Question

Rare birds in the UK have been living far better than the more common birds over the last decade due to the efforts of conservation organisations, according to a new assessment．

The research shows almost 60% of the 63 rare birds that live in the UK have increased over the last 10 years.

By contrast, only about one third of common species have increased over the same period．Just 28% of rare birds have decreased over the same period, compared with four out of every 10 common birds．The rare birds described in the assessment with increasing populations include the osprey (鹗) and corncrake (秧鸡)．All of these birds are subject to conservation action.

The declining common birds include the nightingale, swift (雨燕), house sparrow and red grouse (苏格兰雷鸟)．These are suffering declines for a variety of reasons, including changes in farming practices.

Dr David Noble, from the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “That some of our rarer birds have responded to targeted conservation action is great news．It shows just what can be achieved．What we need to do now is to continue the good work and use some of the lessons we have learned to help our more common birds.”

Dr Mark Avery, the conservation director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said: “Over the last decade we've enjoyed some great conservation successes, including removing some threatened species from the World Conservation Union's Red List of Thratened Animals and increasing the populations of red kite, osprey, etc．However, these successes are countered (抵消) by continued declines of some widespread species.”

The overview of 210 native birds has been produced by a group of conservation organisations, to mark the publication of The State of the UK's Birds report, which is in its l0th year．The report was published by the RSPB for a group of conservation organisations.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

  A．The decline of widespread birds is not worrying for the UK.

  B．The UK has got some practical experience of bird conservation.

  C．Changes in farming practices contribute to the increase of rare birds.

  D．Half of common birds have decreased in the past ten years in the UK.

2.We can learn from the passage that Dr David Noble      .

  A．hopes that conservation organisations will change the way they work

  B．is quite disappointed with the result of the new assessment

  C．is losing confidence in conservation organizations’ action

  D．has high hopes for the increase in bird population in Britain

3.Which of the following can best explain Dr Mark Avery's words?

  A．The UK should not be satisfied with what they have achieved.

  B．The UK should share their experience with other countries.

  C．What conservation organisations do is far from satisfactory.

  D．The RSPB is responsible for the decrease of common birds.

4.The passage is most likely to be found in a book about      .

  A．popular science                                   B．historical events

  C．nature                                                D．society

5.The author's purpose of writing this article is to tell people      .

  A．some good ways to protect rare birds

  B．the differences between rare birds and common birds

  C．the number of rare birds has increased over the last decade

  D．some widespread birds in the UK are in great need of help

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.C 

5.C