I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was curious.

   The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.

“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves. ” she added.

It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas.

“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursory inspection.

“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly.

   She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit.”

   Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram. ‘Sergeant R Holmes …Killed in action in the invasion of France.’…”

“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married.” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that! ”

“Two years later she too was dead. ‘Pneumonia (肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”

There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to.”

   She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly. “And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him. Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!”

   I turned away, sick at heart.

55. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.

   A. draw attention to the damage that wars cause

   B. persuade people to give up private interest

   C. arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly

   D. introduce a touching but sad love story

56. Which of the following words can best describe Mary Smith?

   A. Selfish.            B. Faithful.           C. Changeable.        D. Stubborn.

57. The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________.

   A. I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith

   B. I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith

   C. I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest

   D. I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith.

58. What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?

   A. The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army.

   B. Their wish that this place and tree would last long.

   C. Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it.

   D. Their protest against the war which tore them apart.

59. In Mary’s opinion, which of the following might have caused Robin’s mother’s death?

   A. Pneumonia       B. A chill on the chest     C. A heart attack     D. Severe sorrow

60. The “tree” probably stands for ________.

   A. her romance      B. her determination         C. her sadness          D. her dream

I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was curious.

The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.

“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves. ” she added.

It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas.

“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”

“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursory inspection.

“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly.

She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit.”

Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram. ‘Sergeant R Holmes …Killed in action in the invasion of France.’…”

“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married.” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that! ”

“Two years later she too was dead. ‘Pneumonia (肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”

There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to.”

She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly. “And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him. Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!”

I turned away, sick at heart.

63. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.

A. draw attention to the damage that wars cause

B. persuade people to give up private interest

C. arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly

D. introduce a touching but sad love story

64. The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________.

A. I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith

B. I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith

C. I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest

D. I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith.

65. What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?

A. Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it.

B. Their wish that this place and tree would last long.

C. The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army.

D. Their protest against the war which tore them apart.

26. The leaves of this tree turn red ____ , so we visit it at the end of every October.

Tanzania Tarangire is a national Park which lies in Tanzania．The park itself covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers, making it the sixth largest park of its kind in the country．I recently visited Tarangire to see what it was like…．
One of the first sightings upon entering the park which I found was a huge herd（群）of elephants． Our guide told us that Tagrangire was probably the best place in Tanzania to find large herds of elephants, and that their population in the park was around 2,500．We continued to watch the elephants as they stood under trees and scratched themselves against the trees to hit the spot of an itch（痒处）．
To the right of the elephant herd, we noticed a big tree! Our guide informed us that this was a Baobab tree and that they could live for hundreds of years．Compared with this tree, the elephant just looked like dwarfs（侏儒）! We were informed that Tarangire was one of the best National Parks in Africa to see so many Baobab trees．
As we continued our drive through the park, we finally reached a watering hole．Our guide warned us that there were lions all around us．It took us all a while to find them, but there they were! Most of them are resting in the shade under brushes, but there was one that was drinking from the watering hole directly in front of us．We then noticed just to our right, there were a couple of fresh zebra corpses（尸体）— it seemed as if the lions which were resting had killed them! We were unlucky not to have seen the actual kill, as our guide had mentioned that the zebra corpses were fresh and the kill had occurred within the last hour．
Our final big sighting was one that none of us were expecting to see, even our guide! We pulled over to where there was a large gathering of cars, with a sleeping leopard（美洲豹）there! We took photos happily and excitedly and observed its surprising body before returning to our hotel as it was getting late．
So, I hope you enjoyed my description of Tarangire, and that I have inspired you to add this amazing park to your very own Tanzania travel route．
【小题1】Which statement is correct about the park?