I I. Reading Comprehension
Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage, and for each blank there are 4 choices marked A, B, C, and D at the end of the passage. You should choose ONE answer that best fits into the passage.
The mysterious tiger has been a symbol of power and strength for centuries. Its power is a 21 to hunters, 22 have tried to kill it to prove their own skill and 23 . In India 24 the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, large parties of 25 from around the world 26 go out on huge tiger hunts. Hundreds of tigers could be killed in a few weeks. As a 27 of this over-hunting, 28 with loss of habitat, the population of tigers in India dropped from about 40,000 29 the tum of the twentieth century to about 2,000 by 1972.
With the help of lndia and other concerned countries, the World Wildlife Fund 30 Operation Tiger in 1972 to save the tiger 31 dying out. Since then, seventeen tiger preserves have been 32 , and the tiger population in India has risen to 33 4,000 and 5,000.
But when people live on the 34 of the tiger preserves, tigers sometimes kill their farm animals and attack people-about 600 people in India have been killed by tigers in the last dozen years. 35 tigers do not eat humans. But "old, wounded and homeless" tigers can become habitual man-eaters. In one area in India, villagers have 36 a clever solution. They wire lifelike human dummies to electricity 37 the tigers get a(n) 38 shock when they attack. It is hoped that in this way tigers will learn to 39 people. But the conflict between human and tiger 40 . Only if people have enough food, shelter and fuel will the tiger survive in the long run. And only if the tiger and its forest survive will people have a natural world they can return to.
【題組】39.
(A) protect
(B) attack
(C) avoid
(D) penetrate