I.S.P. "Dr. Joaqun V.

Gonzlez"
Departamento de Ingls
Curso de Consolidacin
Docente a cargo: Lic. Daniela Fiorina
Name: .

Reading Comprehension Exercise # 224

Below the passage, you will find a number of questions or unfinished statements about the
passage, each with four suggested answers or ways of finishing. You must choose the
one which you think fits best. Give one answer only to each question. Show your choice
by circling a letter. Read the passage right through before choosing your answers.

Diversity is a hallmark of life, an intrinsic feature of living systems in the natural world.
The demonstration and celebration of this diversity is an endless rite. Look at the
popularity of museums, zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens. The odder the exhibit, the
more different it is from the most common and familiar life forms around us, the more
successful it is likely to be. Nature does not tire of providing oddities for people who look
for them. Biologists have already formally classified 1.7 million species. As many as 30 or
40 million more may remain to be classified.
Most people seem to take diversity for granted. If they think about it at all they assume it
exists in endless supply. Nevertheless, diversity is endangered as never before in its
history. Advocates of perpetual economic growth treat living species as expendable. As a
result, an extinction crisis of unprecedented magnitude is under way. Worse yet, when
diversity needs help most, it is neglected and misunderstood by much of the scientific
community that once championed it.
Of the two great challenges to the legitimacy of this diversity, the familiar one comes
primarily from economists. Their argument, associated with such names as Julian Simon,
Malcolm McPherson and the late Herman Kahn, can be paraphrased: First, if endangered
species have a value as resources which has been greatly exaggerated- then we should be
able to quantify that value so that we can make unbiased, objective decisions about which
species, if any, we should bother to save, and how much the effort is worth. Secondly, the
global threat to the diversity of species, particularly in the tropics, has been overestimated.
Thirdly, we have good substitutes for the species and ecosystems that are being lost, and
these substitutes will nullify the damage caused by the extinctions.
The structure of the argument seems to me to be identical in form to that of an old joke
from the American vaudeville circuit. One elderly lady complained to another about her
recent vacation at a resort in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. The food was
terrible, she moaned. Pure poison. I couldnt eat a bite. And the portions were so tiny!
Species may be valuable, but not especially so, and the threat to them has been
exaggerated. But this does not matter anyway, say the economists, because we can replace
any species that vanishes.
It is not clear how much of an impact this argument has on the informed public, but it has
certainly provoked an outcry among scientific conservationists. It has set the terms for, and
dominated, most of the pro-diversity literature of the past few years, making it a literature
of response, thus limiting its scope and creative force.

1. Which feature of the natural world do people find especially fascinating?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Its
Its
Its
Its

great variety.
ancient forms.
strange rituals.
unclassified species.

2. Which adjective best describes the writers attitude towards the scientific
community?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Respectful.
Supportive.
Critical.
Uncomprehending.

3. Which statement represents the views of economists?

A.
B.
C.
D.

It is important to conserve endangered species.

Endangered species have no value in themselves.
Only some parts of the natural world are under threat.
New species could be introduced as necessary.

4. What point is the writer trying to make about the economists argument by
including
the joke in paragraph 4?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Their case is overstated.

Their logic is unsound.
They are unduly pessimistic.
They ignore the views of ordinary people.

5. Of which paragraph is paragraph 5 a summary?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Paragraph
Paragraph
Paragraph
Paragraph

1.
2.
3.
4.

6. The position of the scientific conservationists has been weakened because

they have
A.
B.
C.
D.

adopted the economists arguments.

failed to communicate with the public.
lost the initiative in the debate.
protested too loudly.