B. Read the passage carefully, decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F), and then answer the questions.

Everybody loves the giant pand a. That was clear from the enthusiastic welcome New Yorkers gave to Ling Ling and Yong Yong when they arrive at the Bronx Zoo in May. The cuddy black- and white pair were on loan for six months from China’s Beijing Zoo, and it was estimated that more than 1 million people visited them in New York before they left for a zoo in Tampa, Florida in early November.

The giant panda, unfortunately, is an endangered species. Only about 700 are left in the wild, most of them living on reserves in China’s Sichuan Province. Despite conservation efforts on the part of the Chinese government and scientists worldwide, the population continues to decline as human beings cut down bamboo, the panda’s primary food.

Can the panda be saved? Of course. All it needs is bamboo and peace. Every panda population should have at least two bamboo species available to lessen the impact of a die-off. Bamboo at low elevations must be preserved or replanted. Existing reserves need to be expanded and new reserves created. Poaching must be controlled. Zoos must improve

captive breeding to provide more pandas for their original home.

China‘s Ministry of Forestry and the World Wildlife Fund are continuing their

collaborative effort on the panda‘s behalf, guided by the spirit of their joint agreement that

reads: “The giant panda is not only the precious property of the Chinese people, but also a

precious natural heritage of concern to people all over the world.

True or false?

Answer the questions.

The current rate of extinction is thought to be far greater than the expected natural rate, with many species going (39) ___________ before they have even been discovered.