TEXTO:
Polar bears will be protected ∈Alaska
The US government says land that oil and gas
companies want to drill ∈Alaska is a crucial home for
polar bears. Environmentalists hope this announcement
will help save the endangered animals.
[5] Right now ∈ an icy den ∈ the Arctic, a polar bear
is giving birth to cubs, or is about to. But the very survival
of this fearsome, majestic species concerns many
humans.
Polar bears live and hunt on sea ice, but the frozen
[10] Arctic Ocean is melting at an increasing rate, a result,
scientists say, of global warming caused by greenhouse
gases.
Now the US government has designated nearly
500,000 km2∈Alaska as critical habitats for the polar
[15] bear. It covers an area of roughly twice the size of the
United Kingdom, and it means any proposed economic
activity there, must be weighed against its impact on
the bears’ habitat. It includes some of the Chukchi and
Beaufort Seas, exactly where the oil company, Shell,
[20] wants to drill.
The designation itself doesn’t ban oil exploration,
but it adds extra obstacles that opponents say will harm
the economy. Environmentalists welcome the move,
saying now they can write a recovery plan for polar bears,
[25] not an obituary.
MIRCHANDANI, Rajesh. Polar bears will be protected ∈Alaska. Disponível em:<. Acesso em: 2 dez. 2010.
The U.S. government _________a large area ∈Alaska as __________ for the polar bear.
According to what is stated ∈ the 4th paragraph, the alternative that suitably completes these blanks is
