One thing the tour books don’t tell you about London is that 2,000 of its residents are foxes , which fled the city about centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in . But now that the environment is cleaner , the foxes have come home , one of the many wild animals that have moved into urban areas around the world .
Several changes have brought wild animals to the concrete jungles . First of all , air and water quality in many cities has improved as a result of the 1970s’ pollution control efforts . meanwhile , rural areas have been built up , leaving many animals on the edges of suburban areas . In addition , conservationists have created urban wildlife shelters .
“ The number and variety of wild animals in urban areas is increasing , ” says Gomez Jones . One of the country’s largest populations of raccoons now lives in Washington , D.C. , and moose are regularly seen wandering into Maine towns . Peregrine falcons（猎鹰）dive from the window edges of buildings in the largest U.S. cities to hunt for pigeons .
For peregrine falcons , cities are actually safer than rural areas . By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because the DDT , a widely used poison to kill insects , had made their eggs too thin to support life . That year , Tom Cade began raising the birds for release in cities , for cities afforded abundant food in the form of pigeons and contained none of the peregrines’ natural enemies .
“ Before they died out , some migrated to cities on their own because they had run out of natural habitats , ” Cade says . “ To peregrines , buildings are just like natural habitats . ” He has released about 30 birds since 1975 in New York , Baltimore , Philadelphia and Norfolk , and of the 20 pairs now living in the East , half are originally born in the city . “ A few of the young ones have gotten into trouble by falling down chimneys and crashing into window glass , but overall their adjustment has been successful . ”
小题1:. The first paragraph suggests that __________ .
A．environment is vital for wildlife
B．tour books are not a reliable source of information
C．London is a city of fox
D．foxes are highly adaptable to environment小题2:. The passage is mainly concerned with __________ .
A．wildlife of all kinds returning to large cities to live
B．falcons in New York , Baltimore , Philadelphia , and Norfolk
C．moose running into glass doors of stores
D．foxes returning to London小题3:. The following statements about peregrine falcons are true EXCEPT __________ .
A．They died out east of he Mississippi because of the side effect of DDT
B．They tend to jump down from a height to hunt for food
C．They like running into glass windows or chimneys
D．Most of them have got used to living in the concrete jungle小题4:. The second paragraph is trying to tell us __________ .
A．that air and water quality has improved in the cities
B．why wildlife likes the noise and activities in the cities
C．that wildife refuges have been built in the cities
D．why wildlife is returning to cities
