The Red List is published annually by the World Conservation Union to

The Red List is published annually by the World Conservation Union to indicate to the world which species are threatened, endangered, and extinct. The most recent list included nearly 16,000 endangered species, including, incredibly, nearly every ape on the planet.

The western lowland gorilla moved from “endangered” to “critically endangered” in 2007. “Critically endangered” indicates that its population and range are shrinking, and it is in imminent danger of extinction. The mountain gorilla, once studied by George Schaller and Dian Fossey in the 1960s, has also been endangered for years.

The gorilla has the misfortune to be native to an area that has been ravaged by war. Rwanda and the Congo are war-torn nations, and the resulting damage to habitat has affected gorillas as well as humans. Gorilla populations have also been ransacked by the Ebola virus, which has killed an estimated 90 percent of the gorilla population in each area of western and central Africa where it has been found.

Like humans, gorillas tend to have a single offspring at one time, with each one gestating for about nine months. Females do not mature until around age six, and nearly half of baby gorillas do not survive till breeding age.

The number-one threat to gorillas, however, is human greed. Humans are burning down the forests where the last remaining gorilla families live. They are doing this to harvest charcoal, which is used to fuel cooking fires throughout the region. In addition, they are poaching the last remaining gorillas for meat and for their hands or other parts, which are considered a delicacy in Africa and are used medicinally in parts of Asia.

Even the tourist industry, once thought to be a way to preserve the ape population, has proved deadly to the gorillas. Many have died from measles or respiratory infections caught from humans. Despite the best efforts of dedicated conservationists and African rangers, some give these vegetarian cousins of Homo sapiens no more than a decade before all wild specimens are eradicated.

1. The author’s tone indicates that she feels the eradication of apes is

(A) inevitable
(B) shocking
(C) intentional
(D) impossible
(E) accepted

2. Based on information in the passage, about how many gorillas have survived Ebola in regions where the virus is prevalent?

(A) About 1 percent
(B) About 1 in 10
(C) About one-half
(D) Only 9 in 10
(E) About three-quarters

3. How are the ideas in the first two sentences of the second paragraph related?

(A) Sentence 2 provides a contrast to sentence 1.
(B) Sentence 2 is the next step after sentence 1.
(C) Sentence 2 defines a term that appears in sentence 1.
(D) Sentence 2 provides support for a theory in sentence 1.
(E) Sentence 2 gives a reason for sentence 1.

4. Which of the following most accurately summarizes the main point of the passage?

(A) Gorillas are not designed for survival.
(B) Conservation is unrealistic.
(C) Humans put gorillas at risk.
(D) We all must protect our ape cousins.
(E) We should build more parks and zoos.

5. The author’s purpose in the fifth paragraph is to

(A) introduce a hypothesis and support it with examples
(B) compare some indignities perpetrated on apes
(C) list some possible reasons for the extinction of species
(D) contradict theories suggested in earlier paragraphs
(E) provide examples of issues introduced in the fourth paragraph

6. By the end of the passage, the author concludes that

(A) Africans care little about gorillas
(B) the large apes should fight back
(C) humans are largely evil
(D) war is the main threat to gorillas
(E) gorillas may not survive