A Life with Birds

For nearly 17 years David Cope has worked as one of the Tower of London's Yeoman Warders, (1) better known to tourists as beefeaters. David, 64, lives in a three-bedroomed flat right at the (2) top of the Byward Tower, one of the gatehouses. “(3) From our bedroom we have a marvellous view of Tower Bridge and the Thames.” says David.

The Tower of London is famous (4) for 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) offered the post of Raven Master eight years ago he had no (6) hesitation in accepting it. "The birds have now become my life and I'm always (7) aware of the fact that I am (8) maintaining a tradition. The legend says that if the ravens leave the Tower, England will fall to enemies, and it's my job to (9) make sure this doesn't happen!"

David (10) devotes about four hours a day to the care of the ravens. He has grown to love them and the (11) fact that he lives right next to them is ideal. “I can (12) keep a close eye on them all the time, and not just when I'm working.” (13) At first, David's wife Mo was not (14) keen 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) all around us, and we are taking it in and storing it up for our future memories.”

練習(xí)：

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

參考答案：BDCAD CABBA DCCBB

第一篇 有鳥陪伴的生活

作為倫敦塔的守衛(wèi)者之一David Cope在那里工作了近17年，被游客們稱為beefeaters。David，64歲，生活在Byward塔頂部的一個(gè)三居室的單元里，一個(gè)警衛(wèi)室。 David說(shuō)：“從我們的臥室看去，我們可以看到倫敦塔橋和泰晤士河的一個(gè)美好景色?！?/P>

倫敦塔以大黑色的鳥—烏鴉而著名，它們已經(jīng)在那里生活了三個(gè)多世紀(jì)。David立刻被這種鳥迷住了，當(dāng)他在八年前被提供烏鴉主人的職位時(shí)他毫不猶豫地接受了它。“這種鳥類現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成為我的生命，我總是警覺(jué)到我在保持一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)。傳說(shuō)中說(shuō)，如果烏鴉離開倫敦塔，英國(guó)將落到敵人手中，我的工作就是確保這種情況不會(huì)發(fā)生!”

David每天大約用四個(gè)小時(shí)的時(shí)間來(lái)護(hù)理烏鴉。他已經(jīng)愛(ài)上了它們，而他緊挨在它們的旁邊生活是最佳選擇。“我可以在所有的時(shí)間內(nèi)密切關(guān)注它們，不僅僅是在工作的時(shí)候。”起初，David的妻子Mo對(duì)生活在塔里的想法并不熱衷，但David明年即將退休，她要離開時(shí)也會(huì)很傷心。“當(dāng)我們透過(guò)我們的窗口向外看，我們看到歷史環(huán)繞在我們身邊，我們正接受它并為我們未來(lái)的記憶存儲(chǔ)它?！?/P>