Question

The health of millions could be at risk because supplies of medicinal plants are being used up. These plants are used to make traditional medicine, including drugs to fight cancer. “The loss of medicinal plants is a quiet disaster,” says Sara Oldfield, secretary general of the NGO Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Most people worldwide rely on herbal (药草制的) medicines which are got mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of the 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of dying out, according to report from the international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

Over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution and competition from invasive species (入侵物种) and habitat destruction all contribute. Businessmen generally harvest medicinal plants, not caring about sustainability (可持续性),” the Plantlife report says, “damage is serious partly because they have no idea about it, but it is mainly because such collection is unorganized”. Medicinal trees at risk include the Himalayan yew (紫衫) and the African cherry, which are used to treat some cancers.

The solution, says the report’s author, Alan Hamilton, is to encourage local people to protect these plants. Ten projects studied by Plantlife in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Uganda and Kenya showed this method can succeed. In Uganda, the project has kept a sustainable supply of low-cost cancer treatments, and in China a public-run medicinal plant project has been created for the first time.”

“Improving health, earning an income and keeping cultural traditions are important in encouraging people to protect medicinal plants,” says Hamilton, “You have to pay attention to what people are interested in.”

Ghillean Prance, the former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, agrees that medicinal plants are in need of protection. “Not nearly enough is being done,” he told New Scientist. “We are destroying the very plants that are of most use to us.”

1.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.

A. millions of people are threatened with cancer

B. most countries see a shortage of herbal medicines

C. about two thirds of medicinal species will disappear

D. a number of medicinal species are in danger of extinction

2.The major factor that causes the decreasing of supplies of medicinal plants is ________.

A. over-harvesting    B. habitat destruction

C. pollution    D. invasive species

3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A. pollution    B. other species’ invasion

C. sustainability    D. over-harvesting

4.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Protecting medicinal plants has a long way to go.

B. Local people don’t know how to protect medicinal plants.

C. Ghillean Prance is optimistic about medicinal plants’ future.

D. China has made great progress in protecting medicinal plants.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

【解析】本文是一篇说明文。用于抗癌的药物大部分是从野生植物里提取，而这些野生的药用植物正濒临灭绝。这样会使数百万人的健康因为没药可能处于危险之中。野生药用植物濒临灭绝的最大的原因是过度采集，当然还有污染和来自入侵物种的竞争和栖息地的破坏。我们要保护这些野生的药用植物，让其永续利用。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段中Most people worldwide rely on herbal (药草制的) medicines which are got mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of the 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of dying out, according to report from the international conservation group Plantlife.可知，世界上大多数人依靠草药（主要来自野生植物），但50000种药用植物中有15000种濒临灭绝。所以是有很多药用植物濒临灭绝，故D项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Over-harvesting does the most harm, though pollution and competition from invasive species (入侵物种) and habitat destruction all contribute.”（虽然污染和来自入侵物种的竞争和栖息地的破坏也是原因，但过度采集导致了最大的危害。）可知，最大的原因是过度采集，故B、C、D三项是原因，但不是主要的原因，而A项才是最主要的因素。故A正确。

3.推理判断题。根据上一句Businessmen generally harvest medicinal plants, not caring about sustainability (可持续性),” the Plantlife report says, “damage is serious partly because they have no idea about it, but it is mainly because such collection is unorganized”.（一般商人收获药用植物，不关心药用植物的可持续发展，报告中说，“损伤严重的部分原因是因为征收药用植物的商人对药用植物的可持续性生长一无所知，更主要原因是这样的征收是没有组织性的。”）根据上下文可知，这句话说的是商人只知征收，对药物的严重损伤，部分原因是不知道要让药物的可持续生长。故选C。

4.细节理解题。根据最后一段中的Ghillean Prance, the former director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, agrees that medicinal plants are in need of protection. “Not nearly enough is being done,”可知，药用植物需要保护，但做的还不够。由此可判断出保护这些药用植物还有很长的一段路要走。故A是正确的，C是错误的。根据第四、五段可知，很多人认为要保护药用植物，但没有说当地人不知道如何去保护，故B是错误的。文中没有提及中国在保护药用植物方面已做出重大贡献，故D是错误的。故选A项。