Rock carving suggested that Stone Age people were hunting whales for food as early as 2200 B.C. Such (1) ____ hunting is still practiced today in a number of (2) _____ including the Inuit people of Greenland and North America.

Whaling became big business from the seventh century as the (3) _____ for whalebone and whale oil rose, and humpback and sperm whales were hunted in (4) _____ large numbers. But just as stocks of these species began to fall, the explosive harpoon-gun was (5) _____. This weapon, together with the development of steam-power ships, (6) _____ the whalers to hunt the fast-moving fin and blue whales.

In 1905 the whaling (7) ______ moved to the waters of Antarctica. The introduction of massive factory ships enabled the whales to be processed at sea. As a result, the blue whale had (8) _____ disappeared by 1950s. In 1946 the International Whaling Commission was established to maintain the declining whale populations. Quotas were (9) _____ but these were often (10) ______ and numbers continued to fall. Hunting of many species continued until 1986 when the IWC finally responded to international pressure and a ban on commercial whaling was introduced.

Question 1. A. survival B. essential C. basic D. subsistence

Question 2. A. groups B. societies C. races D. nationalities

Question 3. A. demand B. desire C. request D. reliance

Question 4. A. repeatedly B. frequently C. continually D. increasingly

Question 5. A. invented B. discovered C. continually D. increasingly

Question 6. A. managed B. employed C. enabled D. empowered

Question 7. A. lines B. troops C. staff D. fleets

Question 8. A. virtually B. possibly C. uniquely D. commonly

Question 9. A. made B. set C. placed D. done

Question 10. A. refused B. denied C. ignored D. exempted