Voters in Colorado narrowly approved an initiative(计划),setting the stage for the return of gray wolves, which were wiped out in this area by the 1940s. This is the first time that a state has reintroduced an animal like this.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife department will lead the effort to establish a sustainable population of gray wolves in the western part of the state,beginning in 2022 or 2023. The Southern Rocky Mountains,where there used to be a lot of them, contain millions of acres of suitable habitat that could support several hundred wolves or more, biologists say.
However, some say it's unwise to leave the question to voters. "State biologists have previously declined to introduce wolves. There's a reason it's never been done before." says Shawn Martini,spokesperson for Coloradans for Protecting Wildlife, noting that most supporters are from urban areas and they don't have to live alongside the animal, unlike people living in the countryside. Farmers and hunters don't favor the initiative, either. Farmers worry wolves will kill their cattle while hunters worry they will lose elk(驼鹿)to the predators.
On the other hand,according to Jonathan Proctor,a conservationist with the Defenders of Wildlife,reintroducing wolves will restore Colorado's natural balance. They help thin out sick animals, maintaining healthy populations of deer and elk. The remains of wolf kills also provide food for "eaters of the dead", including wolverines, eagles, and bears. He also emphasizes the experience of living with wolves in other places,like the Northern Rockies, has shown that wolves are not the threat people sometimes make them out to be. Reintroduction program biologists promise to make it a priority to work with people living alongside wolves, providing training and resources to keep the wolves out of the farms in the first place. And a program will be funded to pay farmers for their lost cattle.
What can we learn about the Southern Rocky Mountains from the text? ______
A. They are heavily populated.
B. They were inhabited by wolves.
C. They are in the east of Colorado.
D. They are home to small animals.
What's Shawn Martini's opinion about the return of the gray wolves? ______
A. It's unfair to make it happen by voting.
B. It's welcomed by urban and rural people.
C. State biologists shouldn't have opposed it.
D. The wolves should be put somewhere else.
What will the program biologists probably do first? ______
A. Buy more cattle.
B. Reach out to the locals.
C. Relocate the wolves.
D. Clear the site for wolves.
What can be a suitable title for the text? ______
A. Wolves are Coming Home.
B. No Worries about Wolves.
C. Always Vote for What is Right.
D. Wolves Help Local Ecosystem.