同等學力英語閱讀及翻譯專項練習 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 ( 保護區 ). 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 ( 基因學家 ) 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

大多數人認為，獅子其實是非洲動物，但這只是因為幾乎其他任何地方的獅子都被趕盡殺絕的緣故。一萬年以前，獅子遍布于世界上的絕大多數地區。如今，獅子的棲息地只是以前的一小部分，亞洲獅子——可能是十萬年前從非洲獅子中分離出來的一個亞種，堅守著一塊幾乎不可能再小的以前領地。

印度是大約三百只這樣的獅子的管理地——這些獅子主要生活于一個五百六十平方英里的保護區內，印度引以為榮。我花了一年半的時間才得到許可去探索整個格森林——根本沒有時間了解為什么這些獅子成為高貴和偉大的象征。老虎可能會隱藏在森林里讓你看不見，但獅子卻堅守自己的領地，充滿好奇，無所畏懼——威武勇猛。但是，當我靠得太近時，格森林的獅子就以微妙的方式提醒我；在我呆在森林的三個月里，它們只容許我瞥了一眼它們的生活。認為它們面臨絕種的危險的想法真是奇怪；格森林能夠容納多少獅子，就有多少獅子生活于其中——事實上，有太多的獅子。由于缺少領地，獅子便在森林邊緣出沒，甚至完全離開森林，經常與人類發生沖突。這就是印度正在興建第二個保護區的原因之一。還有一些其他緊迫的原因：疾病的爆發或自然災害。一九九四年，一場嚴重的疾病奪去了非洲賽溫葛蒂超過三分之一的獅子的性命——一千只，這種命運可能很容易發生在格森林的貓科動物身上。這些獅子尤其容易患病，因為它們是十來只獅子的后裔。“如果你給亞洲獅子做一個 DNA 測試，你就會發現，它們其實看起來就像長相一樣的雙胞胎，”史蒂芬·奧·布瑞恩說，他是一名研究這些獅子的基因學家。不過，危險是潛在的，你不可能通過觀察這些森林主宰者而猜測危險。獅子展示了活力，也展示了非常的魅力。

在進食時，盡管在打鬧中所表現出的溫順的愛撫行為消失了，但是，格森林中的進食肯定不是瘋狂的行為。對于一只母獅子與其幼子共享一只鹿，或是與一只年輕的雄獅享用一只羚羊，它們沒有必要為了分食獵物而爭斗。格森林中獅子捕食的動物一般比非洲獅子捕食的動物小，狩獵的群體也往往比非洲獅子小。

參考答案 ： 1 ． B 2 ． B 3 ． B 4 ． A 5 ． A