雅思写作真题（49）----

物种灭绝Vs人类保护

（2019年9月14日真题）

It is a natural process of animal species to become extinct (e.g. dinosaurs, dodos etc.).  There is no reason for people to prevent this from happening.  Do you agree or disagree?

（重复2018年的亚太考题）

Throughout geological history, many confirmed causes have involved extinction of some animal species, including global natural climate change, a series of catastrophic geologic events, and competition from better-adapted species and so on. There is a general perception that extinction of animal species like dinosaurs,dodos etc. is an inevitable natural process, so some people assume that human beings can’t stop it from happening. From my perspective, I quite disapprove of this view.

To begin with, in modern times, it is reported that species threatened by human activities such as over-hunting, over-fishing and over-farming are becoming extinct at a rate that far exceeds the pace of extinction throughout most of geologic history. Actually, dodos, whose closest relatives are pigeons and doves, became extinct partly due to over-hunting. In late 17th century, the island where dodos inhabited became a stopover for European ships and the dodo bird was a welcome source of fresh meat for the sailors; as a consequence, large numbers of dodo birds were killed for food.

Furthermore, in some regions, vulnerable native species have been decimated by non-native species imported by humans. In the example of the dodo bird above, before humans and other mammals arrived at the island, the dodo bird had little to fear from predators. However, when the Dutch used the island as a penal colony, pigs and monkeys were brought there along with the convicts. Some ships even had uninvited rats aboard, some of which escaped onto the island. All those exotic animals destroyed vulnerable dodo bird eggs in the ground nests.

In conclusion, it is apparent that the combination of human exploitation and introduced species significantly reduced dodo bird populations and thus the once abundant dodo bird was becoming extinct eventually. Other animals died out for similar reasons. Therefore, humans have the compelling obligation to protect species and prevent them from extinction.（309 words）