同等学力申硕英语试题精选(18)

　　Most people think of lions as strictly African beasts，but only because

　　they’ve been killed off almost everywhere else. Ten thousand years ago lions

　　spanned vast sections of the globe. Now lions hold only a small fraction of their

　　former habitat，and Asiatic lions，a subspecies that spit from African lions

　　perhaps 100000 years ago，hang on to an almost impossibly small slice of their

　　former territory.

　　India is the proud steward of these 300 or so lions，which live primarily

　　in a 560-square-mile sanctuary(保护区). It took me a year and a half to get a

　　permit to explore the entire Gir Forest—and no time at all to see why these

　　lions became symbols of royalty and greatness. A tiger will hide in the forest

　　unseen，but a lion stands its ground，curious and unafraid—lionhearted. Though

　　they told me in subtle ways when I got too close，Gir’s lions allowed me unique

　　glimpses into their lives during my three months in the forest. It’s odd to think

　　that they are threatened by extinction;Gir has as many lions as it can hold—

　　too many，in fact. With territory in short supply，lions move about near the

　　boundary of the forest and even leave it altogether，often clashing with people.

　　That’s one reason India is creating a second sanctuary. There are other pressing

　　reasons：outbreaks of disease or natural disasters.

　　In 1994 a serious disease killed more than a third of Africa’s Serengeti

　　lions—a thousand animals—a fate that could easily happen to Gir’s cats. These

　　lions are especially vulnerable to disease because they descend from as few as a

　　dozen individuals.“If you do a DNA test，Asiatic lions actually look like

　　identical twins.”says Stephen O’Brien，a geneticist(基因学家)who has studied

　　them. Yet the dangers are hidden，and you wouldn’t suspect them by watching these

　　lords of the forest. The lions display vitality，and no small measure of charm.

　　Though the gentle intimacy of play vanishes when it’s time to eat，meals in

　　Gir are not necessarily frantic affairs. For a mother and her baby lion

　　sharing a deer，or a young male eating an antelope(羚羊)，there’s no need

　　to fight for a cut of the kill. The animals they hunt for food are generally

　　smaller in Gir than those in Africaand hunting groups tend to be smaller as

　　well.

　　56. In the first paragraph，the author tells us that Asiatic lions .

　　A. have killed off other lions

　　B. have descended from African lions

　　C. used to span vast sections of the globe

　　D. have lost their habitat

　　57. What impressed the author most when he went to watch the lions in the

　　Gir Forest?

　　A. Their friendliness. B. Their size.

　　C. Their intimacy. D. Their vitality.

　　58. What does the sentence“...meals in Gir are not necessarily frantic affair”

　　mean?

　　A. The lions do not show intimacy among them any more.

　　B. The lions may not deed to fight for food.

　　C. Food is not readily available in that region.

　　D. Meals can be obtained only with great effort.

　　59. The lions in the Gir Forest are especially vulnerable to disease

　　because .

　　A. they have descended from a dozen or so ancestors

　　B. they are smaller than the African lions

　　C. they do not have enough to eat

　　D. they are physically weaker than the African lions

　　60. One of the reasons why India is creating a secondary sanctuary for the Asiatic

　　lions is that .

　　A. the present sanctuary is not large enough

　　B. scientists want to do more research on them

　　C. they have killed many people

　　D. the forest is shrinking in size

　　答案解析：

　　大多数人认为狮子绝对是非洲猛兽，但这仅仅因为其他地方的狮子几乎都被杀光了。一万年以前，狮子广泛分布于全世界每一个地方。现在，狮子占据着和以前它们居住的地盘相比很小的一部分，亚洲狮是十万年以前从非洲狮中分离出来的一个品种，坚守在一块不可能再小的土地上。

　　印度以成为大约300只这样的狮子的管理地为荣，这些狮子主要生活在一块约560平方英里的保护区里。我花了一年半的时间得到去探索整个格森林的许可，根本没有时间去研究为什么这些狮子成为高贵和伟大的象征。老虎可能会隐藏在森林深处让人看不到，但狮子坚守着它的领地，好奇、无惧、威武勇猛。尽管当我太亲近它们的时候，它们就会以一种微妙的方式告诉我，但是，在我待在森林的三个月里，它们允许我瞥了一眼它们的生活。认为它们正处于种族灭绝的危险中的想法是奇怪的;格森林有多少狮子，它就能容纳多少狮子——事实上，有太多的狮子。由于生存领地紧缺，狮子便经常出没在森林边缘地区，甚至集体离开森林，经常与人类发生冲突。这就是为什么印度打算创建第二个保护区。还有一些其他紧迫的原因：疾病的爆发以及自然灾害。1994年，一场疾病导致了超过1/3的非洲赛温葛蒂狮子的死亡——1000只，这种命运极可能发生在格森林的猫科动物身上。这些狮子尤其容易患病，因为它们是少有的十来只狮子遗传下来的个体。“如果给狮子做个DNA测试，你就会发现，亚洲狮看起来就像双胞胎”。史蒂芬奥布瑞恩说，他是一名研究狮子的基因学家。不过，危险是隐藏的，你不可能通过观察它们在森林中的统治地位而猜测它们。狮子展示了活力，也展示了非常的魅力。

　　尽管玩耍中所表现出的温顺的亲近行为在进食时消失了，但是，格森林中的进食肯定不是疯狂的行为。对于一只母狮子和她的孩子分享一只鹿，或是与一只年轻的雄狮分享一只羚羊，它们没有必要为了分食猎物而争斗。格森林中狮子当做食物而捕食的动物一般比非洲狮子捕食的动物小，狩猎的群体也更小。

本文选自新东方在线论坛。