Question

Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie's feet when Father cleared his throat and began," You'll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We've found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England."
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. "But the lion," he cried, "What about the lion?"
"I'm afraid there's something else I have to tell you," his father said. Looking across at Bertie's mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus(馬戲團) owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
"No! You can't send him to a circus!" said Bertie. "People will come to see him. He'll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He'd rather die. Any animal would! " But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father's deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father's rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion's neck. The time had come.
"Be wild now," he whispered. "You've got to be wild. Don't ever come home. All my life I'll think of you. I promise I will." He buried his head in the lion's neck. Then, Bertie clambered down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion's head.
【小題1】Bertie's mother was sad probably because she ______.

A．had been seriously ill recently

B．had decided to send Bertie to school

C．knew selling the lion would upset Bertie

D．knew Bertie would hate to go to England

【小題2】The underlined word "they" in Para.4 probably refers to ______.

A．some audience

B．other animals

C．Bertie's parents

D．circus owners

【小題3】In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to ______．

A．kill the lion out of fear

B．threaten the lion back to the wild

C．protect himself from the lion

D．show his anger towards his father

【小題4】The passage intends to show that ______.

A．animal-hunting is popular in Africa

B．parents are sometimes cruel to their children

C．animals usually lead a miserable life in circuses

D．people and animals can be faithful to each other

Answer 1

【小題1】C
【小題2】A
【小題3】B
【小題4】D

解析試題分析：本文敘述了Bertie由于長大了父母想讓他去上學，因為他養著一頭獅子，父母想把它賣給馬戲團，可是他不愿意，于是他趁家人不注意，晚上帶著槍，把獅子帶到了山上想讓獅子回歸自然，可是獅子對它的主人戀戀不舍，他只好舉槍威脅它。
【小題1】推理判斷題。根據A boy needs a proper education. We've found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.母親可能認為把獅子賣了Bertie會傷心，故選C。
【小題2】詞義猜測題。根據People will come to see him. He'll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be這里指來看獅子的觀眾，故選A。
【小題3】推理判斷題。根據"Be wild now," he whispered. "You've got to be wild. Don't ever come home. All my life I'll think of you. I promise I will.可以推測出他想威脅獅子回到野外，故選B。
【小題4】細節理解題。根據人和動物可以忠實于對方，故選D。
考點：故事類短文閱讀。
點評：詞義猜測題體現了應用英語的重要能力，也是高考閱讀理解中必考的題型。它不但需要準確無誤地理解上下文，而且要有較大的泛讀量，掌握或認識較多的課外詞匯。考生應學會通過構詞、定義、同位、對比、因果、常識、同義、反義及上下文線索等確定詞義。