SECTION III: READING

Part 1. Questions 56 – 65

Read the passage below and choose the best answer to each question.

     Nearly 200 of the 1500 native plant species in Hawaii are at risk of going extinct in the near future because they have been (56) _______ to such low numbers. Approximately 90 percent of Hawaii's plants are found nowhere else in the world but they are (57) _______ by alien invasive species such as feral goats, pigs, rodents and (58) _______ plants.

     The Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Group is striving to (59) _______ the extinction of the 182 rare Hawaiian plants with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the (60) _______ . Since 1990, (61) _______ a result of their "Plant Extinction Prevention Program", sixteen species have been brought into (62) _______ and three species have been reintroduced. Invasive weeds have been removed in key areas and fencing put up in order to (63) _______ plants in the wild.

     In the future the Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Program aims (64) _______ collecting genetic material from the remaining  plants  in  the  wild  for storage  as a safety net for the future. They also aim to manage wild populations and where possible reintroduce species into (65) _______ .

Nearly 200 of the 1500 native plant species in Hawaii are at risk of going extinct in the near future because they have been (56) _______ to such low numbers.