in small groups south of the Sahara and scarcely in Southeast Asia，Sri Lanka and India.

　　In the early twentieth century，there were close to ten million elephants，and now the number of these gentle mammals is as low as 252,000 and expected to drop down to 160,000 by 2025.Between 2007 and 2014，the elephant population fell by at least 30%，or 144,000 elephants.As researchers traveled over the African plains，they only spotted one herd(群) of 36 elephants in an area which was the size of Mexico.

　　There are a great many reasons why the elephant populations have been on the decrease，one of which is the loss of their habitat(栖息地).Humans are competing with elephants for living space，and as more and more humans clear the land that is being used by elephants，elephants have less space. Elephant poaching(偷猎) has posed a major threat to the existence of this species，and they are killed only for their valuable ivory tusks(象牙).Although trade in tusks is illegal，it is still a common practice in many places. Often，all the local people living among elephants would be farmers，and found that they could make more money by selling the tusks of one elephant，than they would be able to make farming and doing manual(体力的) labor for twelve years.

　　Some places have put in extra effort to protect their wildlife from poachers. For example，Botswana uses its Botswana Defense Force which is made up of around 700 specially­trained soldiers that are stationed in 40 different areas. Every little bit helps. So if you are also feeling worried about the present situations elephants are in，there are ways to help. To find out how you can help elephant conservation，adopt an elephant，or donate，click here.

1.What do the figures in Paragraph 2 show about elephants?

A.It isn't fit for them to live in Asia.

B.They gain more researchers' attention.

C.Their number decreases sharply.

D.They have become gentler than before.

2.What mainly leads to the crisis situation that elephants have?

A.The limited space.

B.The threat of hunting.