English: Cloze Test Set 7
In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, four words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.
The cheetah, the world’s (1)_______ land animal, is headed toward extinction, largely due to unprecedented habitat loss, scientists (2)______ in a new study.
The research revealed that only 7,100 cheetahs remain globally and that the speedy animal has lost 91 percent of its historic habitat range. Due to human development, cheetahs’ habitat (3)_____ from a historical range totaling about 13 million square miles (33,056,767 square kilometers) before 1900, to now only covering about 280,000 square miles (724,514 square km), according to the researchers.
In Zimbabwe, where the cheetah distribution is well-documented, the population has (4)_______ from 1,200 individuals in 2000 to about 170 individuals in 2016, according to the study. Because of these dramatic losses, the (5)______ authors are urging scientists to change the cheetah’s conservation status from “vulnerable” to “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.
Cheetahs are particularly sensitive to habitat loss because of their large space requirements, said lead study author Sarah Durant.
The threats cheetahs face are (6)_____ caused by humans. These threats include overhunting by people, as well as habitat (7)______, the exotic-pet trade and illegal trafficking of cheetah parts, representatives with the WCS said in a statement.
Although there are some conservation measures in place for (8)______, such as protected areas, these cats are one of the world’s most wide-ranging carnivores, and 77 percent of their habitat falls outside protected areas, according to the study. These geographical complications make the cheetah difficult to protect, and so scientists are looking for a (9)______ holistic conservation approach.
The study’s authors are calling for the cheetah’s status to be changed to (10)_____ because this listing can lead to greater international conservation support, according to the WCS statement.
- A) longest
B) smallest
C) fastest
D) largest
- A) announced
B) declared
C) post
D) suppressed
- A) increased
B) generated
C) decreased
D) obtained
- A) lead
B) plunge
C) accumulated
D) plummeted
- A) main
B) study’s
C) only
D) national
- A) only
B) be
C) largely
D) due to
- A) loss
B) dropped
C) process
D) sense
- A) cats
B) Cheetahs
C) people
D) scientist
- A) less
B) secured
C) another
D) more
- A) complicated
B) endangered
C) secretive
D) vulnerable