濒危猎豹重现印度

蓝利霞

More than 70 years after cheetahs （猎豹） were declared officially extinct in India， the country is now home to four newborn cheetahs.

The little cheetahs were born to Siyaya and Freddie， two of the eight rehabilitated cheetahs brought from Namibia to India’s Kuno National Park in the central state of Madhya Pradesh last September as part of a government plan to rehome 50 of the big cats in India over the next five years. In February this year， a dozen more cheetahs—seven males and five females—were brought in from South Africa， which has signed an agreement with India to introduce dozens of cheetahs to the country over the next decade. While cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952， they now walk one of the country’s national parks once again.

The group that arrived from Namibia in September consisted of three male and five female adult cheetahs， including Sasha and Siyaya. The animals were moved from quarantine enclosure to acclimatization zones in November last year and later released into the park.

Cheetahs are India’s only large carnivore to have gone extinct. Under British colonial rule， forests across India were cleared to develop settlements and set up plantations， resulting in the loss of habitat for big cats， including the cheetah. Considered less dangerous than tigers and relatively easy to tame， cheetahs were also frequently used by Indian nobility for sport-hunting.

The endangered cats used to have a much larger range. Historically， cheetahs walked throughout the Middle East and central India as well as most of sub-Saharan Africa. Habitat loss， poaching， and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations. But today， the spotted animals are descried in southern and eastern Africa， particularly in Namibia， Botswana， Kenya， and Tanzania. There are now fewer than 7，000 cheetahs left in the wild.

（材料出自“CNN”網站，有删改）

1. What makes India home to four newborn cheetahs？

A. The help given by other countries.

B. The effort made by Indian people.

C. The environment improved by India.

D. The Agreement signed by the National Park.

2. What can be inferred from the fourth paragraph？

A. Cheetahs were as dangerous as tigers.

B. Forests were cleared to set up plantation.

C. India noble people enjoyed sport-hunting.

D. Big cats lived in the newly-built settlements.

3. What was a cause of the Cheetah population decline in India？

A. Loss of habitats.

B. Threat from People.

C. Dependence on humans.

D. Conflict with other animals.

4. What does the underlined word “descried” mean in the last paragraph？

A. Killed. B. Found. C. Deserted. D. Observed.

1.A。解析：细节理解题。根据材料第二段第一、二句中的“Namibia”和“South Africa”，我们可知，通过这两个国家的帮助，印度国家公园有了濒危猎豹的身影，故选A项。

2.C。解析：推理判断题。根据材料第四段最后一句“Considered less dangerous than tigers and relatively easy to tame， cheetahs were also frequently used by Indian nobility for sport-hunting.”，我們可知，因为猎豹没有老虎凶猛，所以印度的贵族经常将猎豹用于狩猎运动。这说明印度的贵族喜欢狩猎运动。故选C项。需要注意的是，该问问的是我们能推理出什么，故原文虽有提及B项内容但它不是正确答案。

3.A。解析：细节理解题。根据材料最后一段第三句“Habitat loss， poaching， and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations.”，我们可知，栖息地的丧失导致了猎豹数量的减少。故选A项。

4.B。解析：词义猜测题。材料最后一段提到“Habitat loss， poaching， and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations.（栖息地的丧失、偷猎和跟人类的冲突极大地减少了猎豹的数量）”，结合此段第四句的“But”表示转折关系和最后一句提到的数量“7，000”，我们可知，猎豹的数量有了提升，因此我们可推断出“descried”表示“发现”，画线词所在句子的意思为“这些有斑点的动物在非洲的南部和东部被发现，特别是在纳米比亚、肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚”。故选B项。