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 background.To the early Western visitors the country's romantic name was “Land of 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.英语四级单词下载

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 “Land of the White Elephant” because_______.

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 “out of work”, according to the author?

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

B. Because their owners are westernized and neglect them.

C. Because the government pays little attention to the problem.

D. Because there are too many elephants and too few jobs.

4. Which of the following statements is true about the elephant population at various times?

A. There were 100,000 tamed elephants at the turn of the century.

B. 20,000 elephants were employed in transport in Thailand at the turn of the century.

C. By 1950 the elephant population in Thailand has been quite small.

D. Today the elephant population is estimated at 5,150.

5. The passage is most probably from_______.

A. a travel magazine

B. a history book

C. a research report

D. an official announcement

1.[B] 事实细节题。本题考查对比处。根据文章第l段第3句：和非洲象不同，亚洲象容易驯养，言下之意就是：非洲象不易驯养。答案中用tame替代原文的domesticate，意思相同。选项A与原文意思正好相反;选项C，D原文根本未提到。

2.[B] 推理判断题。根据文章第l段第4句中的“until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background.”可知当时白象是泰国的国家象征，因此B为正确选项。本题最具干扰性的是选项D，在形式上，选项D与第1段最后一句极为相似，但是，游客这样称呼泰国，原因也是因为白象是泰国的象征，而不只是因为这个名字浪漫，因此，选项D是对原文的曲解;选项A和选项C虽然也来自文章，但不是原因，不能回答所提问题。

3.[A] 推理判断题。文章有几处解释了大象失业的原因，如第2段的第2句“a nation that no longer needs it (Thai elephant)”及最后一段的最后一句“the elephant’s role as a beast of burden declined”等。选项A是对这些解释的一个基本概括。选项B中westernized和neglect虽在文章中出现，但选项B只是对想像的描述，不能解释大象“失业”的原因。选项C来自第2段最后一句话，但这句话只能说明大象不再受重视，不能作为大象“失业”的理由。选项D原文未提及，而且，从第3、4段可以看出：大象的数量急剧下降，谈不上“太多”。

4.[D] 事实细节题。此题考查的是大象数量变化的情况。四个选项中的数字惟有选项D没有直接出现，但根据第4段第l句很容易推算出来。选项A和B虽用了原文的数据，但选项A忽略了may这个词，而且未点明泰国，故不妥。B则忽略了in the north of Thailand及more than这两处。选项C中的small与原文substantial(大量的)冲突，也不对。

5.[C] 主旨大意题。从本文所用的大量客观的数据和数字可以推断这是一篇研究报告。本文趣味性不足，因此不能选A。选项B不能选，是因为历史书不可能如此大篇幅的描述大象的问题。选项D也不是正确答案，因为政府公告通常是一些规定，而不是客观的陈述。