▶ Your Answer :
The speaker claims that zoos are effective ways to protect and study animals. This goes agains the reading passage's claim that zoos are not beneficial to both humans and animals. To begin with, the speaker states that zoos are effective tools to protect endangered animal species. The speaker takes an example of Californian condors. In the early twentieth century, Californian condors were almost at the point of extinction. So experts tried to thrive them in zoos. Fortunately, experts succeeded in breeding them and condors could return to their natural habitats. It means that there is no problem with breeding in captivity. This casts doubt on the reading passage's claim that zoos have had very little success in saving animals, as many animals do not breed in zoos. On top of that, the speaker predicates that modern zoos are trying to set up living places that are similar to their real habitats. For instance, a zoo in North Carolina tried to mimick African plains for animals and had good responses from zookeepers. This example suggests that if zoos provide animals with habitats that are similar to their natural habitats, animals can be safer. This refutes the reading passage's claim that as artificial habitats are not similar to natural habitats, animals would behave abnormally or could be depressed. Finally, the speaker argues that zoos are the best way to study animals directly. Although there are many books, we cannot see animals with our own eyes. On the other hand, we can see many animals, including endangered species in zoos. Thus zoos are the best place to research animals and get more precise information about them. This challenges the reading passage's claim that because there are a score of books already, we can study animals with them, and in addition, we can just observe them in the wild. |