A
Known as “wolf girl” at her West Warwick, R．I.school, Alyssa Grayson has spent much of her young life teaching others to protect and respect animals.After starting a wolf club in the second grade, Alyssa learned all she could about her favorite animals.Today, she gives presentations about protecting wolves at libraries and schools—she's even spoken at a university.In fact, she's become such a wolf expert that she was appointed as the first junior advisor to the National Wolfwatcher Coalition.
When she's not teaching others about wolves, Alyssa can be found volunteering at her local animal shelter, taking care of dogs and cats.She's also trained as a citizen scientist for FrogWatch USA.In short, Alyssa Grayson proves that you are never too young to make a difference for animals.
When asked how she got interested in saving wolves, Alyssa says, “I've loved wolves since I saw them in a movie when I was 2 or 3 years old.Then one day I saw a commercial about wolf hunting.I asked my mother why people do this, and she told me because people don't like wolves.I decided from then on that I wanted to save wolves.”
Today, wolves are hunted, trapped, or poisoned.Hunters chase wolves for miles in an airplane until the wolves are too exhausted to run anymore.Then they shoot them.The animal doesn't have a chance to escape.Animals are also trapped for their fur.They are left to suffer in a trap with no food, water, or shelter.Alyssa thinks the fur looks better on the animal in the wild, where it's meant to be, than on a human.
Alyssa believes wolves are important to our worlds.She says, “Wolves are an apex predator, which means they are at the top of the food chain.Removing them from the ecosystem is a big mistake.The ecosystem is like a chain of dominoes (多米诺骨牌)—with the apex predator as the one in front.If you were to knock down that domino, the rest of the chain would go down too.”
People usually think of “the Big Bad Wolf” when they hear about wolves.However, Alyssa says, “If they would base their thoughts on facts, not fairy tales, we wouldn't have people wanting to kill wolves.”
【语篇解读】 本文主要讲述了阿莉莎在二年级创办一个狼俱乐部后，开始知道她最喜欢的动物是狼；她呼吁人们客观地对待并保护这种动物。
1．Alyssa is known as “wolf girl” at her school because ________．
A．she keeps wolves as pets
B．she was raised by wolves
C．she does a lot to protect wolves
D．she started a wolf club at her school
C [细节理解题。根据文章首句中的“has spent ...to protect and respect animals”以及下文所述她喜欢狼并呼吁大家保护狼这一物种可知，阿莉莎在学校中被称为“狼女”，是因为她用她的青春教会了其他人保护和尊重狼。故选C。]
2．According to the first two paragraphs, Alyssa ________．
A．gained knowledge about wolves at libraries
B．cares about other animals besides wolves
C．started to give presentations since the second grade
D．is the first junior citizen scientist for FrogWatch USA
B [细节理解题。根据文章第二段描述可知，她除了关心狼之外，还照顾其他的动物，如猫和狗。故选B。]
3．Paragraph 4 is mainly about ________．
A．why wolves are killed
B．why wolves are trapped
C．the tools used to hunt wolves
D．how wolves are treated
D [段落大意题。文章第四段主要讲述了狼被猎杀、被围困或被毒死的事实。人们为了它们的皮毛不断地去猎杀它们，不给它们逃生的机会，所以该段讲述了狼是被如何对待的。故选D。]
4．From the last paragraph we can infer that Alyssa ________．
A．doesn't need fairy tales
B．doesn't believe in fairy tales
C．encourages people to find out the facts about wolves
D．believes that more people will work to save wolves
C [推理判断题。根据最后一段可知，当人们提到狼的时候往往说“大坏狼”。如果人们把想法建立在事实的基础上，而不是童话上，我们人类就没有人想要杀死它们了。因此可推知，阿莉莎鼓励人们客观地对待狼，看到狼真实的一面。故选C。]
