Ⅰ.阅读理解
War can be deadly for wildlife, too.A new study reports that war is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinoceroses, and other animals.Researchers examined how years of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals.More than 70 percent of Africa's protected wildlife areas have been within a war zone at some point in the last 70 years.The more frequent the fighting, the greater the drop in animal populations, said Josh Daskin, an ecologist at Yale University.He was the lead author of the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
It takes very little conflict, as much as one conflict in about 20 years, for the average wildlife population to be declining, Daskin said.“Areas with frequent fighting — but not necessarily the bloodiest fighting — lose 35 percent of their large animal populations during each year of war，” he said.
Some animals get killed by weapons of war.Yet, many also die because of changes in social and economic conditions in an area as a result of war, said Rob Pringle.He is an ecologist at Princeton University and the study's coauthor.“People in and around war zones are poor and hungrier.So they may begin to illegally hunt animals for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat，” Pringle said.“And during wartime, animal conservation programs do not have as much money or power to protect wildlife.”
The new study examined the entire African continent over 65 years.The researchers looked at 10 different factors that could change population numbers.They included war, drought, animal size, protected areas and human population density.The number of wars had the biggest effect on wildlife population.The intensity of the wars — measured in the number of human deaths — had the least effect on animals.
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了战争对于野生动物的致命影响。
1．Which is the most dangerous to Africa's animals?
A．Hunting. B．Wars.
C．Drought. D．Economy.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第一段中的War can be deadly for wildlife, too.A new study reports that war is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinoceroses, and other animals.可知，对于非洲的野生动物来说最危险的是战争，故选B项。
2．What can we know about the animals in Africa?
A．More than 70 percent of animals live in a war zone.
B．Little conflict has no effect to animals' population.
C．The more frequent the fighting is, the fewer animals are.
D．35 percent of animals in the world died each year because of war.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第一段中的The more frequent the fighting, the greater the drop in animal populations可知，战争越频繁，动物就越少。故选C项。
3．Which one is NOT the reason why animals die in the war?
A．Being killed by the weapons.
B．Being killed by poor and hungry people.
C．The loss of their habitat.
D．Lack of money or power to protect them.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第三段中的Some animals get killed by weapons of war.可知，一些动物是被战争的武器杀死，故排除A项；根据第三段中的“People in and around war zones are poor and hungrier.So they may begin to illegally hunt animals for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat，” Pringle said.可知，动物死于战争的另一原因是贫困而又饥饿的人们杀死动物获取有价值的长牙或作为食物，故排除B项；根据And during wartime, animal conservation programs do not have as much money or power to protect wildlife.可知，在战时，动物保护项目没有那么多的资金和能力来保护野生动物，故排除D项。故本题应选C项。
4．Which one has the least influence on wildlife population?
A．The intensity of the wars.
B．Protected areas.
C．The number of wars.
D．Animal size.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句可知，战争的密度对于野生动植物的数量有着最小的影响，故选A项。
