2013届（2012学年）上海市高三英语一模——完形填空1
（长宁）
All over the world, people admire the beauty and grace of butterflies. Butterflies come in every color imaginable, and their 50 display an incredible variety of patterns. The largest butterfly, Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, has a wingspan (翼展) of up to 280 millimeters and lives in Papua New Guinea. The smallest, the Western Pygmy Blue in the southern U.S., has a wingspan of only 12 millimeters. Sadly, some of these beautiful creatures are now 51 .
Estimates indicate that between 15 and 20 thousand species of butterflies exist around the world. A number of these species are endangered, over 20 in Japan 52 . Although that number may seem small, losing even one species would be 53 . Nowadays scientists even look to butterflies as a 54 of the environment’s health, since they are 55 to environmental changes. Many environmentalists around the world are eager to protect the endangered butterflies from extinction. The American Museum of Natural History in New York, for example, has an unusual butterfly exhibit. This exhibit 56 the important role that butterflies play in our environment.
