阅读理解。
Modern man has cleared the forests for farmland and for wood, and has also carelessly burned them.
More than that, though, he has also interfered (干涉) with the invisible bonds between the living things in
the forests. There are many examples of this kind of destruction. The harmfulness of man's interference
can be seen in what happened many years ago in the forest of the Kaibab plateau (凯亚巴布高原) of
northern Arizona. Man tried to improve on the natural web of forest life and destroyed it instead.
The Kaibab had a storybook forest of large sized pine, Douglas fir, white fir, blue and Engelmann spruce.
In 1882 a visitor noted,"We, who... have wandered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as
the most enchanting region it has ever been our privilege (特权) to visit." This was also the living place of the
Rocky Mountain mule deer. Indians hunted there every autumn to gather meat and skins. The forest also had
mountain lions, timber wolves and bobcats that kept the deer from multiplying too rapidly.
Then, in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Kaibab a national game preserve. Deer hunting was
forbidden. Government hunters started killing off the deer's enemies. In 25 years' time, 6,250 mountain lions,
wolves and bobcats were killed. Before the program, there were about 4,000 deer in the Kaibab, by 1924,
there were about 100,000.
The deer ate every leaf and twig they could reach. But there was not nearly enough food. Hunting of deer
was permitted again. This caused a slight decrease in the deer herd (鹿群),but a far greater loss resulted from
starvation (饥饿) and disease. Some 60 percent of the deer herd died in two winters. By 1930 the herd had
dropped to 20,000 animals. By 1942 it was down to 8,000.
1. The destruction of the environment of the Kaibab resulted from _____.
A. turning the forest into cultivated land
B. interfering with natural cycle of forest life
C. forest fires caused by man's carelessness
D. cutting the trees for building materials
2. "Engelmann spruce"(Para. 2) is most likely the name of _____.
A. a tree
B. an animal
C. a mountain
D. a game
3. The number of the deer in the Kaibab had increased enormously in _____ years' time.
A. 25
B. 6
C. 18
D. 12
4. Years later, large numbers of deer in the Kaibab died mainly because of _____.
A. the cold
B. the organized kill
C. the shortage of food
D. the poor management
