Directions Read the following argument. Then answer the questions that follow.
Shut Down the Zoos!
by Dee Stiffler
1. Leo is one of the most-loved animals at the local zoo. As admirers pass by, the mighty lion paces back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in his tiny cell. His mane flutters as he stalks along the same path over and over again. According to a study from Oxford University, lions in captivity—like Leo—spend 48 percent of their time engaging in what scientists call stereotypic behavior, which is repetitive action that doesn't have an obvious purpose. Leo is hardly king of the jungle here. This is only one example that proves that zoos abuse animals for entertainment purposes.
2. Large animals kept in captivity don't have enough room to roam. The same study points out that a polar bear's home range in the wild can be up to 31,000 square miles. The average "home" for a polar bear in a zoo is one-millionth that size. Captive polar bears also pace, some for about 25 percent of each day. This kind of stress and frustration causes many animals to act differently than if they were free and living where they should.
3. True, many public zoos in the United States have built larger exhibits for animals that incorporate more naturalistic aspects for the inmates. But creating more room for each animal isn't easy; space is often limited in city and state zoos. One option to solve this problem is to remove some of the animals to give those remaining some additional area for each individual. But what happens to the removed victims?
4. In Europe in 2008, the Berlin Zoo was accused of sending four bears and a hippo to a slaughterhouse in Belgium, and tigers and leopards sent to China were turned into traditional medicines. There are similar problems with surplus animals from zoo breeding programs, when "extra" animals are killed—and even sometimes used as food for other animals.
5. Advocates of zoos argue that zoos keep animals safe from predators and prevent extinction, or complete destruction of an entire species, through conservation. But at what cost? Not all species can be saved. How do we choose which type of animal lives and which dies? Even enclosed nature preserves, important and useful as they are, can't save all of them.
6. It's time to concentrate on keeping animals free and safe in their own natural environment and not caged by humankind. As Dr. Steven L. Monfort of the National Zoo in Washington told the New York Times, "We as a society have to decide if it is going to be ethically and morally appropriate to simply display animals for entertainment purposes."
Which of the following phrases from paragraph 1 is used for a persuasive purpose?
A "tiny cell"
B "repetitive action"
C "obvious purpose"
D "one example"