Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. primarily               B. transmitted               C. drawn               D. concerned            E. convince F. extending               G. speedily                  H. temporary          I. awareness          J. risk          K. regulate

Path of the Jaguar

In recent decades, over half of the big cat’s prime habitat has been taken over by ranching, farming, and development. The jaguars(美洲虎)are threatened. Conservationists are【小题1】about how to protect these powerful animals from extinction. Epidemiologists also care for the jaguar population. Why? Because new research shows that if the health of the jaguar population is in danger, human health will also be at【小题2】.

Alan Rabinowitz, one of the world’s leading jaguar experts, explains that diseases such as HIV, West Nile virus, and avian influenza are【小题3】by certain animals. In the past, many of these diseases have been kept in control by predators such as the jaguar. Without predators, the animals grow【小题4】in numbers, and the diseases that they carry can become stronger. Some diseases become zoonotic, jumping from animal species to humans. As predators, jaguars can play an essential role in preventing the spread of these diseases as well as future pandemics that could be just around the corner.

However, in order for humans to peacefully coexist with jaguars, there has to be a way for the animals to kill their prey in the wild, not on the cattle ranches. As the head of the Panthera Foundation—a conservation group dedicated to protecting the world’s 36 species of wild cats, Rabinowitz works to conserve the jaguar’s habitats through a programme called Paseo del Jaguar(Path of the Jaguar). This is a vast network of interconnected corridors and refuges, 【小题5】from the US-Mexico border to South America. It aims to keep the jaguar from joining lions and tigers on the endangered species list. This, in turn, may keep diseases under control.

The Panthera Foundation is a non-profit organization which hopes to【小题6】national governments to maintain this network of habitats through land-use planning. Studies have pointed out that even areas that are smaller than one and a half square miles can serve as【小题7】, one-or two-day homes, a stepping stone for wandering jaguars.

Rabinowitz is focusing first on Mexico and Central America, where officials in all eight countries have approved the project. Costa Rica has already incorporated protection of the jaguar corridor into laws that【小题8】land development. Paseo del Jaguar is an enormous programme, but Rabinowitz is encouraged by his audiences’ positive responses when he talks about jaguars. People are【小题9】to the animal’s beauty, strength, and mystery. As conservation efforts increase and【小题10】grows about the jaguar’s role in preventing diseases, hopefully these ”killers“ will be saved.