Read the following text about hedgehog road sign and decide what verb forms should be used in gaps 1-10. -- Hedgehog Road Sign 2019 In 2019, the government unveiled a new hedgehog traffic sign. It was designed to warn drivers of the potential hazard of small mammals ahead and, by .......... (1. DO) so, hopefully reduce the number of people injured every year in road accidents involving wildlife. The choice of mascot for the new road sign was a significant one. The hedgehog, with its bumbling charm and gentle independence, is one of the nation’s most cherished wild creatures. It’s also fast becoming the symbol of a countryside in crisis. In the 1950’s, there were around 30 million hedgehogs in Britain. Recent studies suggest the current population is now less than a million. The drop is catastrophic but not fully .......... (2. UNDERSTAND). Loss of wild habitat, lack of food, over-use of insecticides, predation – all of these factors are putting our prickly friend under immense pressure. But, perhaps, one of the least advertised causes of the hedgehog’s decline is the nation’s ever-expanding road network. Citizen science and the collection of roadkill data has been instrumental in assessing the scale of the problem. Initiatives such as Cardiff university’s ’Project Splatter’ and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) ’Mammals on Roads Survey’ gathered information about wildlife mortality on the nation’s highways. They found that an extraordinary number of creatures were perishing under the country’s wheels. Hedgehog roadkills, for example, .......... (3. ESTIMATE) to be between 167,000 and 335, 000 every year, an alarmingly sizeable percentage of the overall hedgehog population. In a similar ’National Road Death Survey’, completed by the Mammal Society in conjunction with the Hawk and Owl Trust, the hedgehog also won the dubious honour of being the wild mammal most likely .......... (4. INJURE OR KILL) by traffic. Almost a third of all recorded wildlife road casualties were hedgehogs, closely followed by badgers and foxes. Birds of prey also featured heavily in the survey, especially tawny owls, kestrels and the barn owl. The drive to create more roads .......... (5. BE) at the heart of national policy for over a hundred years. Successive governments have held fast to the notion that building more, and bigger roads, reduces traffic congestion and boosts economy. The damage to the landscape and environment has long been viewed as acceptable collateral for the greater good. More recent studies, however, have begun to challenge that narrative. Research .......... (6. COMMISSION) by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), for example, used the government’s own data to assess the impact of road building on countryside communities and the environment. The results were fascinating. Building more roads actually increased the volume of the traffic both in the short and long term, a phenomenon known as ’induced demand’. Creating more roads in rural and semi-rural areas also encouraged building developments that relied on cars, such as out-of-town shopping areas and housing estates. The CPRE also found that new road schemes were, in the majority of cases, failing to bring the economic benefits promised. By drawing business away, some new roads even negatively affected existing villages and towns, where people could walk, cycle or use public transport more easily. Natural landscapes .......... (7. ALSO FIND) to be damaged by the creation of road schemes in 80 per cent of cases, many of which were deemed to be locally or nationally significant in terms of wildlife or cultural heritage. With road use and car numbers forecasted to only increase in the next few decades, the need to invest in different ways to help people move around the countryside, and between urban and rural areas, .......... (8. NEVER BE GREATER). The fate of the hedgehog also says something about our attitudes to the countryside and its future. The hedgehog is an animal almost universally loved, one that .......... (9. FIRMLY EMBED) in the nation’s affections. It was recently crowned, by a huge majority in the Royal Society of Biology’s public vote, Britain’s favourite mammal. If we can allow such a treasured icon .......... (10. FALL) by the wayside, the rest of the countryside’s creatures are surely heading for a similar crash.
To complete these exercises registration and login is required.