2023年中考英语时事热点阅读专练
热点02 认识大象及其生活习性
一、阅读理解
1
Do you know elephants? They are big animals in the world. An elephant has got a long and big nose. It is called a trunk. The elephant can use its trunk to do many things. Its trunk is like a hand. With its trunk, an elephant can pick up a 270kg tree. Elephants also have big ears and teeth. Some elephants can work for people. In India, elephants live with people and they help people carry heavy things. People are kind to them.
Elephants have feelings(感情)like people. If an elephant dies, its family members will feel sad. Some people go into the elephants' house. If the elephants don't like them, they may hate them and they will drive them out of their house.
1. What does the underlined word “trunk” mean in the passage?
A. 树干    B. 象鼻    C. 牙齿    D. 大象
2. According to the passage，we can know that  elephants have big ______.
A. ears and eyes    B. ears and teeth    C. eyes and teeth    D. eyes and noses
3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. An elephant can pick up a 2，700kg tree.    B. Elephants never work for people.
C. There aren't any elephants in China.    D. Some elephants live with people in India.
4. You go into the elephants' house. If the elephants don't like you，they may ______.
A. welcome you to their house    B. feel happy to see you
C. play with you    D. drive you out of their house
2
We are students from Thailand, and we want to save the elephants. The elephant is one of Thailand’s symbols. Our first flag had a white elephant on it. This is a symbol of good luck. Elephants are smart animals. They can play soccer or music. They can also draw very well.
People say that “an elephant never forgets.” Elephants can walk for a long time and never get lost. They can also remember places with food and water. This helps them to live. But elephants are in great danger. People cut down many trees so elephants are losing their homes. People also kill elephants for their ivory. Today there are only about 3,000 elephants (over one hundred thousand in 1987). We must save the trees and not buy things made of ivory.
Remember that March 13th is Tai Elephant Day.
5. What is a symbol of good luck?
A. Thailand.    B. The elephant.
C. The white elephant.    D. The flag of Thailand
6. What helps the elephant to live?
A. Playing soccer.    B. Drawing pictures.
C. Food and water.    D. Good memory.
land7. Why do people kill elephants?
A. For trees.    B. For ivory.    C. For homes.    D. For food.
8. How many elephants have died in the past thirty years?
A. About 3000.    B. About 7,000.    C. About 97,000.    D. About 100,000.
9. What can we do to protect the elephants?
A. Remember Tai Elephant Day.    B. Give them food and water.
C. Stay away from the elephants.    D. Stop buying things made of ivory.
3
The Elephant Herd
The Elephant is lovely and it is very big. It has two big ears and a long nose. It has four strong legs and it can help people do many things, such as watering the flowers with its nose and carrying heavy things and so on.
The elephant is another animal that lives in groups. An elephant herd () usually has from twenty to forty members. The elephants in the herd usually depend on one another for help when they are in trouble.
The leader of the group is usually a wise and strong female (雌性的). She travels at the head of the herd and the other females and their young children follow her. The male elephants follow last. When the danger comes, the male elephants form a circle  (圈) around the weaker animals and protect them. The members of the herd are loyal  (忠诚的) to one another. A sick elephant is not left behind to die. If an elephant is sick, the whol
e herd stops traveling until it gets well. When an elephant is hurt, two others walk on both sides of it and support it with their bodies. A member of the herd may be caught in a trap (陷阱). Then the others try to help it. An elephant herd is just like a family of our people.
Elephants love the young in the group and give them special care and love. For example, they help young animals stay afloat (漂浮着) when the herd crosses a river. They work together to help a child get to the safety when it goes to a dangerous place. The way elephants love and care the youngsters is like ours.
When a female elephant gives birth to her young baby, she will go out of the herd and she usually leaves the herd for a short time. However, she takes another female along to act as “aunt”. The aunt stands beside and helps the mother with her new-born baby. In this way, the whole herd protects its newest member.
That’s the elephant herd. Do you like it?
10. When the danger comes, the male elephants form a circle around _________ to protect them.
A. the female elephants    B. the weaker elephants