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(马戏团) 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.
小题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小题2:The underlined word "they" in Para.4 probably refers to ______.
A．some audience
B．other animals
C．Bertie's parents
D．circus owners小题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小题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
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D
题目分析：本文叙述了Bertie由于长大了父母想让他去上学，因为他养着一头狮子，父母想把它卖给马戏团，可是他不愿意，于是他趁家人不注意，晚上带着枪，把狮子带到了山上想让狮子回归自然，可是狮子对它的主人恋恋不舍，他只好举枪威胁它。
小题1:推理判断题。根据A boy needs a proper education. We've found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.母亲可能认为把狮子卖了Bertie会伤心，故选C。
小题2:词义猜测题。根据People will come to see him. He'll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be这里指来看狮子的观众，故选A。
小题3:推理判断题。根据"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.可以推测出他想威胁狮子回到野外，故选B。
小题4:细节理解题。根据人和动物可以忠实于对方，故选D。
点评：词义猜测题体现了应用英语的重要能力，也是高考阅读理解中必考的题型。它不但需要准确无误地理解上下文，而且要有较大的泛读量，掌握或认识较多的课外词汇。考生应学会通过构词、定义、同位、对比、因果、常识、同义、反义及上下文线索等确定词义。
