Objective Proficiency p 24. Human Impacts on the Lives of Animals. Extra Cloze

During the long history of life on Earth, the generally slow 1.___________ of evolution has been punctuated by dramatic 2.___________ extinction events, during 3.__________, over a relatively short period of time, a very large number of species became extinct. There are 4.___________ to have been five such events, of which the most recent occurred about 65 million years ago; it brought 5._________ the extinction of the dinosaurs. We are now entering 6.________ many biologists regard as the sixth event. This one differs from the previous five in 7._______ it is being caused, not by natural events such as volcanic activity or a meteorite 8.___________, but by the activities of one 9.__________, Homo sapiens. Many animal and plant species have become extinct in the last 50 years and an even greater number are 10.____________ with extinction, as the direct result of the many ways in which humans have destroyed or altered 11._____________ habitats.
We cannot be sure how many species will be affected in the immediate future, not 12._________ because we do not know how many species currently live on Earth. Only for a few groups, such as mammals and birds, is the number of living species known 13.__________ reasonable accuracy. For one of the better-known groups, the amphibians (frogs, toads, ...), new species are being described at a 14.__________ of about one or two per week, but a recent assessment of all the world’s known amphibians concluded 15.___________ about a third of all species (5700) are threatened with extinction in the near future. It is estimated that biodiversity in the Earth’s freshwater habitats has 16.__________ by 50% in the last 20 years.
While many species are heading for extinction, a few are actually 17.__________ in numbers. The movement of animals around the world is one of the most dramatic ways that humans have had an impact on other species and has 18._________ to the ‘homogenisation’ of nature.
A few species actually 19._____________ in urban environments, notably rats, cockroaches and pigeons, all of which live 20._________the rich detritus 21.________ left-over food that pollutes towns and cities. Rats are a particular problem, for two reasons. First, they act as vectors 22.________ a number of human diseases. Second, European colonists carried them with them on ships to other parts of the world where, released into the 23.__________, they have been a major factor in the destruction of native species, notably ground-nesting 24.______________.
Of most interest are those species that have been able to adapt to the adverse effects of human activities, demonstrating in doing 25.____________ that evolutionary change can come about much faster than had previously been thought possible.
In Africa and Asia, hunters have long shot elephants, selling their tusks to a very lucrative global 26._________ trade. This has favoured those individuals that 27._______ to develop tusks. Having no value, they are ignored by hunters and, in some parts of Asian and Africa tusk-less elephants are increasingly 28._____________.
One of the most significant ways in which humans have 29._________ on the lives of other species is by causing climate change. Many animals, including birds and frogs, now 30.__________ much earlier in spring in Britain than they did 20 years ago. 31.__________ or not this is having a harmful effect on them has yet to be determined. Many plants and insects have extended their geographical ranges northwards in Europe and so seem to have 32.___________ from climate change. 33.________ so the golden toad of Costa Rica which, confined 34._________ a few mountain tops in Costa Rica, had nowhere to go to when the climate changed, and is now 35.__________.

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KEY

1. pace (speed)

Punctuate something (with something) to interrupt something at intervals. E.g. Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. He punctuates his conversation with snatches (small parts) of song. 

2. mass (affecting or involving a large number of people or things. E.g. mass unemployment/ production. Weapons of mass destruction. Their latest product is aimed at the mass market.

3. which

4. thought

5. about (bring something about to make something happen. Cause. Sp.  Provocar. E.g. What brought about the change in his attitude?

6. what

7. that

8. impact

9. species

10. threatened

11. natural

12. least (not least especially. Sp. en particular. E.g. The documentary caused a lot of bad feeling, not least among the workers whose lives it described.)

13. with

14. rate (a measurement of the number of times something happens. E.g. Local businesses are closing at a/the rate of three a year.)

15. that

16. declined

17. increasing

18. led

19. thrive (to become, and continue to be, successful, strong, healthy, etc. Flourish. E.g. New businesses thrive in this area. These animals rarely thrive in captivity.)

20. off (live off something to have one particular type of food as the main thing you eat in order to live. E.g. He seems to live off junk food.

21. of (Detritus /dɪˈtraɪtəs/ any kind of rubbish/garbage that is left after an event or when something has been used. Sp. desechos. E.g. the detritus of everyday life).

22. for (vector an insect, etc. that carries a particular disease from one living thing to another. Sp. portador. E.g. Mosquitoes are the vectors in malaria.)

23. wild (the wild [singular] a natural environment that is not controlled by people. E.g. The bird is too tame now to survive in the wild. The animals were released back into the wild when they had recovered.)

24. birds 

25. so 

26. ivory (Tusk: either of the long curved teeth that stick out of the mouth of elephants)
 
27. fail (to not do something) 

28. common 

29. impacted 

30. breed ((of animals) to have sex and produce young. Sp. Criar. E.g. Many animals breed only at certain times of the year.) 

31. Whether 

32. benefited 

33. Not 

34. to (confine somebody/something to something [often passive] to keep somebody/something inside the limits of a particular activity, subject, area, etc. Restrict. E.g. The work will not be confined to the Glasgow area. I will confine myself to looking at the period from 1900 to 1916.)

35. extinct