Question

Giraffes Are Being Killed for Their Tails

Documentary filmmaker David Hamlin recalls how excited he was at the sight of three giraffes standing in a small clearing when he was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Garamba National Park in late June. “Seeing these giraffes from the air was really exciting,” says Hamlin, who was working for National Geographic. That’s because Garamba is huge, extending over nearly 2,000 square miles of mostly forested land, and it’s a rare, lucky event to come across any of its 40 remaining giraffes.

But Hamlin’s thrill at seeing and photographing the giraffes didn’t last long. Twelve hours later, people looking after the national park reported hearing gunshots, and they later discovered three bullet-riddled bodies of dead giraffes in the sun. “It was horrible for me and the team,” Hamlin says “to realize that most likely it was these guys, the ones we’d seen.” Hamlin decided to document the sad event to raise awareness about illegally shooting animals in the park.

Garamba is Africa’s second oldest national park and has been hit hard by illegal shooting in recent years. Its rhinos have been wiped out, and elephants have suffered huge losses. The same goes for its Kordofan giraffes, one of Africa’s nine giraffe subspecies. Fewer than 2,000 now wander central Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Garamba’s Kordofan giraffes represent the last population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “If the number slips in half, then we’re in an extremely serious situation,” Fennessy says. “Every single giraffe is valuable.”

Congolese usually kill the giraffes for one body part, their tails, considered a rank symbol in some communities. Meanwhile men from neighboring South Sudan target the giraffes for their meat to feed poor villagers. But the massive bodies (giraffes can grow to 18 feet and weigh up to 3,000 pounds) of these three giraffes were complete — only the ends of their tails were missing. According to Leon Lamprecht, joint operations director for African Parks, “men use the tail as treasure to the bride’s father if they want to ask for the hand of a bride.” “What an absolute waste!” Lamprecht says.

1.What made Hamlin so excited when he was flying over the park?

A. Filming the huge national park.

B. Reporting the event in the air.

C. Picturing the running rhinos.

D. Spotting the rare animals.

2.What does the underlined part “the ones” refer to?

A. The filmmakers.B. The elephants.

C. The giraffes.D. The hunters.

3.What did Hamlin decide to do after learning about the event?

A. Uncover the ancient African traditions and customs.

B. Call on people to protect the habitat of wild animals.

C. Improve people’s knowledge of preserving wild animals.

D. Become a volunteer in the animal conservation foundation.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述了Garamba国家公园面临猖獗的盗猎行为，纪录片导演Hamlin头一天看到三只长颈鹿，但第二天这三只长颈鹿就被猎杀了，而目的只是为了得到它的尾巴。于是Hamlin决定在纪录片中呈现这件事以提高人们的动物保护意识。

1. 细节理解题。根据文章第一段的句子“Seeing these giraffes from the air was really exciting,…That’s because Garamba is huge, extending over nearly 2,000 square miles of mostly forested land, and it’s a rare, lucky event to come across any of its 40 remaining giraffes.”可知，能在公园里看见稀有动物Hamlin感到很兴奋。故选D。

2. 推理判断题。根据文章第一段的句子“Documentary filmmaker David Hamlin recalls how excited he was at the sight of three giraffes standing in a small clearing when he was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Garamba National Park in late June.”可知，David Hamlin在公园看见三只长颈鹿，接下来第二段介绍“Twelve hours later, people looking after the national park reported hearing gunshots, and they later discovered three bullet-riddled bodies of dead giraffes in the sun.”三只长颈鹿被杀害，David Hamlin说“to realize that most likely it was these guys, the ones we’d seen”，他意识到很可能就是他看见的那三只长颈鹿。故选C。

3. 推理判断题。根据文章第二段的句子“Hamlin decided to document the sad event to raise awareness about illegally shooting animals in the park.”可知，知道这件事后，Hamlin决定提高人们对保护野生动物的意识。故选C。

【名师点拨】

猜测词义题。阅读材料中的每个词与它前后的词语或句子甚至段落都有联系。我们可以利用语境（各种已知信息）推测、判断某些生词的词义。做这种类型的题，要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境来判断其意义。因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，我们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境想当然。在句子或段落中，我们可以利用熟悉的词语，根据语言环境所表示的关系推断生词词义。4.

考点：考查说明文阅读