If you’ve ever gotten a vaccine, including the COVID vaccine, you have a very unlikely creature to thank: the horseshoe crab. For the last 40 years, the blue blood from the horseshoe crab(马蹄蟹), a creature which existed before there were dinosaurs and has survived all of Earth’s five mass extinctions, has been used to safely manufacture vaccines, medicines and vitamins. The blood is used to detect bacteria or toxins during the manufacturing process.

But the horseshoe crab population is declining in our area and around the world due in part to fishermen using them for bait, which is used to fish for conches and eel, according to Dr. John Tanacredi, who operates the only horseshoe crab breeding facility in the Western Hemisphere, which is located in West Sayville, on New York’s Long Island.

Tanacredi, who has been studying horseshoe crabs for years at the Center for Environmental Research, said New York State has one of the worst records in the country for the maintenance of its horseshoe crab population.

He said it’s in part because of the state’s harvesting rules, which allow fishermen to harvest horseshoe crabs for bait. In New York, someone can harvest up to five horseshoe crabs every day without a permit. With a commercial permit, fishermen can harvest 150 horseshoe crabs daily. Tanacredi said the horseshoe crab population from Brooklyn to the eastern tip of Long Island has been declining since at least 2003. “They should not be captured for bait anymore,” Tanacredi said. “They need to be protected.” 

Animal rights activists have called upon the pharmaceutical(制药的) industry to use synthetic blue blood, but the industry has been reluctant. They said authentic blue blood is the key to quality control testing for vaccines and medicines. Tanacredi said the other factor threatening the horseshoe crab population is destruction of their natural habitat from development by humans.

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1.Why should people thank the horseshoe crab?

A It lives longer than dinosaurs.

B It survived mass extinctions.

C It’s widely used in medicine.

D It could help cure COVID-19.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。根据第一段的“has been used to safely manufacture vaccines, medicines and vitamins”可知马蹄蟹被用于疫苗、药品和维生素的生产，即广泛运用于医学。故选C。

2.Fishermen use horseshoe crabs to ___________.

A obtain vitamins

B detect bacteria

C attract fish

D breed fish

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第二段的“fishermen using them for bait, which is used to fish for conches and eel”可知，马蹄蟹被渔民用来钓conch(海螺)和eel(鳗鱼)。故选C。

3.If allowed, how many horseshoe crabs can someone catch at most in one month?

A Five.

B Thirty-one.

C One hundred and fifty.

D More than four thousand.

解析：选D。D 数字计算题。根据第四段的“With a commercial permit, fishermen can harvest 150 horseshoe crabs daily.”可知，如果获得许可，渔民每天可以捕150只马蹄蟹，即一个月可以捕获四千多只马蹄蟹。故选D。

4.What does the underlined word “synthetic” mean?

A Sympathetic.

B Artificial.

C Massive.

D Reliable.

解析：选B。B词义猜测题。根据最后一段的“but the industry has been reluctant. They said authentic blue blood is the key to quality control testing for vaccines and medicines.”可知，动物权益维护者呼吁制药业使用synthetic蓝血，但是他们不愿意，他们认为真正的蓝血是疫苗和药品质量检测的关键。结合选项可知，制药业不愿使用的是“人造的”蓝血。故选B。