You may attempt any part at a time.
All questions of that particular part must be attempted in the correct order.
READING: (10 marks)
Part A (40 Marks)
I Read the passage carefully.
(1) Evolution has designated vultures to be the ultimate scavengers. Enormous wingspans
allow them to circle in the air for hours. Their beaks, while rather horrifying, are weak
by bird standards, made to scoop and eat flesh.
(2) However unappealing they may seem, vultures serve an important role in the ecological
cycle: processing dead bodies of animals. 20 years ago, India had plenty of vultures-
flocks so enormous that they darkened the skies. But by 1999, their numbers had
dropped due to a mysterious kidney ailment. By 2008, 99.9 per cent of India's vultures
were gone. It was discovered that they had been killed by a drug called diclofenac (a
pain reliever along the lines of aspirin and ibuprofen).
(3) Indians revere their cows, and when a cow showed signs of pain, they treated it with
diclofenac. After the animal died, the vultures would eat the corpse. And though they
can boast of perhaps having the world's most efficient digestive system, vultures
cannot digest the drug.
(4) India banned the use of diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006, but it's still widely used.
The near extinction of vultures has caused the spread of pathogens in the country,
as rats and dogs have moved in to take their place. This would have otherwise been
destroyed by the vultures.
(5) Vultures need large ranges to scan for food and undisturbed areas to nest. They
also need an abundance of prey species since they rely more on chance than their
own hunting skills to eat. All of these things have been reduced by human activities.
Meanwhile, there is a dramatic increase in secondary poisoning. Vultures feed on
carcasses laced with poison, intended to kill jackals or other predatory carnivores or
they are poisoned by the lead in animals left behind by their hunters.
Answers
Answer:
You may attempt any part at a time.
All questions of that particular part must be attempted in the correct order.
READING: (10 marks)
Part A (40 Marks)
I Read the passage carefully.
(1) Evolution has designated vultures to be the ultimate scavengers. Enormous wingspans
allow them to circle in the air for hours. Their beaks, while rather horrifying, are weak
by bird standards, made to scoop and eat flesh.
(2) However unappealing they may seem, vultures serve an important role in the ecological
cycle: processing dead bodies of animals. 20 years ago, India had plenty of vultures-
flocks so enormous that they darkened the skies. But by 1999, their numbers had
dropped due to a mysterious kidney ailment. By 2008, 99.9 per cent of India's vultures
were gone. It was discovered that they had been killed by a drug called diclofenac (a
pain reliever along the lines of aspirin and ibuprofen).
(3) Indians revere their cows, and when a cow showed signs of pain, they treated it with
diclofenac. After the animal died, the vultures would eat the corpse. And though they
can boast of perhaps having the world's most efficient digestive system, vultures
cannot digest the drug.
(4) India banned the use of diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006, but it's still widely used.
The near extinction of vultures has caused the spread of pathogens in the country,
as rats and dogs have moved in to take their place. This would have otherwise been
destroyed by the vultures.
(5) Vultures need large ranges to scan for food and undisturbed areas to nest. They
also need an abundance of prey species since they rely more on chance than their
own hunting skills to eat. All of these things have been reduced by human activities.
Meanwhile, there is a dramatic increase in secondary poisoning. Vultures feed on
carcasses laced with poison, intended to kill jackals or other predatory carnivores or
they are poisoned by the lead in animals left behind by their hunters.