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(保護(hù)區(qū)). 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?qū)W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：

　　大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為獅子絕對是非洲猛獸，但這僅僅因?yàn)槠渌�地方的獅子幾乎都被殺光了。一萬年以前，獅子廣泛分布于全世界每一個(gè)地方。現(xiàn)在，獅子占據(jù)著和以前它們居住的地盤相比很小的一部分，亞洲獅是十萬年以前從非洲獅中分離出來的一個(gè)品種，堅(jiān)守在一塊不可能再小的土地上。

　　印度以成為大約300只這樣的獅子的管理地為榮，這些獅子主要生活在一塊約560平方英里的保護(hù)區(qū)里。我花了一年半的時(shí)間得到去探索整個(gè)格森林的許可，根本沒有時(shí)間去研究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深處讓人看不到，但獅子堅(jiān)守著它的領(lǐng)地，好奇、無懼、威武勇猛。盡管當(dāng)我太親近它們的時(shí)候，它們就會以一種微妙的方式告訴我，但是，在我待在森林的三個(gè)月里，它們允許我瞥了一眼它們的生活。認(rèn)為它們正處于種族滅絕的危險(xiǎn)中的想法是奇怪的;格森林有多少獅子，它就能容納多少獅子——事實(shí)上，有太多的獅子。由于生存領(lǐng)地緊缺，獅子便經(jīng)常出沒在森林邊緣地區(qū)，甚至集體離開森林，經(jīng)常與人類發(fā)生沖突。這就是為什么印度打算創(chuàng)建第二個(gè)保護(hù)區(qū)。還有一些其他緊迫的原因：疾病的爆發(fā)以及自然災(zāi)害。1994年，一場疾病導(dǎo)致了超過1/3的非洲賽溫葛蒂獅子的死亡——1000只，這種命運(yùn)極可能發(fā)生在格森林的貓科動物身上。這些獅子尤其容易患病，因?yàn)樗鼈兪巧儆械氖畞碇华{子遺傳下來的個(gè)體。“如果給獅子做個(gè)DNA測試，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，亞洲獅看起來就像雙胞胎”。史蒂芬奧布瑞恩說，他是一名研究獅子的基因?qū)W家。不過，危險(xiǎn)是隱藏的，你不可能通過觀察它們在森林中的統(tǒng)治地位而猜測它們。獅子展示了活力，也展示了非常的魅力。

　　盡管玩耍中所表現(xiàn)出的溫順的親近行為在進(jìn)食時(shí)消失了，但是，格森林中的進(jìn)食肯定不是瘋狂的行為。對于一只母獅子和她的孩子分享一只鹿，或是與一只年輕的雄獅分享一只羚羊，它們沒有必要為了分食獵物而爭斗。格森林中獅子當(dāng)做食物而捕食的動物一般比非洲獅子捕食的動物小，狩獵的群體也更小。