瀕危獵豹重現印度

藍利霞

More than 70 years after cheetahs （獵豹） 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，有刪改）

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：細節理解題。根據材料第二段第一、二句中的“Namibia”和“South Africa”，我們可知，通過這兩個國家的幫助，印度國家公園有了瀕危獵豹的身影，故選A項。

2.C。解析：推理判斷題。根據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，因為獵豹沒有老虎兇猛，所以印度的貴族經常將獵豹用于狩獵運動。這說明印度的貴族喜歡狩獵運動。故選C項。需要注意的是，該問問的是我們能推理出什么，故原文雖有提及B項內容但它不是正確答案。

3.A。解析：細節理解題。根據材料最后一段第三句“Habitat loss， poaching， and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations.”，我們可知，棲息地的喪失導致了獵豹數量的減少。故選A項。

4.B。解析：詞義猜測題。材料最后一段提到“Habitat loss， poaching， and conflict with humans have greatly reduced their populations.（棲息地的喪失、偷獵和跟人類的沖突極大地減少了獵豹的數量）”，結合此段第四句的“But”表示轉折關系和最后一句提到的數量“7，000”，我們可知，獵豹的數量有了提升，因此我們可推斷出“descried”表示“發現”，畫線詞所在句子的意思為“這些有斑點的動物在非洲的南部和東部被發現，特別是在納米比亞、肯尼亞和坦桑尼亞”。故選B項。