Question

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports that more than 31,000 species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction in 2020. That number actually reports a low number than what is true. Since 1964, when researchers of IUCN established a "red list" of threatened species and began collecting data gathered worldwide, the list has become the preeminent data of endangered life and an essential tool for conservation policy. Yet *it* has been able to assess only about 106,000 species of the more than 1.5 million species of animals and more than 300,000 plants that scientists have described and named.

In this paragraph *it* refers to what?
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Answer 1

Mount Everest attracted the author because it is the highest, the mightiest and has defied many previous attempts. It takes the last ounce of one’s energy.

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