Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 24 to 28.

In Southeast Asia, many forests have been cut down to produce timber and to clear land for farms and industries. The destruction of forests has reduced the living space of wildlife. Much of Asia’s wildlife is also threatened by over-hunting. Many people kill animals for food or hunt them to sell to zoos, medical researchers, and pet traders. Because of habitat destruction and over-hunting, many large Asian animals, including elephants, rhinoceroses, and tigers, have become endangered.

In China, people have cut down most of the forests for wood, which has caused serious soil erosion. The soil is deposited in rivers and streams, which lowers the quality of the water. The Huang He, or Yellow River, is so named because the light-colored soil gives the water a yellowish color. The soil has also raised the river-bed. As a result, the Huang He often floods, causing great property damage and loss of life along its banks.

The word “over-hunting” in line 3 is closest in meaning to _____.