FormJulytoOctobereveryyear，aboutaquarteroftheworld'sbluewhalesfeedinthePacificOceanoffthecoastofCalifornia．Butthewhalesnowfaceamajorthreatintheirfavoritefeedingarea．Lotsofshipscarryingcargosailinthesame

　　FormJulytoOctobereveryyear，aboutaquarteroftheworld'sbluewhalesfeedinthePacificOceanoffthecoastofCalifornia．Butthewhalesnowfaceamajorthreatintheirfavoritefeedingarea．Lotsofshipscarryingcargosailinthesameareaatthesametime．Alltoooften，ashipwillhitawhale．

　　Accordingtoanewstudy，thisproblemhasbecomeaseriousthreattothewholepopulationoftheworld'sbluewhales．Thereareonlyabout10，000ofthecreaturesintheworld．

　　BluewhalesarethelargestknownanimalsevertoliveonEarth．Butifhitbyacontainer（集装箱）ship，abluewhalewilllikelydiefromitsinjuries．

　　In2007alone，largeshipskilledfivebluewhalesinthewatersoffSanFranciscoandLosAngeles，California．TheNationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration（NOAA）saysthatbecausetherearesofewwhalesalready，losingthreetofivefromtheCaliforniawhalepopulationeveryyearisagreatloss．

　　"ThepopulationofbluewhalesinthispartofthePacificisabout2，500，"saysSeanHastings，amemberofNOAA．"Soeverywhalecountstowardthispopulationmovingofftheendangered-specieslist．"

　　Now，oneverysimpleprogramisalreadyunderwayintheSantaBarbaraChannel，awaterwaythatseparatesmainlandCaliforniafromthenearbyChannelIslands．TheChannelIslandsNationalMarineSanctuaryhasaskedlargecontainershipspassingthroughtheareatoslowdown．Sailingslowerwillallowtheship'smembersmoretimetolookatdetection（探测）equipmentand-moreimportant-tochangecoursebeforehittingawhale．

　　Severaloftheworld'slargestshippinglinesaresettotakepartinthenewprogram．ForeveryshipthatpassesthroughtheSantaBarbaraChannelatorbelowthereducedspeedof12knots（ameasureofspeedinwater），thecompanythatownstheshipwillbepaid$2，500．

　　25．Theunderlinedpart"thisproblem"inParagraph2referstothefactthat___．

　　A．whalesarehitbyships

　　B．whaleslosetheirway

　　C．whalestraveltoofar

　　D．whalescan'tfindenoughfood

　　26．Whatcanwelearnaboutbluewhales？___

　　A．Theylikefollowingcontainerships．

　　B．TheymainlyliveinthepacificOcean．

　　C．Theyareindangerofdisappea