Nouabalé-Ndoki national park, in the Republic of Congo, is 4,200 square kilometres of virgin tropical forest that is as densely populated with elephants and great apes as it is sparsely populated with rangers. There are 14 of them, and they have failed to catch a single poacher for more than a year. That is not for lack of illegal hunting in the park. Demand for ivory is up, driven largely by consumers in Japan and an increasingly wealthy China. The value of meat from elephants, apes and other animals has also risen as loggers and miners move deeper into the country's forests. Nor is this a problem confined to Congo. Last year poachers are estimated to have killed more than 23,000 African elephants. According to a study by the University of Washington, that is about one in 17 of the continent's total.
Nouabalé-Ndoki's rangers are, however, about to get some high-tech help in the form of TrailGuard, a system of small and easily hidden electronic detection and communication devices. They will soon begin burying radio-transmitting metal detectors alongside elephant trails leading into the park. Authorised travelers through the park will be given transponders that tell the detectors who they are, as with the “identification friend-or-foe” systems on military aircraft. But when poachers carrying rifles walk by a detector, it will send a radio signal to a treetop antenna. Seconds later the rangers will receive the intruder's co-ordinates on their satellite phones. They will then be able to respond precisely, rather than running around on fruitless and demoralising patrols on the small chance of catching a poacher up to no good.
TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick, an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York (SUNY) to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security, to promote his idea. Besides catching more (or, indeed, any) poachers, he hopes his invention will also prove to be an example of an idea from another one-time electrical engineer, Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's Third Law, as it is known to fans of his science-fiction writing, is that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Many people in Congo do believe in magic and Mr Gulick does not propose to disabuse them of the notion. Local people will receive no explanation for the rangers' new powers. That, Mr Gulick hopes, will discourage potential poachers from turning thought into deed.
Nor are metal detectors the only magic to be deployed. Small fire detectors hidden in trees should add to the anti-poaching unit's reputation for detection. Poachers frequently smoke meat from their kills to preserve it during transport to market. Like the metal detectors, the fire detectors will alert the rangers by satellite phone, allowing them to swoop as from nowhere.
注（1）：本文选自Economist, 06/07/2007
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为1998年真题Text 2和1997年真题Text 3第4题。
1． According to the author, illegal hunting is _______.
[A] a shared problem in many countries
[B] not as serious as it seems
[C] becoming less and less
[D] effectively controlled.
2． What is the author’s attitude towards the technology of TrailGuard?
[A] supportive
[B] objective
[C] indifferent
[D] worried
3． Local people’s reaction to ranger’s new power is probably _______.
[A] that they become keen of advanced technologies
[B] that they fear it is some kind of magical power
[C] that they tend to challenge the new technological equipment
[D] that they are not concered about the issue at all
4． Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
[A] Steve Gulick’s invention is from Arthur C. Clarke’s idea.
[B] The radio-transmitting metal detectors can distinguishi between tralvers and proachers.
[C] Arthur C. Clarke is known as a writer of science fictions.
[D] There are various kinds of detectors buried across the national park.
5． It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
[A] Before adopting the new technology, rangers could not catch any proacher.
[B] TrailGuard is successful in fighting again illegal hunting.
[C] Proachers use fire to make food from their preys.
[D] Illegal hunting is mainly driven by huge demand of animal meat.
篇章剖析
本文是一篇说明文，介绍诺娃贝尔多基国家公园如何通过采用高科技手段来提高与偷猎者作斗争的效率。第一段先说明了国家公园里存在着严重偷猎问题，而传统的守林方式已经无法继续对公园里的生物进行有效的保护。第二段介绍了这种电子探测交流工具的特点和功能；第三段介绍了这种工具的发明人；最后一段则简要介绍了另一种高科技工具。
词汇注释
ranger [`reindVE] n. 巡逻骑兵, 护林员 rifle [`raifl] n. 来复枪, 步枪
poacher [`pEutFE] n. 偷猎者 antenna [An`tenE] n. 天线
detention [di`tenFEn] n. 拘留, 禁闭 intruder [in`tru:dE] n. 入侵者
trail [treil] n. 踪迹, 痕迹, 形迹 demoralise [di`mCrElaiz] v. 士气受挫
transponder [trAn`spCndE] n. [无]异频雷达收发机 patrol [pE`trEul] n. 巡逻
foe [fEu] n. 反对者, 敌人