Preserving Nature for Future
Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 counties are members, have shown that 45 per cent of reptile species and 24 per cent of butterflies are in danger of dying out.
European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the councils diploma for nature reserves of the highest quality, and Dr Peter Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed to be allowed to survive in peace in their own right.
No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction, he went on. The short-sighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future.
We forget that they are the guarantee of life systems, on which any built-up area ultimately depends, Dr Baum went on. We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have shrunk to become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted land mass.
1. Recent studies by the council of Europe have indicated that
A) wildlife needs more protection only in Britain
B) all species of wildlife in Europe are in danger of dying out.
C) there are fewer species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe than else where
D) many species of reptiles an butterflies in Europe need protecting
2. Why did Dr Baum come to a British national park?
A) Because he needed to present it with a councils diploma.
B) Because he was concerned about its management
C) Because it was the only national park of its kind in Europe.
D) Because it was the only park which had ever received a diploma from the Council.
3. The last sentence in the second paragraph implies that
A) People should make every effort to create mere environment areas
B) People would go on protecting national parks
C) certain areas of countryside should be left intact
D) people would defend the right to develop the areas around national parks
4. In Dr Baums opinion, the view that a nature reserve should serve as a tourist attraction is
A) idealistic
B) revolutionary
C) short-sighted
D) traditional
5. Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A) We have developed industry at the expense of countryside
B) We have forgotten what our original countryside looked like
C) People living on islands should protect natural resources for their survival
D) We should destroy all the built-up areas.
KEY: DACCA