新东方权威解析2013年5月11日托福阅读考题

第一篇：狮子

第一部分说上古时代，除少数例外，狮子广泛分布在各个大陆。

解析：

Lions are most active at night and live in a variety of habitats but prefer grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland. Historically, they ranged across much of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but now they are found mainly in parts of Africa south of the Sahara.

第二部分讲了狮子不同于其他动植物的一些特点——处于食物链顶层，所以能量储存有限(此处存疑)。

解析：

Lions prey on a large variety of animals ranging in size from rodents and baboons to water buffalo and hippopotamuses, but they predominantly hunt medium- to large-sized hoofed animals such as wildebeests, zebras, and antelopes. Prey preferences vary geographically as well as between neighbouring prides.

Though a group of hunting lions is potentially nature's most formidable predatory force on land, a high proportion of their hunts fail. The cats pay no attention to the wind's direction (which can carry their scent to their prey), and they tire after running short distances.

第三部分：随时间推移，狮子的数量减少，分布区域缩小，在欧洲完全消失——原因一是气候变化导致草原变为森林，二是人类的影响。

解析：

during the Pleistocene Epoch (2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago), lions ranged across all of North America and Africa, through most of the Balkans, and across Anatolia and the Middle East into India. They disappeared from North America about 10,000 years ago, from the Balkans about 2,000 years ago, and from Palestine during the Crusades. By the 21st century their numbers had dwindled to a few tens of thousands, and those outside national parks are rapidly losing their habitat to agriculture. Conflict with humans, especially herders, outside parks is a major problem, and humans living around parks remain the predominant source of mortality for most populations.

第四部分从环境变化角度讲解了亚洲，尤其是印度地区狮子减少的原因。个例：仅有的少量狮子在禁猎的私人林地中生产。

解析：About 200 Asiatic lions constitute a slightly smaller race that lives under strict protection in India's Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.

Gir National Park

national park in Gujarat state, west-central India, located about 37 miles (60 km) south-southwest of Junagadh in a hilly region of dry scrubland. It has an area of about 500 square miles (1,295 square km). Vegetation consists of teak with an admixture of deciduous trees, including sal (Shorea robusta), dhak (Butea frondosa), and thorn forests.

The Gir Forests Reserve, created in 1913 to protect the largest of the surviving groups of Asiatic lions, was accorded sanctuary status in 1965. Several hundred Asiatic lions have been bred in the sanctuary since it was established. “Lion shows” consisting of guided tours in protected vehicles are held regularly for visitors. Other fauna include leopards, wild pigs, spotted deer, nilgai (a type of antelope), four-horned antelope, and chinkaras (a type of gazelle). A large central water hole contains a few crocodiles. The park also has a small temple dedicated to Krishna near the Tulsi-Shyam Springs.