The New South Wales government used planes to drop more than 4,000 pounds of carrots and sweet potatoes, to the forests which are damaged by the recent wildfires. The fires are reported to have killed more than a billion wild animals and destroyed a land of more than 84 thousand square kilometers—about twice the size of Maryland. What is worse, most Australians are worrying about when the wildfires will be fully put out.

“The home of several important wallabies (沙袋鼠) was burnt in the recent fires,” New South Wales Environment Minister Matt Kean said on Sunday. Kean said the drops are what wallabies need. The plan is designed to help wallabies and allow them to recover.

Fire seasons often take place in the country, but this year the fires have been quite devastating. The country experienced one of its hottest and driest years, which made it harder to put out the fires. Besides wild animals, the fires have taken the lives of at least 25 people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.

“I think there’s nothing to compare with the damage that’s going on over such a large area so quickly. It’s a big event in terms of geography and the number of wild animals,” Dickman, an animal protection expert, said in an interview with NPR last week.

“We know that the number of Australian wild animals has been going down over the last several decades, and it’s probably fairly well known that Australia’s got the world’s highest rate of extinction of animals,” he added. “It’s events like this that may increase the speed of extinction of a lot of other animals. So, it’s very sad time. Everyone has to try their best to do something for them.”

【小题1】Why did the Australian government drop potatoes?

A．To feed the animals.	B．To trap the animals.
C．To plant potatoes there.	D．To help the people.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “devastating” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Damaging.	B．Interesting.
C．Surprising.	D．Tiring.

【小题3】What can we know about the recent Australian wildfires from the text?

A．They have been under control.

B．The weather is helpful in putting out them.

C．They have killed a small amount of wildlife.

D．They have greatly influenced both people and animals.

【小题4】What does Dickman want to stress in the last paragraph?

A．Australia has a lot of wildlife.

B．Australians have suffered a lot.

C．Australians should protect the wildlife.

D．The government is responsible for the wildfires.