I was the middle child of three, but there was a gap of five years on either side, and I hardly saw my father before I was eight. For this and other reasons I was somewhat lonely. I had the lonely child’s habit of making up stories and holding conversations with imaginary persons, and I think from the very start my literary ambitions(文学志向) were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated(孤独) and undervalued. I knew that I had a natural ability with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts, and I felt that this created a sort of private world in which I could get my own back for my failure in everyday life.

    However, the quantity of serious writing which I produced all through my childhood would not add up to half a dozen pages. I wrote my first poem at the age of four or five, my mother taking it down to dictation. I cannot remember anything about it except that it was about a tiger and the tiger had “chair-like teeth” - a good enough expression. At eleven, when the war of 1914-18 broke out, I wrote a poem which was printed in the local(地方的) newspaper, as was another, two years later, on the death of Kitchener. From time to time, when I was a bit older, I wrote bad and usually unfinished “nature poems”. I also, about twice, attempted a short story which was a failure. That was the total of the would-be serious work that I actually set down on paper during all those years.

56.The underlined word“it” in paragraph 2 refers to ___________.

    A.the quantity of serious writing                   B.the writer’s first poem

    C.the writer’s childhood                               D.the tiger in the poem

57.From the text, we learn that as a little boy the writer ________.

    A.had no playmates                                     B.showed his gift for writing

    C.put out lots of poems and stories                D.got his first poem published in 1916

58.What can be inferred about the writer?

    A.He was least favoured in his family.           B.He had much difficulty in talking with others.

    C.He had an unhappy childhood for lack of care.

    D.His loneliness resulted in his interest in writing.

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words. 

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee’s new epic “Life of Pi” reveals the relationship between a teenage Indian boy and a Bengal tiger. But in reality, the predators(食肉动物) are under increasing threat from humans. Animal rights group PETA is hoping to use the popularity of the film to focus people’s attention on the real life of Bengal tigers.

With the rising demand for tiger parts from East Asia, illegal hunting remains a tremendous danger for the remaining cat population.  Back in 1947, there were 40,000 tigers in India, but the number is experiencing a sharp decline to 1,706 despite campaigns to protect the animal.

Rising man-animal conflict is also one of the leading causes of decline in tiger numbers. In one of numerous reported attacks on the endangered big cats, villagers near the Bangladesh-India border, armed with sticks and boat oars, set upon the animal suspected to have attacked a local fisherman and beat it to death earlier this month. So far this year, 58 tiger deaths have been reported in the country.

“The first instinct when a tiger is spotted is to just kill it,” grieved Gurmeet Sapal, a wildlife filmmaker. “The feeling of fear and revenge is so strong that it shuts out any other emotion. What we don’t realize is that the tiger never attacks humans until it is forced to.”

India has been struggling to stop the tiger's decline in the face of the loss of habitat as well that encourages the animals to leave the forest for food. “The tiger’s rapidly exhausted prey base causes the predator to go all out to get its food. Consequently, livestock and human beings become easy prey, which leads inevitably to conflict,” says a wildlife conservationist.

Filmmaker Sapal says it is only normal for people to think of the tiger as a dangerous animal, but its image as a human killer bears some injustice. “Tigers never kill for sport nor store meat. They kill their prey only in case of hunger. ” 

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in no more than ten words)

1.PETA hopes “Life of Pi” can __________________________________.

2.Why did the villagers beat the tiger to death?

3.As a result of the loss of habitat, __________________________________ are more likely to be the big cat’s victims. 

4.When will tigers attack and kill people according to the article?

 

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