(GATE ENG) Hackers TOEFL Reading 3-4

1 ⇒ In prehistoric times, lions roamed large expanses of Europe. Like

other megafauna at the time, these European lions suffered devastating losses during the last ice age, and by around 10,000 years ago, the lion population of Europe was virtually extinguished. Scientists have traditionally held that a scarce food supply was the sole reason that led to the European lion's decline. But while its quarry were becoming less common, fossil records show that some of its favored prey, such as reindeer and musk oxen, survived even after their large feline predators dwindled. This indicates that the reasons for the creature's deterioration were probably more complex than was previously thought. It is now believed that a combination of climatic and vegetative change, along with food scarcity, led to their disappearance from most of Europe. As the global climate warmed, the vast steppes European lions depended on were gradually replaced by forest, severely limiting the available space for hunting. With less space and prey at their disposal, lions were simply unable to sustain their prehistoric numbers.

 

2 There were, however, occasional records of lion sightings in southern Europe during

historic times, which suggests that there were surviving populations in some locales or an influx of lions from neighboring regions. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, when the Persian commander Xerxes invaded Greece in the 5th century B.C., his transport camels were attacked by lions. Herodotus also pointed out that lions were largely confined to the area between the Achelos and Nestos rivers, which indicates that their geographical distribution was severely limited and status endangered. And from approximately two thousand years ago, there are no records of wild lions in southern Europe. If lions did indeed occupy the area, their tenure was brief, and their demise was no doubt hastened by sport hunting among Greek leaders, such as Alexander the Great, and to a lesser extent, by the Roman demand for lions to fight in their arenas.

 

3 ⇒ In Africa and Asia, lions survived in significant numbers until modern times. Then in the 19th century, there was a rapid decline in African and Asian lion populations. The central causes were the advent of industrial technology and the explosion of the human

population. Modern machinery allowed people to harness wilderness areas for human

habitation, forestry, and agriculture. In turn, human contact with lions increased, and

modern firearms and chemical pesticides made it easier to kill lions in mass quantities

and with shocking rapidity. Put simply, the lions had far less room to hunt, and it they

entered areas that were occupied by humans, they were commonly shot or poisoned. It is estimated that between 1800 and 2000, the human population grew by 600 percent while the lion population decreased by 95 percent.

 

4 ⇒ The vast majority of the world's lions are now confined to sub-Saharan Africa. There they live in pockets of land scattered across the subcontinent, Of the approximate 30,000 or so lions left in Africa, many are still in danger from poaching by hunters ne poisoning by livestock farmers. The situation with lions in Asia is even more perilous. Sole surviving Asiatic lion population now lives in India's Gir lion sanctuary, which is home to only a few hundred lions. Despite their protected status, these last remaining Asiatic lions are in severe danger of extinction for two reasons. First, they are descendents of only about a dozen lions that happened to be saved by a wealthy Indian prince. Their shared heredity means they have a very narrow gene pool and are highly inbred. It is feared that inbreeding may have left them genetically weak and highly vulnerable to disease. If a contagious illness were to gain a foothold in the population, many of the lions could perish, and their numbers might fall to unrecoverable levels. Second, there remains some occasional conflict with the few residents who still inhabit the park, and whose livelihoods depend on raising livestock, When lions prey on the livestock, it creates disdain for lions among the local people. In order to quarantee the lions' future in the park, it is necessary to continue the ongoing efforts of protecting livestock as well as maintaining sufficient numbers of wild ungulates that the lions depend on for food.

2. The word "sole" in the passage is closest in meaning to

5. The word "harness" in the passage is closest in meaning to

7. The word "commonly" in the passage is closest in meaning to