A Life with Birds

　　For nearly 17 years David Cope has worked as one of the Tower of London's yeoman warders, __1__ known to tourists as beefeaters. David, 64, lives in a three-bedroomed flat right at the __2__ of the Byward Tower, one of the gatehouses. "__3__ our bedroom we have a marvellous view of Tower Bridge and the Thames, " says David。

　　The Tower of London is famous __4__ its ravens, the large black birds which have lived there for over three centuries. David was immediately fascinated by the birds and when he was __5__ the post of Raven Master eight years ago he had no __6__ in accepting it. "The birds have now become my life and I'm always __7__ of the fact that I am __8__ a tradition. The legend says that if the ravens leave the Tower, England will fall to enemies, and it's my job to __9__ sure this doesn't happen!"

　　David_10_about four hours a day to the care of the ravens. He has grown to love them and the _11__ that he lives right next to them is ideal. "I can _12__ a close eye on them all the time, and not just when I'm working." __13__, David's wife Mo was not __14__ on the idea of life in the Tower, but she too will be sad to leave when he retires next year. "When we look out of our windows, we see history __15__ around us, and we are taking it in and storing it up for our future memories."

　　词汇：

　　marvellous a。奇妙的，不可思议的

　　fascinate  v. 着迷，吸引

　　raven  n. 乌鸦，黑色的鸟

　　legend  n. 传奇，传说

　　注释：

　　1. ...from our bedroom we have a marvellous view of ... :从我们的卧室看去，有一个奇妙的角度。。。

　　2. ... keen on the idea of life in the Tower..: 热衷于塔里的生活

　　练习：

　　1. A. more B. better C. sooner D. very

　　2. A. height B. summit C. peak D. top

　　3. A. Since B. Out C. From D. Through

　　4. A. for B. because C. of D. by

　　5. A. award B. applied C. presented D. offered

　　6. A. regret B. delay C. hesitation D. choice

　　7. A. aware B. knowing C. pleased D. delighted

　　8. A. holding B. maintaining C. surviving D. lasting

　　9. A. take B. make C. have D. keep

　　10. A. devotes B. spends C. passes D. provides

　　11. A. reason B. chance C. opportunity D. fact

　　12. A. hold B. have C. keep D. put

　　13. A. Firstly B. First of all C. At first D. First

　　14. A. interested B. keen C. fond D. happy

　　15. A. every B. all C. much D. so

　　答案与题解：

　　1. B 根据上下文，这里应选择比较级，所以排除D，再根据句意，为"更为人所熟知"，因而better是正确答案。

　　2. D 根据句意，词组搭配 at the top of ，表示在……顶部最为合适。Height 意为"高度"，summit 意为"最高点"，peak 意为"顶峰"，所以选 D。

　　3. C 根据句意，从卧室的角度看去，from 最为恰当。

　　4. A 固定搭配 be famous for 意为"以……而著名"，文中要表达的是伦敦塔以乌鸦而著名，因而 for 为正确答案。

　　5. D 根据句意，David 是被提供了这样一个职位，所以 offered 最为恰当award 表示"授予"，applied 表示"应用" ，presented 表示"给予，呈现"，均不符合句意。

　　6. C 根据上下文，很容易理解 David 是这么迷恋这种黑鸟，因而毫不犹豫地接受了这个职位，所以 hesitation 为正确答案。

　　7. A be aware of 表示"意识到"，有这样一命警觉。其他三项均不符合句意。

　　8. B 固定搭配 maintain a tradition ，保持一个传统，maintain 最为恰当。hold 表示"抓住"，survive 表示"存活，幸存"，last 表示"维持"。

　　9. B 固定搭配 make sure，意为"确保"，在文中表达的是"确保这种状况不会发生"，因而选 B。

　　10. A 根据句意，David 每天大约用四个小时来护理乌鸦，表达出对乌鸦的爱护之情，devote "献身于……，专用于……"最为恰当。spend 后需加动词 ing 形式。pass 表示"经过"， provide 表示"提供"，均不符合句意。

　　11. D 这是一个定语从句，根据句意，David 已经爱上了它们，而他正居住在它们旁边(这样一个事实)是理想的，所以 fact 是正确答案。

　　12. C keep an eye on 为固定搭配，意为"注意，关注"，所以选 C。

　　13. C 根据句意，作者要表达的意思是起初，David 的妻子 Mo 并不感兴趣，因为只有词组 at first 表示"起初，开始时"符合句意。

　　14. B be keen on 为固定搭配，表示"对……感兴趣，对……热衷"，interest 后面配介词 in ，fond后应配介词 of ，因此正确答案是 B。

　　15. B 根据句意，作者表达的感情非常强烈，过去的那些都环绕在身边，所以 all 为最佳答案。