FromJulytoOctobereveryyear,aboutaquarteroftheworld’sblu...

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From July to October every year, about a quarter of the world’s blue whales feed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. But the whales now face a major threat in their favorite feeding area. Lots of ships carrying cargo sail in the same area at the same time. All too often, a ship will hit a whale.

According to a new study, this problem has become a serious threat to the whole population of the world’s blue whales. There are only about 10,000 of the creatures in the world.

Blue whales are the largest known animals ever to live on Earth. But if hit by a container(集裝箱) ship, a blue whale will likely die from its injuries.

In 2007 alone, large ships killed five blue whales in the waters off San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that because there are so few whales already, losing three to five from the California whale population every year is a great loss.

“The population of blue whales in this part of the Pacific is about 2,500,” says Sean Hastings, a member of NOAA. “So every whale counts toward this population moving off the endangered-species list.”

Now, one very simple program is already under way in the Santa Barbara Channel, a waterway that separates mainland California from the nearby Channel Islands. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has asked large container ships passing through the area to slow down. Sailing slower will allow the ship’s members more time to look at detection(探測) equipment and – more important – to change course before hitting a whale.

Several of the world’s largest shipping lines are set to take part in the new program. For every ship that passes through the Santa Barbara Channel at or below the reduced speed of 12 knots(a measure of speed in water), the company that owns the ship will be paid $2,500.

25．The underlined part “this problem” in Paragraph 2 refers to the fact that .

A．whales are hit by ships B．whales lose their way

C．whales travel too far D．whales can’t find enough food

26．What can we learn about blue whales?

A．They like following container ships. B．They mainly live in the pacific Ocean.

C．They are in danger of disappearing. D．They were once large in number.

27．The purpose of the simple program mentioned in Paragraph 6 is to .

A．ship the whales B．guide the whales

C．look for the whales D．protect the whales

28．The text is most probably .

A．a travel guide B．a newspaper report

C．an advertisement D．a research paper