Once there were many thousands of Gourma Desert (沙漠) elephants in Mali, a country in West Africa. Now, there are fewer than four hundred.
Why did the number of the elephants drop so quickly? On the one hand, the elephants’ main lake, their only water source (来源), dried up. On the other hand, the land which the elephants lived on was overused by humans.
To protect the elephants’ living environment, the Mali Elephant Project (MEP) was started in 2007. MEP met with local people and helped them make rules of using land and water. As a result, the situation became better and there was more food, forest and grassland.
However, from 2012 to 2016, poaching (偷猎) and illegal trade in the elephants increased rapidly. Eighty-three elephants were lost in 2015 alone, and another fifty-one elephant were killed in 2016. “If this situation goes on, all the Gourma elephants will be killed by 2020,” said a member of MEP.
Luckily, the voice of MEP was heard. More organizations (组织) have joined together to educate the local people that trading elephants is against the law. Elephant poaching has dropped to a very low level. The local people have learned to live peacefully with the elephants, one of the wildlife treasures in the world.
26. MEP was started to ________.
A. raise more elephants in Mali B. stop the main lake from drying up
C. discover water source for elephants D. protect the elephants’ living environment
27. What does the word “illegal” in Paragraph 4 mean in Chinese?
A. 公平的 B. 亏损的 C. 非法的 D. 合理的
28. Eighty-three elephants were lost ________.
A. in 2012 B. in 2015 C. in 2016 D. in 2020
29. We can learn from the last paragraph that ________.
A. the number of organizations has dropped B. there is much less elephant poaching now
C. the local people keep the elephants at home D. the whole world live peacefully with elephants
30. This passage is mainly about ________.
A. the rules of using land and water B. the education of the local people
C. the work of Mali Elephant Project D. the situation of Gourma Desert elephants
这是一篇说明文，文章主要介绍了马里大象项目(MEP)保护大象的举措和努力。
26.D【解析】细节理解题。根据第三段“To protect the elephants’ living environment, the Mali Elephant Project (MEP) was started in 2007”可知是为了保护大象的居住环境，成立了马里大象项目，故选D。
27,.C【解析】词义猜测题。根据“Eighty-three elephants were lost in 2015 alone, and another fifty-one elephant were killed in 2016”可知illegal表达的是贬义，既然是偷猎，那就是违法的，此处指的是“非法的，违法的”。故选C。
28.B【解析】细节理解题。根据第三段“Eighty-three elephants were lost in 2015 alone”可知2015年失去83头大象，故选B。
29.B【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段“Luckily, the voice of MEP was heard. More organizations (组织) have joined together to educate the local people that trading elephants is against the law. Elephant poaching has dropped to a very low level. The local people have learned to live peacefully with the elephants, one of the wildlife treasures in the world”可知A选项“has dropped”表述错误；B选项表述正确，大象偷猎减少了很多；C选项“keep the elephants at home”表述错误；D选项“the whole world”表述错误。故选B。
30.D【解析】主旨大意题。文章主要讲述了马里大象Gourma elephants的现状以及保护措施等等，主旨大意可概括为the situation of Gourma Desert elephants。故选D。