Reading Comprehension
Questions 1-9
In 1972,
a century after
the first national
park in the United
States was established
at Yellowstone, legislation was
passed to create
the National Marine
Sanctuaries Program. The
intent of this
legislation was to
provide protection to
selected coastal habitats
similar To that
existing for land
areas designated as
national parks. The
designation of an
areas a marine
sanctuary indicates that
it is a
protected area, just as a national
park is. People
are permitted to
visit and observe
there, but living
organisms and their
environments may not be harmed or removed.
The National
Marine Sanctuaries Program
is administered by
the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, a
branch of the
United States Department
of Commerce. Initially,
70 sites were
proposed as candidates
for sanctuary status. Two
and a half
decades later, only
fifteen sanctuaries had
been designated, with
half of these
established after 1978.
They range in
size from the
very small (less
than I square
kilometer) Fagatele Bay National
Marine Sanctuary in
American Samoa to
the Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary in California, extending over 15,744
square kilometers.
The National
Marine Sanctuaries Program
is a crucial
part of new
management practices in
which whole communities
of species, and
not just individual
species, are offered some
degree of protection
from habitat degradation
and overexploitation. Only in
this way can
a reasonable degree
of marine species
diversity be maintained
in a setting that
also maintains the
natural interrelationships that
exist among these
species. Several other types
of marine protected
areas exist in the
United States and
other countries. The National
Estuarine Research Reserve
System, managed by
the United States government,
includes 23 designated
and protected estuaries.
Outside the United States, marine
protected-area programs exist
as marine parks,
reserves, and preserves. Over 100
designated areas exist
around the periphery
of the Carbbean
Sea. Others range from the
well-known Australian Great
Barrer Reef Marine
Park to lesser-known
parks in countries
such as Thailand
and Indonesia, where
tourism is placing
growing pressures on
fragile coral reef
systems. As state,
national, and international
agencies come to recognize the
importance of conserving
marine biodiversity, marine
projected areas. whether
as sanctuaries, parks,
or estuarine reserves,
will play an
increasingly important role in preserving that diversity.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) Differences among marine parks, sanctuaries, and
reserves
(B) Various marine
conservation programs
(C) International agreements on coastal protection
(D) Similarities between land and sea protected environments
2. The word “intent” in line 3 is closest in meaning to ….
(A) repetition
(B) approval
(C) goal
(D) revision
3. The word “administered” in line 8 is closest in meaning
to ….
(A) managed
(B) recognized
(C) opposed
(D) justified
4. The word “these” in line 11 refers to ….
(A) sites
(B) candidates
(C) decades
(D) sanctuaries
5. The passage mentions the Monterey Bay National Marine
Sanctuary (lines 13-14) as an
example of a sanctuary that ….
(A) is not well know
(B) covers a large
area
(C) is smaller than the Fagatele Bay National Marine
Sanctuary
(D) was not originally proposed for sanctuary status
6. According to the passage, when was the National Marine
Sanctuaries Program established?
(A) Before 1972
(B) After 1987
(C) One hundred years before national parks were established
(D) One hundred years
after Yellowstone National Park was established
7. According to the passage, all of the following are
achievements of the National Marine Sanctuaries
Program EXCEPT ….
(A) the discovery of
several new marine organisms
(B) the preservation of connections between individual
marine species
(C) the protection of coastal habitats
(D) the establishment of areas where the public
can observe marine life
8. The word “periphery” in line 24 is closest in meaning to
….
(A) depth
(B) landmass
(C) warm habitat
(D) outer edge
9. The passage mentions which of the following as athreat to
marine areas outside the United States?
(A) Limitations in financial support
(B) The use of marine species as food
(C) Variability of the climate
(D) Increases in
tourism
