G. Not everyone is impressed with such mathematical wizardry. Jonathan Adrain from the
University of Iowa in Iowa City points out that statistical wrangling has been known to create
mass extinctions where none occurred. It is easy to misinterpret data. For example, changes in
sea level or inconsistent sampling methods can mimic major changes in biodiversity. Indeed, a
recent and thorough examination of the literature on marine bivalve fossils has convinced David
Jablonsky from the University of Chicago and his colleagues that their diversity has increased
steadily over the past 5 million years.
H. With an inventory of all living species, ecologists could start to put the current biodiversity
crisis in historical perspective. Although creating such a list would be a task to rival even the
Palaeobiology Database, it is exactly what the San Francisco-based ALL Species Foundation
hopes to achieve in the next 25 years. The effort is essential, says Harvard biologist Edward o.
Wilson, who is alarmed by current rates of extinction. “There is a crisis. We’ve begun to
measure it, and it’s very high,” Wilson says. “We need this kind of information in much more
detail to protect all of biodiversity, not just the ones we know well.” Let the counting continue.
Questions 1-6 The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-F A-F Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-F A-F from the list below. Write the correct number, i-xi i-xi, in boxes 1-6 1-6 on your answer sheet. page 3
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Questions 7-9 List of Headings
i Potential error exists in the database
ii Supporter of database recleared its value
iii The purpose of this paleobiology data