2019年6月大学英语四级阅读：泰国大象的生存危机

2021年1月26日发(作者：寂静)


2019
年
6
月大学英语四级阅读
200
篇汇总



For
centuries,
in
the
countries
of
south
and
Southeast
Asia
the
elephant
has
been
an intimate part of the culture, economy and religion, and nowhere more so than in
Thailand. Unlike its African cousin, the Asian elephant is easily domesticated (
驯
化
).
The
rare
so-called
white
elephants
have
actually
lent
the
authority
of
kingship
to its rulers and until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red
the early Western visitors the country's romantic name was
the White Elephant


Today, however, the story is very different. Out of work and out of land, the
Thai
elephant
struggles
for
survival
in
a
nation
that
no
longer
needs
it.
The
elephant
has found itself more or less abandoned by previous owners who have moved on to a
different
economic
world
and
a
westernized
society.
And
while
the
elephant's
problems
began many years ago, now it rates a very low national priority.


How this reversal from national icon (
圣像
) to neglected animal came about is
a tale of worsening environmental and the changing lives of the Thais themselves.
According to Richard Lair, Thailand's experts on the Asian elephant and author of
the report Gone Astray, at the turn of the century there may well have beenas many
as 100,000 domestic elephants in the country. In the north of Thailand alone it was
estimated
that
more
than
20,000
elephants
were
employed
in
transport,
1,000
of
them
alone on the road between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Saen. This was at a
time when 90 per cent of Thailand was still forest-a habitat (
栖息地
) that not only
supported
the
animals
but
also
made
them
necessary
to
carry
goods
and
people.
Nothing
ploughs through dense forest better than a massive but sure-footed elephant.


By 1950 the elephant population had dropped to a still substantial 13,397, but
today there are probably nomore than 3,800, with another 1,350 roaming free in the
national
parks. But now, Thailand's forest coversonly 20
per
cent of the land. This
deforestation
(
采伐森林
)
is
the
central
point
of
the
elephant's
difficult
situation,
for
it
has
effectively
put
the
animals
out
of
work.
This
century,
as
the
road
network
grew, so the elephant's role as a beast of burden declined.


练习题：



Choose correct answers to the question:


1. What can we know about African elephants from the passage?


A. It is easy to tame them.


B. It is hard to tame them.


C. They are living a better life than Asian elephants.


D. Their fate is quite similar to that of Asian elephants.


2. Thailand was once called


A. white elephant is rarely seen and thus very special


B. white elephant was a national symbol until the 1920s


C. white elephant has helped kings to gain the ruling authority


D. this name was so romantic that it was popular among visitors


3. Why is the Thai elephant



A. Because the elephants are no longer useful to their owners.