Part Three Reading: (Items 31-45)
Choose the best answer.
Passage 3 (Itenis 41-45)
(1) The sea cucumber--a warty, sausage-shaped creature that feeds on the ocean floor-- can sell for half its weight in silver in the markets of Guangzhou in southern China. This fleshy sea-slug is prized as a delicacy. a traditional medicine believed to be capable of curing joint pain and fatigue, and a natural a As overexploitation has reduced stocks throughout Asia, merchants have sought the creature further afield. Six years ago. two Chinese traders discovered that the waters around Sierra Leone's Banana and were abundant with sea cucumbers islanders have been diving for them ever since.
(2) When the Chinese traders. known to the islanders only as Mr. Cham and Mr. Lee, first turned up, locals say they promised to use some of the profits from the sea cucumber trade to boost the islanders quality of life A motorboat, a community centre, solar panels and water pumps were promised in exchange for being allowed to operate there. Six years on. a group of young men sit on empty petrol cans in the rundown village of Dublin, passing a cigarette around in the pitch dark. "They delivered nothing." says another diver, "The traders made a lot of money and we didn't get any of it.”
(3) Similar words have echoed throughout Sierra Leonean history. For centuries foreigners have come to buy its resources--gold, diamonds, bauxite--but the country remains one of the world's poorest. with a GDP per head of less than 800ayear.Yet,despitetheoldcomplaint,moftheisland′syoungmenaregratefulthattheChinesecame.Theystillgetpaidabout1 per cucumber.
“l did not have any work before, I had no plans, but now I have a trade. I built my house with the sea cucumber money," says Mr. Emmanuel Pratt He proudly gestures to his cement house. Painted lime green, it stands out against the other old clapboard houses. Imagine how much more could be built if the islanders got a grip on their own resources.
The writer mentions people in Dublin (paragraph 2) in order to _____.