文章大意:这是一篇说明文。讲述了六只红狼幼崽在野外出生,这是自从2018年以来第一次有红狼幼崽出生,因为红狼是濒临危险,快要灭绝的动物。还介绍了FWS在增加红狼的数目方面做出的努力。
Six red wolf pups were born in the wild, which marks the first time these pups have been born in the wild since 2018.
Long ago, red wolves lived all through the US Southeast. But as the wolves were hunted, and as more and more land was taken over for cities, roads, and farms, the wolves began to die out. In 1973, a new law called the Endangered Species Act was passed. It was designed to protect endangered animals, like red wolves. At the time, there were only about 17 red wolves remaining in the wild.
The Red Wolf Recovery Program kept fourteen of those wolves in captivity to protect them. By 1980, red wolves were believed to be extinct in the wild. Luckily, the wolves did well in captivity, and their numbers continued to grow. Soon the the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began releasing red wolves back into the wild. Between 1987 and 1994, 60 adult red wolves were released. Over time, those wolves spread out, paired up, and began to have pups. In 2008, there were 47 wild pups born. By 2012, red wolf numbers had hit a new high point of about 120 wolves in the wild.
Sadly, though, wild red wolf numbers began to drop again. Some wolves were shot and others were hit by cars. In 2018, a total of four pups were born in the wild. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, no wild pups were born at all. So the news that six pups were born in the wild this year is a huge boost. The good news isn’t an accident. Currently, there are over 240 captive red wolves in the recovery program. The FWS has released some captive wolves into the wild, and worked to pair these animals with wild wolves. The FWS has also taken pups born in captivity and had them raised by wild female wolves. With luck, they will have even more company next year.
8. What is one of the factors of red wolves’ dying out?
A.Living in the wild. | B.Human activities. |
C.Lack of health care. | D.Being overprotected. |
9. Why does the author list so many numbers in Paragraph 3?
A.To explain the reason why more red wolves were born. |
B.To encourage other programs to catch more red wolves. |
C.To show the success of the Red Wolf Recovery Program. |
D.To tell readers the exact number of endangered red wolves. |
10. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A.Red wolves pups were found accidentally. |
B.Red wolves will no longer die from car accidents. |
C.More pups were born during the previous three years. |
D.The FWS works hard to increase the number of red wolves. |
11. What is the text mainly about?
A.Endangered red wolf pups born in the wild. |
B.The number of endangered animals in the US. |
C.The red wolf recovery program made by FWS. |
D.Methods of preventing red wolves from dying out. |