你要是想观赏生活在英国的蝴蝶，那可得快点了。英国蝴蝶保护协会（Butterfly Conservation）的一份报告警告说，58种蝴蝶中有24种可能很快就会从英国消失。
The modern world is not proving to be kind to our butterflies. The wild grasslands and sunny woodland clearings, where they once fluttered and thrived, have to a large extent been ploughed up or grown over.
事实证明，现代世界并没有善待蝴蝶。它们曾在野生草地和阳光明媚的林中空地上翩翩飞舞、繁衍生息，但这些地方很大程度上已经被翻耕或杂草丛生。
Our insatiable demand for food means more fertilisers and pesticides. Of the 58 species of butterflies that breed here, 24 are now on the Red List. That means threatened with dying out altogether.
我们对粮食永无止境的需求促使了化肥和杀虫剂的使用。在这类环境中繁殖的58种蝴蝶中，24种现已列入红色名录，该名录上的蝴蝶面临灭绝的威胁。
That's five more than when the list was last compiled 11 years ago. Though the overall picture is grim, it's not all bad news. Targeted conservation programmes mean both the high brown fritillary and the large blue butterfly are no longer classified as critically endangered.
被列为 “濒危” 的蝴蝶种类比11年前最近一次编制这份名录时多了五种。尽管整体状况严峻，但也并不都是坏消息。针对灿福蛱蝶和大蓝蝶开展的保护计划使这两种蝴蝶均不再被列为 “极度濒危物种”。
词汇表
clearings 林中空地
fluttered 扑打翅膀，翩翩飞舞
thrived 繁衍生息
ploughed up 开垦成耕地
insatiable 无法满足的，永无止境的
grim 严峻的
阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。
1. What has happened to the habitats where butterflies once thrived?
2. How many of the butterflies that breed in the UK are on a Red List?
3. How many more butterflies are on the Red List than when it was last compiled?
4. Which butterflies are no longer classified as critically endangered?
答案
1. What has happened to the habitats where butterflies once thrived?
The wild grasslands and sunny woodland clearings have been ploughed up or grown over to a large extent.
2. How many of the butterflies that breed in the UK are on a Red List?
24 of the 58 species of butterflies that breed here are now on the Red List.
3. How many more butterflies are on the Red List than when it was last compiled?
There are five more than when the list was last compiled 11 years ago.
4. Which butterflies are no longer classified as critically endangered?
The high brown fritillary and the large blue butterfly are no longer classified as critically endangered.
