ReadthefollowingpassageandmarktheletterA,B, C,orD onyouranswersheettoindicatethecorrectanswertoeachofthe questions.

“Whenasnowleopardstalksitspreyamongthemountainwalls,itmoves softly,slowly,”explainsIndianbiologistRaghunandanSinghChundawat,who hasstudiedtheanimalforyears.“Ifitknocksastoneloose,itwillreachouta foottostopitfromfallingandmakingnoise.”Onemightbemovingrightnow, perfectly silent, maybe close by. But where? And how many are left to see?

Bestknownforitsspottedcoatandlongdistinctivetail,thesnowleopardis oneoftheworld’smostsecretiveanimals.Theseelusivecatscanonlybefound highintheremote,mountainousregionsofcentralAsia.Forthisreason,and because they hunt primarily at night, they are very rarely seen.

Snowleopardshavebeenofficiallyprotectedsince1975,butenforcingthis lawhasprovendifficult.Manycontinuetobekilledfortheirfurandbodyparts, whichareworthafortuneontheblackmarket.Inrecentyears,though,conflict withlocalherdershasalsoledtoanumberofsnowleoparddeaths.Thisis becausethebigcatskilltheherders’animals,anddragthebodiesawaytoeat high up in the mountains.

Asaresultofthesepressures,thecurrentsnowleopardpopulationisestimatedat only4,000 to7,000, andsome fear thatthe actualnumbermay alreadyhave

droppedbelow3,500.Theonlywaytoreversethistrendandbringthesecats backfromnearextinction,sayconservationists,istomakethemmorevaluable alive thandead.

BecausefarmingisdifficultinCentralAsia’scold,drylandscape,traditional culturesdependmostlyonlivestock(mainlysheepandgoats)tosurvivein thesemountainousregions.Atnight,whensnowleopardshunt,herders’ animalsareindangerofsnowleopardattacks.Losingonlyafewanimalscan pushafamilyintodesperatepoverty.“Thewolfcomesandkills,eats,andgoes somewhereelse,”saidoneherder,“butsnowleopardsarealwaysaround.They havekilledoneortwoanimalsmanytime.Everybodywantedtofinishthis leopard.”

Toaddressthisproblem,localreligiousleadershavecalledforanendtosnow leopardkillings,sayingthatthesewildanimalshavetherighttoexist peacefully.They’vealsotriedtoconvincepeoplethattheleopardsarequite rareandthusitisimportanttoprotectthem.Financialincentivesarealso helpingtoslowsnowleopardkillings.TheorganizationSnowLeopard Conservancy–IndiahasestablishedHimalayanHomestays,aprogramthat sendsvisitorstotheregiontoherders’houses.Foracleanroomandbed,meals withthefamily,andanintroductiontotheirculture,visitorspayabouttenU.S. dollarsanight.Havingguestsonceeverytwoweeksthroughthetouristseason providestheherderswithenoughincometoreplacetheanimalslosttosnow leopards.Inaddition,Homestayshelpsherdersbuildprotectivefencesthatkeep outsnowleopards.Theorganizationalsoconductsenvironmentalclassesat villageschoolsandtrainsHomestaysmembersasnatureguides,availablefor hire. In exchange,the herders agree not to kill snow leopards.

InMongolia,aprojectcalledSnowLeopardEnterprises(SLE)helpsherder communitiesearnextramoneyinexchangefortheirpromisetoprotectthe endangeredcat.WomeninMongolianherdercommunitiesmakeavarietyof products—yarnformakingclothes,decorativefloorrugs,andtoys—usingthe woolfromtheirherds.SLEbuystheseitemsfromherdingfamiliesandsells themabroad.Herdersmustagreetoprotectthesnowleopardsandtoencourage neighbors to do the same.

Thearrangementincreasesherders’incomesby10to15percentand “elevates”thestatusofthewomen.Ifnooneinthecommunitykillsthe protectedanimalsoverthecourseofayear,theprogrammembersarerewarded witha20percentbonusinadditiontothemoneythey’vealreadymade.An independentreviewin2006foundnosnowleopardkillingsinareaswhereSLE operates. Today the organization continuesto add more communities.ProjectsliketheHomestaysprograminIndiaandSLE’sbusinessinMongolia aredoingwell,thoughtheycoveronlyasmallpartofthesnowleopard’s homeland,theymaketheleopardsmorevaluabletomorepeopleeachyear.If theseprogramscontinuetodowell,thesnowleopardmayjusthaveafigting chance.

The word “benign” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.