Lion is a special animal to Chinese people. A couple of stone lions, a male (雄性) and a female (雌性), can often be seen in front of the gates of old buildings. The male lion is on the left with his right paw (手掌) on a ball, and the female on the right. And her left paw is touching a baby animal.

The lion is the king in the animal world because he is powerful. The ball shows the country or the family will be together forever, and the baby animal with the female shows that you will have many children.

The stone lions were also used to show the families were powerful. If you had no money or power, you couldn’t put the stone lions in front of your houses.

It was also popular to make bridges with stone lions. The best known of this is the Lugou Bridge (also as Marco Polo Bridge), built from 1189 to 1192. The stone lions on the bridge are most famous. Maybe there are 485 lions in all, maybe there are 498 or 501. A famous saying is that “the lions on the Lugou Bridge are uncountable(不可数的).”

小题1:What is a special animal in Chinese people?

A．Dragon(龙).

B．Tiger.

C．Lion.

D．Dog.小题2:How many stone lions can often be seen in front of some old houses?

A．2

B．3

C．1

D．4小题3:Who is the king in the animal world according to the text?

A．Tigers

B．Lions

C．Elephants

D．Bears小题4:Which is NOT right below about the stone lions in front of the gates of the old houses?

A．The male lion is on the left with his right paw on a ball.

B．The female is on the right with her left paw touching a baby animal.

C．The common people couldn’t put a pair of stone lions in front of the gates of old buildings.

D．If someone puts a pair of stone lions in front of the gate, he must have a lot of babies.小题5:Where do we often see stone lions besides in front of some gates?

A．On bridges.

B．In Hebei.

C．On towers.

D．By a river.

Government officials reported three new cases of mad cow, bringing the total so far this year to 99. Last year, France recorded just 31 cases of the mad cow disease. The rising numbers are in part (1) a new testing program that focuses on cows that are most (2) . That program has (3) 39 cases. But still 60 new cases were identified in the usual way, (4) were found in 1999. Many scientists (5) that this year, five years after safety precautions were (6) , the number of cases would be (7) .

The rise in cases has (8) some scientists to question whether the disease can be transmitted in ways not yet understood. Scientists are still (9) the disease, first recognized in cows in 1986.

It appears that it is not caused by a bacteria, virus or fungus, but (10) infectious particles called prion, perhaps (11) a virus or other agent. The disease kills cells in the brain, (12) it spongy and full of holes.

France has taken more steps to (13) safety than most European countries, (14) refusing to take English beef (15) the European Union. But some scientists believe that France has not been (16) in imposing the ban on feed that (17) animal pans.

Some French officials hope that the sudden interest in mad cow disease will mean that French consumers will become educated about it, thereby recognizing that French beef is actually (18) controlled. Every cow is given a passport at birth, and extensive information about its parentage and (19) it was raised must be (20) to any slaughterhouse. When a diseased animal is found, the entire herd is destroyed.

17（）

A. contains

B. consists of

C. is made from

D. is made up of