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：

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塔頂部的一個三居室的單元里，一個警衛(wèi)室。 David說：“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美好景色?！?/P>

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

David每天大約用四個小時的時間來護理烏鴉。他已經愛上了它們，而他緊挨在它們的旁邊生活是最佳選擇。“我可以在所有的時間內密切關注它們，不僅僅是在工作的時候?！逼鸪?，David的妻子Mo對生活在塔里的想法并不熱衷，但David明年即將退休，她要離開時也會很傷心?！爱斘覀兺高^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的記憶存儲它?！?/P>