同等学力英语阅读及翻译专项练习 8

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 split from African lions perhaps 100,000 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 Africa , and hunting groups tend to be smaller as well.

1. 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

2. 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.

3. What does the sentence “…meals in Gir are not necessarily frantic affairs” mean?

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

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

C. Food is not readily available in that region.

D. Meals can be obtained only with great effort.

4. 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

5. 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

大多数人认为，狮子其实是非洲动物，但这只是因为几乎其他任何地方的狮子都被赶尽杀绝的缘故。一万年以前，狮子遍布于世界上的绝大多数地区。如今，狮子的栖息地只是以前的一小部分，亚洲狮子——可能是十万年前从非洲狮子中分离出来的一个亚种，坚守着一块几乎不可能再小的以前领地。

印度是大约三百只这样的狮子的管理地——这些狮子主要生活于一个五百六十平方英里的保护区内，印度引以为荣。我花了一年半的时间才得到许可去探索整个格森林——根本没有时间了解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里让你看不见，但狮子却坚守自己的领地，充满好奇，无所畏惧——威武勇猛。但是，当我靠得太近时，格森林的狮子就以微妙的方式提醒我；在我呆在森林的三个月里，它们只容许我瞥了一眼它们的生活。认为它们面临绝种的危险的想法真是奇怪；格森林能够容纳多少狮子，就有多少狮子生活于其中——事实上，有太多的狮子。由于缺少领地，狮子便在森林边缘出没，甚至完全离开森林，经常与人类发生冲突。这就是印度正在兴建第二个保护区的原因之一。还有一些其他紧迫的原因：疾病的爆发或自然灾害。一九九四年，一场严重的疾病夺去了非洲赛温葛蒂超过三分之一的狮子的性命——一千只，这种命运可能很容易发生在格森林的猫科动物身上。这些狮子尤其容易患病，因为它们是十来只狮子的后裔。“如果你给亚洲狮子做一个 DNA 测试，你就会发现，它们其实看起来就像长相一样的双胞胎，”史蒂芬·奥·布瑞恩说，他是一名研究这些狮子的基因学家。不过，危险是潜在的，你不可能通过观察这些森林主宰者而猜测危险。狮子展示了活力，也展示了非常的魅力。

在进食时，尽管在打闹中所表现出的温顺的爱抚行为消失了，但是，格森林中的进食肯定不是疯狂的行为。对于一只母狮子与其幼子共享一只鹿，或是与一只年轻的雄狮享用一只羚羊，它们没有必要为了分食猎物而争斗。格森林中狮子捕食的动物一般比非洲狮子捕食的动物小，狩猎的群体也往往比非洲狮子小。

参考答案 ： 1 ． B 2 ． B 3 ． B 4 ． A 5 ． A