英語閱讀理解求助二
The safest and most commonly practiced method of killing elephants is to spear them from trees. The spear used has a blade twelve inches long and three inches wide and a strong shaft three or four feet long. Armed with this weapon, the hunter waits in a tree overlooking an elephant trail or water hole and, assisted by gravity, plunges the spear into the back of the passing beast, aiming for the space between the shoulder blades. A well-placed spear will drop an elephant within a hundred yards, but admittedly the spear is often placed very inaccurately (as a result of the weapon's heaviness and various elements of chance), so that the elephant has to be followed, sometimes for days, until it dies.
A few energetic tribes practice the far more dangerous method of surrounding and spearing the elephant on the open plain. This requires thirty to fifty men, each armed with two or three throwing spears. The men first choose a lone bull or cut one out from a herd; then one man dances in front to attract the elephant's attention while others throw spears violently from the elephant's flank (腰窩). Screaming in fury, the elephant charges in one direction after another, always to be diverted by more spears. Soon he becomes tired and bewildered while fresh spearmen constantly appear to keep him wheeling and turning. Finally, weakened by exhaustion and loss of blood from his many wounds, the elephant sinks to his knees, whereupon a bold hunter will run and thrust a spear into the animal's heart.
16. To a hunter in a tree, the elephant's most vital spot would seem to be _____.
A) his heartB) between the shoulder blades
C) the brainD) his flank
17. It is difficult for the hunter in a tree to hit his target accurately because _____.
A) his weapon is hard to handleB) he is not very skillful
C) elephants are too swift for the hunters D) the trees are too tall
18. The author of this selection _____.
A) does not reveal the way he feels about killing elephants
B) feels that spearing elephants from trees is a cruel practice
C) feels that spearing elephants from trees is a dangerous practice
D) both B and C
19. Spearing elephants from trees is relatively safe because _____.
A) elephants are mild animals B) the elephant does not suspect the attack
C) it requires many men D) death comes to the elephant more quickly
20. Implied but not stated:
A) The most commonly practiced method of killing elephants is to spear them from trees.
B) The elephant must be a very valuable animal to the natives.
C) The killing of elephants should be illegal.
D) Killing elephants is mainly recreation for natives.