Tony Burke, Australia’s environment minister, says he won’t decide until next year whether

Tony Burke, Australia’s environment minister, says he won’t decide until next year whether the koala should be protected as an endangered species. He was expected to make his decision by the end of October. But that decision has been put off. Burke said he needed more time to go over the latest information about the koala’s population.
In September, an Australian Senate committee reported that there was no question the koala’s population is on the decrease. “But they may not yet be eligible (符合条件) for listing as a threatened species,” said Senator Doug Cameron. “To have such a significant Australian icon(偶像) included on the threatened species list would be a national shame.”
The koala is found only in the eucalyptus (桉树) forests of Australia. And its population is reported to have fallen sharply for many reasons, including the cutting down of forests to make way for human beings’ development, their own illness, climate change and killings by other animals such as wild dogs. And every year many koalas are hit by cars as they are trying to cross the busy roads.
Putting off the decision on protection for the koala “is really bad news,” said Debbie Pointing, the president of the Koala Action Group. “We’ve worked tirelessly for many years to gather data on the populations,” Pointing said. “That data should be enough to make a decision.”
However, Burke pointed out that the Australian government had spent at least $6.3 million on koala conservation efforts since 1996. senators listed efforts that are already underway in Queensland – the construction of special koala bridges as well as fences along roads, to keep the animals out of harm’s way.
Some people say that is not enough. “What we’re doing at the moment is likely to drive this species to extinction,” Queensland University zoologist Bill Ellis said.
“Koalas are an iconic Australian animal,” Burke told Australians. “They hold a special place in the hearts of Australians.”
But it is a fact that if more isn’t done to protect the koala, they might soon hold a place only in Australians’ memories.
【小题1】Tony Burke put off announcing the koala as an endangered species because .A．he needed more time to examine latest informationB．he doubted whether koalas’ number is decreasingC．he was thinking about ways to protect koalasD．he had more important issues to deal with【小题2】What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?A．The habitat of the koala.B．Australia’s traffic problems.C．The importance of koalas for Australians.D．Reasons for the decrease of the koala population.【小题3】According to the text, Debbie Pointing thinks that .A．the construction of special koala bridges is of little useB．the government should announce the koala as an endangered speciesC．the government is to blame for the decreasing koala populationD．koala are becoming less important in Australians’ hearts【小题4】It can be learned from the text that Tony Burke .A．decided to construct more fences along roadsB．called on Australians to take care of the koalaC．thought the government has done much for koalasD．was optimistic about the koalas’ future【小题5】What is the main idea of the text?A．Australia puts off the decision on whether the koala is endangered.B．Australia is taking special measures to protect koalas.C．The population of koalas is reducing rapidly.D．Australians are concerned about koalas.A

(答案→)A 解析：文章是关于澳大利亚推迟宣布考拉是濒危动物而引起的人们的讨论。【小题1】细节题。根据第一段最后一句Burke said he needed more time to go over the latest information about the koala’s population.【小题2】段落大意题。根据第三段内容以及第2行可知这一段是关于考拉数量下降的原因。【小题3】根据文章第4段内容可知Debbie认为他们给政府提供的数据足以让政府宣布考拉濒临灭绝。【小题4】推理题。根据文章倒数第4段可知Tony Burke认为政府已经做了很多。【小题5】主旨大意题。文章主要就是阐述Australia推迟宣布考拉是濒危动物，引起了人们的激烈讨论。

就是这个解释