NYT Vocabulary: Pythons

MIAMI — So much for all the efforts to slow the​ ​ (a)   of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades over the last two decades, including with paid contractors, trained volunteers and an annual hunt that has drawn participants from as far as Latvia: The giant snakes have been making their way north, reaching West Palm Beach and Fort Myers and threatening ever-larger stretches of the ecosystem.​

• proliferation
• conglomeration
• destruction
• distribution

That was one of the few definitive conclusions in a comprehensive review of python science published last month by the U.S. Geological Survey, which​ ​ (a)   the difficulty of containing the giant snakes since they were first documented as an established population in the state in 2000.​

• underscored
• hindered
• iterated
• masked

Little is known about how long Burmese pythons live in the wild in Florida, how often they reproduce and especially how large the state’s python population has grown, according to the review, which called the state’s python problem “one of the most​ (a)   invasive-species management issues across the globe.”

• intractable
• feasible
• cantankerous
• manageable

Nor is it known how exactly they travel. The review theorized that South Florida’s extensive network of canals and levees “may facilitate long-distance movement by pythons,” though it suggested that ​​ (a)   and swimming to points north may take awhile. “One python transited continuously for 58.5 hours and traveled 2.43 kilometers in a single day,” the review said of a snake followed with radio tracking.

• slithering
• shuffling
• strolling
• strutting

More research should be conducted to develop and evaluate new tools to eradicate pythons and to refine existing ones, the study found, adding that controlling the species’ spread is critical to protecting the Everglades. Earlier studies found that Burmese pythons, which are nonnative apex predators originally from South Asia, had ​ (a)   native species, including wading birds, marsh rabbits and white-tailed deer.

• decimated
• executed
• activated
• generated

Pythons found in Florida have measured longer than 15 feet and weighed more than 200 pounds, the review found; even hatchlings can be more than two feet long. The pythons’ ​ (a)   spread is all the more alarming given the billions of dollars that the state and the federal government have spent on restoring the Everglades, the review noted, calling invasive species “one of the greatest threats to restoration success.”

• voracious
• puny
• meager
• impassioned

Which short summary below would you say BEST captures what you have read so far?

• A study from the U.S. Geological Survey called Florida's python problem "one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe."

• The annual Florida python hunt has turned into a free-for-all, and some environmentalists are angry.

• Predators must find food to reproduce. Climate change is disrupting those ecological patterns.

• Pythons became popular exotic pets in the 1970s. Here's why.