Good news for giant panda lovers: The cute and cuddly creature has just been brought back from the brink of extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded the species from “endangered” to “vulnerable” as the union released its updated Red List on Sept 4 at Hawaii.

The downgrade came after IUCN data suggested that there were 1,864 giant pandas in the wild in China in 2014 — their population has grown by 17 percent in the decade leading up to 2014.

Chinese conservation efforts, including forest protection and reforestation, are considered to be the driving force behind the animal’s resurgence.

“It’s all about restoring the habitats,” Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN Red List, told the BBC.

The number of panda reserves in China has also jumped to 67, from 13 in 1992. Nearly two-thirds of all wild pandas live in these reserves, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

“Just by restoring the panda’s habitat, that’s given them back their space and made food available to them,” Hilton-Taylor said.

A loss of habitats, on the contrary, was what caused the number of pandas to drop to just over 1,200 in the 1980s, Hilton-Taylor added.

Apart from giant pandas, the Tibetan Antelope has also moved from “endangered” to “near threatened”. According to a statement from IUCN, the animal’s numbers dwindled severely — dropping from around 1 million to an estimated 65,000-72,500 in the 1980s and early 1990s — due to commercial poaching. Rigorous(严格的) protection has since been enforced to protect the beasts and the population is now likely to be between 100,000 and 150,000.

Despite the improved statuses, wild animals like the giant panda and the Tibetan Antelope still face great challenges. The IUCN warned, for example, that ongoing threats from climate change could eliminate more than 35 percent of the panda’s bamboo habitat in the next 80 years, which would reverse the species recent gains.

【1】What does the underlined word in pagagraph 1 mean?

A. dangerous and threatened.B. safe and sound.

C. weak and easily hurt.D. normal and common.

【2】Which of the following can account for pandas’ living improvement?

A. Better climate.B. More built reserves.

C. Well restored habitats.D. Aroused public awareness.

【3】The passage is written in order to ________.

A. convinceB. informC. argue D advocate

【4】What does the last paragraph imply?

A. The climate will influence the threatened species.

B. We humans still have a long way to go to protect the endangered species.

C. Pandas will go extinct for lack of abundant food.

D. Habitats for giant pandas will decrease sharply.

【答案】

【1】C

【2】C

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

试题分析：本文讲述了通过恢复栖息地，大熊猫重获了生存空间和充足的食物，濒危程度已从“濒危”降级为“易危”。尽管情况有所好转，但大熊猫和藏羚羊等野生动物依然面临着严峻的生存挑战，人类保护濒危物种仍然有很长的一段路要走。

【1】C 词义猜测题。根据第二段The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded the species from “endangered” to “vulnerable” as the union released its updated Red List on Sept 4 at Hawaii.以及下文的描述可知，9月4日，世界自然保护联盟于夏威夷发布了最新的濒危物种红色名录。其中，大熊猫的濒危程度从“濒危”降级为“易危”。故选C。

【2】C 细节理解题。根据第七段“Just by restoring the panda’s habitat, that’s given them back their space and made food available to them,”可知，通过恢复栖息地，大熊猫重获了生存空间和充足的食物，故选C。

【3】B 推理判断题。根据第一段Good news for giant panda lovers: The cute and cuddly creature has just been brought back from the brink of extinction.（大熊猫的粉丝们最近收到一则好消息：憨态可掬的大熊猫已经不再濒危了。）根据最后一段第一句Despite the improved statuses, wild animals like the giant panda and the Tibetan Antelope still face great challenges.（尽管情况有所好转，但大熊猫和藏羚羊等野生动物依然面临着严峻的生存挑战。）可知本文的目的是在告知人们大熊猫的情况，故选B。

【4】B 推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句Despite the improved statuses, wild animals like the giant panda and the Tibetan Antelope still face great challenges. 可知，尽管情况有所好转，但大熊猫和藏羚羊等野生动物依然面临着严峻的生存挑战，人类保护濒危物种仍然有很长的一段路要走。故选B。