Fill ONE suitable word into each of the numbered blanks in the following passage. Write your answers in the space provided.
ARE ZOOS A GOOD THING?
Zoos are hugely popular attractions (16)___ adults and children alike. But are they actually a good thing?
Critics of zoos would argue that animals often suffer (17)___ and mentally by being enclosed. Even the best artificial environments can't come close to matching the space, diversity, and freedom that animals have in (18)___ natural habitats. This deprivation causes many zoo animals to become stressed or mentally ill. Capturing animals in the wild also causes much suffering by splitting up families. Some zoos make animals behave unnaturally: for example, marine parks often force dolphins and whales to perform tricks. These mammals may die decades earlier (19)___ their wild relatives, and some even try to commit suicide.
On the other hand, by bringing people and animals (20)___ , zoos have the potential to educate the public about conservation issues and inspire people to protect animals and their habitats. Some zoos provide a safe environment for (21)___ which have been mistreated in circuses, or pets which have been abandoned. Zoos also carry out important research into subjects like animal behaviour and how to (22)___ illnesses.
One of the most important modern functions of zoos (23)___ supporting international breeding programmes, particularly for endangered species. In the wild, some of the rarest species have difficulty (24)___ finding mates and breeding, and they might also be threatened (25)___ poachers, loss of their habitat and predators. A good zoo will enable these species to live and breed in a secure environment. In addition, as numbers of some wild species drop, there is an increased danger of populations becoming too genetically similar. Breeding programmes provide a safeguard: zoo-bred animals can be released into the wild to increase genetic diversity.
(26)___ , opponents of zoos say that the vast majority of captive breeding programmes do not release animals back into the wild. Surplus animals are sold not only to other zoos but (27)___ to circuses or hunting ranches in the US or South Africa, (28)___ some people are willing to pay a lot of money for the chance to kill an animal in a fenced enclosure. Often, these animals are familiar with humans and have very little chance of escaping.
So, are zoos good for animals or not? Perhaps it all (29)___ on how well individual zoos are managed, and the benefits of zoos can surely outweigh their harmful effects. However, it is understandable (30)___ many people believe imprisoning animals for any reason is simply wrong.
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