23. ______ the evidence been stronger, the conclusion would have been more convincing. (A) Had (B) Were (C) Should (D) If

25. The speaker paused repeatedly, lest the audience ______ her remarks. (A) misinterpret (B) misinterpreted (C) would misinterpret (D) had misinterpreted III. Reading Comprehension Passage 1 Stingless bees from the Amazon have become the first insects to be granted legal rights anywhere in the world, in a breakthrough supporters hope will be a catalyst for similar moves to protect bees elsewhere. It means that across a broad swathe of the Peruvian Amazon, the rainforest's long-overlooked native bees – which, unlike their cousins the European honeybees, have no sting – now have the right to exist and to flourish. Cultivated by Indigenous peoples since pre-Columbian times, stingless bees are thought to be key rainforest pollinators, sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem health. But they are faced with a deadly confluence of climate change, deforestation and pesticides, as well as competition from European bees, and scientists and campaigners have been racing against time to get stingless bees on international conservation red lists. Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, who was part of the campaign, said: "This ordinance marks a turning point in our relationship with nature: it makes stingless bees visible, recognizes them as rights-bearing subjects, and affirms their essential role in preserving ecosystems." Espinoza, a chemical biologist, first started researching the bees in 2020, after a colleague asked her to conduct an analysis of their honey, which was being used during the pandemic in Indigenous communities where treatments for Covid were in short supply. She was stunned by the findings. "I was seeing hundreds of medicinal molecules, like molecules that are known to have some sort of biological medicinal property," Espinoza recalled. "And the variety was also really wild – these molecules have been known to have anti-inflammatory effects or antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, even anti-cancer." From this point, researchers have also highlighted the wider ecological role of stingless bees. Dr César Delgado described them as primary pollinators in the Amazon, contributing not only to plant reproduction but also to biodiversity, forest conservation, and global food security. However, research has revealed an additional and serious threat to their survival. In the 1950s, a scientific experiment in Brazil aimed at producing a honeybee better suited to tropical conditions resulted in the Africanized honeybee, a more aggressive variety. These bees have since spread widely and are now outcompeting stingless bees in their natural habitats. During fieldwork in southern Peru, researchers documented particularly strong competition between the two species, based on accounts from Indigenous community members. One such case was reported in Satipo, a municipality that later became the first to grant legal rights to stingless bees. Under the new ordinance, the bees are granted the right to exist and thrive, to maintain healthy populations, to live in a clean and stable environment, and to be legally represented when they are threatened or harmed. A second municipality, Nauta, soon passed a similar ordinance.

23. ______ the evidence been stronger, the conclusion would have been more convincing.

(A) Had

(B) Were

(C) Should

(D) If

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