单选题 Sustainable management is seen as a practical and economical way of protecting species from extinction. Instead of depending on largely ineffective laws against poaching(偷猎), it gives local people a good economic reason to preserve plants and animals. In Zimbabwe, for instance, there is a sustainable management project to protect elephants. Foreign tourists pay large sums of money to kill these animals for sports. This money is then given to the inhabitants of the area where the hunting takes place. In theory, locals will be encouraged to protect elephants, instead of poaching them because of the economic benefit involved.
This sounds like a sensible strategy, but it remains to be seen whether it will work. With corruption in these developing countries, some observers are skeptical(怀疑的) that the money will actually reach the people it is intended for. Others wonder how effective the locals will be at stopping poachers.
There are also questions about whether sustainable management is practical when it comes to protecting forests. In theory, the principle should be the same as with elephants—allow logging companies to cut down certain number of trees, but not so many as to completely destroy the forest.
Sustainable management of forests requires controls on the number of trees which are cut down, as well as investment in replacing them. Because almost all tropical forests are located in countries which desperately need revenue from logging, there are few regulations and incentive to do this.
One solution might be to certify wood which comes from sustainably managed forests. In theory, consumers would buy only this wood and so force logging companies to go "green" or go out of business. Unfortunately, unrestricted logging is so much more profitable that wood prices from managed forests would cost up to five times more—an increase that consumers, no matter how "green", are unlikely to pay.
单选题 Which of the following statements is true in understanding the "sustainable management"?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 由题干关键词sustainable management定位到第二段首句“This sounds like sensible strategy, but it remains to be seen whether it will work.”和第三段首句“There are also questions about whether sustainable management is practical when it comes to protecting forests.”可推知,可持续管理在实施过程中可能会遇到问题。
单选题 The example of Zimbabwe is mentioned in the first paragraph is to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 由题干提示定位到第一段可知,该段第一、二句话解释了可持续管理的定义,接着就以津巴布韦为例来说明可持续管理到底是什么。因此B符合题干要求。
单选题 The phrase "go green" in paragraph 5 probably means ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 由第五段第二句“In theory, consumers would buy only this wood and SO force logging companies to go "green" or go out of business.”可知,消费者将只购买采伐自可持续管理森林的木材,由此迫使伐木公司只有以保护森林为前提进行采伐才可以。只有C项符合文意。
单选题 What is the passage mainly about?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一段首句“Sustainable management is seen as a practical and economical way of protecting species from extinction.”就点明了话题,即可持续管理被认为是防止物种灭绝的可行而经济的方法。全文通过实例以及现有问题等进一步说明这种方法的可行性。
单选题 What attitude does the author take towards the feasibility of sustainable management?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 纵观全文,作者在第二至五段都在探讨应用可持续管理可能会出现的问题,所以可推断作者对可持续管理的可行性持有怀疑态度。