RC - Golden Toad.

[Ravi]

The golden toad of Costa Rica, whose beauty and rarity inspired an
unusual degree of human interest from a public generally unconcerned
about amphibians, may have been driven to extinction by human activity
nevertheless. In the United States, a public relations campaign
featuring the toad raised money to purchase and protect the toad’s
habitat in Costa Rica, establishing the Monteverde Cloud Forest
Preserve in 1972. Although this action seemed to secure the toad's
future, it is now apparent that setting aside habitat was not enough
to save this beautiful creature. The toad's demise in the late 1980s
was a harbinger of further species extinction in Costa Rica. Since
that time, another twenty of the fifty species of frogs and toads
known to once inhabit a 30 square kilometer area near Monteverde have
disappeared.
          The unexplained, relatively sudden disappearance of
amphibians in Costa Rica is not a unique story. Populations of frogs,
toads, and salamanders have declined or disappeared the world over.
Scientists hypothesize that the more subtle effects of human
activities on the world's ecosystems, such as the build-up of
pollutants, the decrease in atmospheric ozone, and changing weather
patterns due to global warming, are beginning to take their toll.
Perhaps amphibians - whose permeable skin makes them sensitive to
environmental changes - are the "canary in the coal mine," giving us
early notification of the deterioration of our environment. If
amphibians are the biological harbingers of environmental problems,
humans would be wise to heed their warning.

1. The passage implies that

A many amphibians are not considered beautiful.
B the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve was not large enough to protect
the golden toad.
C only Costa Rican amphibians living near Monteverde have disappeared
since the 1980s.
D amphibians sometimes live in coal mines.
E no humans yet consider the decline of amphibious populations an
indication of a threat to human populations.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that

A only thirty species of frogs and toads remain in Costa Rica
B humans do not have permeable skin
C the build-up of pollutants in the atmosphere causes a decrease in
atmospheric ozone
D humans do not usually take signals of environmental deterioration seriously
E Costa Rica suffers from more serious environmental problems than
many other countries

[jyothi nookula]

1. A- beauty and rarity inspired unusual interest means that if other amphibians were equally beautiful then why would this be unusual??

other options are worse. So this remains.

B the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve was not large enough to protect

the golden toad.[ passage says maintaing habitat alone is not enough. space wise it says it is sufficient]

C only Costa Rican amphibians living near Monteverde have disappeared

since the 1980s.[all world over is mentioned in the passage]

D amphibians sometimes live in coal mines.[ atrocious :P analogy is mentioned]

E no humans yet consider the decline of amphibious populations an

indication of a threat to human populations.[ no humans is a strong word]

 

2. A only thirty species of frogs and toads remain in Costa Rica[ only the species near monteverde is given]

B humans do not have permeable skin[ my answer. amphibians have permeable skin that makes them sensitive to environment thus serving as harbinger of sorts. This is the reason humans are asked to pay heed. If we too had permeable skin, the effects of environment would have been felt by us. Since we do not have permeable skin the author asks us to pay heed to sensitive environmental changes]

C the build-up of pollutants in the atmosphere causes a decrease in atmospheric ozone[ such a causual statement is not mentioned]

D humans do not usually take signals of environmental deterioration seriously[ the author says that humans would be wise to pay heed but never mentions that humans usually do not take signals seriously]

E Costa Rica suffers from more serious environmental problems than many other countries[ comparison does not occur]

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Jyothi

[Ravi]

Great explanations, Correct answers.

[Syed Mehboob]

Nice explanations Jytohi :)