During the next several weeks I went completely to the wolves. I took a tiny tent and set it up on the shore of bay. The big telescope was set up in the mouth of the tent in such a way that I could observe the wolves by day or night.
Quite by accident I had pitched (set up) my tent within ten yards of one of the major paths used by the wolves. Shortly after I had taken up residence one of the wolves came back and discovered me and my tent, but he did not stop or hesitate in his pace. Later, one or more wolves used the track past my tent and never did they show the slightest interest in me. I felt uncomfortable at being so totally ignored. The next day I noticed a male wolf make boundary markers by passing water on the rounds of his family lands.
Once I had become aware of the strong feeling of property rights which existed among the wolves, I decided to use this knowledge to make them at least recognize my existence. One evening, after they had gone off for their regular nightly hunt I staked out a property of my own, including a long section of the wolves’ path. In order to ensure that my claim would not be overlooked, I made a property mark on stones, dumps of moss, and patches of vegetation with a lot of tea. Before the hunters came back, task was done, and I retired, somewhat exhausted, to observe results. A few minutes later, the leading male appeared. As usual he did not bother to glance at the tent, but when he reached the point where my property line intersected (cut across) the trail, he stopped as suddenly as if he had run into an invisible wall.
Cautiously, he extended his nose and sniffed at one of my marked bushes. After a minute of hesitation he backed away a few yards and sat down. Then, he looked directly at the tent and at me.
His glare seemed to become more fierce as I attempted to stare him down. The situation was becoming intolerable. To break the impasse I turned my back on the wolf. Then quickly and with an air of decision, he turned his attention away from me and began a systematic tour of the area I had staked out as my own. As he came to each boundary marker he sniffed it once or twice, then carefully placed his mark on the outside of mine.
小题1: Why did the wolves manage to ignore the author’s presence?
A．Because his tent was out of the wolves’ estate boundaries.
B．Because the author and the wolves were already good friends.
C．Because they did not know him at all.
D．Because the wolves were afraid of strangers.小题2: Which is TRUE according to the passage ?
A．The author likes staring matches esp. with wolves.
B．Staking the land was very easy.
C．Wolves can see the estate boundaries clearly with their eyes.
D．The author managed to know why the wolves ignore his presence.小题3: What was the author’s discovery?
A．Wolves were not settled beasts, as is almost universally believed.
B．Wolves were settled beasts and the possessors of an estate with definite boundaries.
C．Wolves were not interested with strangers.
D．Wolves’ family was dominated by a female.小题4:Why did the author stake out an area of his own?
A．Because he thought it better to be stared at than to be ignored.
B．Because he didn’t want the wolves to use the track past his tent.
C．Because he wanted the wolves to take cognizance of his existence.
D．Because he wanted to find out how fierce the wolf’s glare was.
