[Passage A]
Koalas, a symbol of Australia, live in the eucalyptus (桉树) woodlands of eastern Australia. Now they are facing the danger of dying out. There are about 100,000 koalas in Australia, while there were about 10 million when white people settled in 1788. In the 1920s, 3 million koalas were shot for their fur.
The major problem for Koalas was that the majority of Australia's 20 million people and the majority of the koala population are fighting to control Australia's eastern states — their best living place. With 80 percent of Australia's east coast warm forests destroyed, and more and more places becoming cities, koalas along the eastern coast could die out in 15 years.
What's more, Koalas are protected by law but the eucalyptus trees providing them with homes and food are not protected. Another cause of their endangerment is that the number of Koalas has been getting smaller and smaller for decades because of city expansion and from car accidents and dog attacks. To protect them, what matters most will be the protection of their living place — eucalyptus trees.
[Passage B]
The giant panda is known as China's national treasure. These black and white bears have thick, heavy fur that keeps them warm through the rain and cold that are common in their natural living environment. Giant pandas live in high mountains of between 1,615 and 3,300 meters, where there are rains and clouds.
Giant pandas eat without stop, often for 12 hours a day. Though a carnivore（食肉动物）, the giant panda is usually satisfied with eating bamboo at a rate of 9 to 18 kg per day. The animal may also eat other small animals. Zoo pandas are fed with bamboo, rice porridge and various fruits and vegetables.
Found only in China, the giant panda struggles to survive, facing great dangers like home loss and illegal hunting and so on. About 60% of wild pandas live in protected places covering an area of 101,171 km2. However, these protected places or what we call reserves are not kept intact, with villages, roads and railroads keeping panda populations separated. All these cause the number of pandas to shrink. The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) works to help giant pandas in the wild through a variety of programs, including scientific research and habitat protection.
[Passage C]
Whales belong to the family of sea mammals known as cetaceans /si̍teiʃnz/（鲸目物种）. Unlike fish, cetaceans are air-breathing, warm-blooded mammals that give birth to babies and feed them on milk. Cetaceans play an important role in the life of the ocean, improving the health of the whole ocean ecosystem.
Completely used to life in the water, whales breathe through blowholes（喷水孔）on top of their heads, which allow them to take in air without interrupting their swimming.
The greatest reason why whales are becoming endangered is that people hunt them for money. Besides, collisions with ships and changes in their habitat (living environment) caused by pollution have caused them to become endangered. If the present problems continue, whales will be lost in the next few decades. Some international protection organizations are now working to make sure that whales, dolphins and other sea animals will swim in our seas for the coming generations. To protect the species, we ought to keep in mind that raising people's awareness about protecting animals is of great importance.