《2026年天利38套中考试题精选英语浙江专版》

C
①Countries usually show the world about themselves with a national symbol. They put the symbol on flags, coins, stamps and so on. When an animal is used this way, it's a national animal. But how do countries choose their national animals?
②Well, they usually choose an animal that comes from their country. The national animal of Tanzania, East Africa, is the giraffe, which lives there as well as in other African countries. But what about the most popular national animal, the lion? The lion's natural environment is Africa, so it is the national animal of lots of African countries, such as Ethiopia or Liberia. What about England, Belgium and Bulgaria, though? They all have the lion as their national symbol, but lions don't come from these countries.
③Often, the main reason for choosing an animal as the national symbol is the qualities (品质) the animal has. The lion is the national animal of many countries because people think it is strong, proud, honest and brave. These are the qualities that countries believe they themselves also have. Another national symbol like this is the eagle (鹰), the symbol of the United States. We see eagles as proud, honest and free. A lot of birds are national symbols, partly because they show the idea of freedom.
④The elephant is also a national animal in countries like Thailand and Mozambique. It is thought to be honest and hard-working. An interesting symbol is the wolf, national animal of Turkey and many southern European countries, such as Italy. But don't we usually think the wolf is dangerous? True, but there are many other opinions of the wolf too. It was believed, for example, that the men who started Rome were brought up by a wolf. That explains Italy's choice of the wolf. As we can see, the qualities we look for in national animals are mostly what we value in ourselves. But how do you explain the national animal of Monaco—the mouse?
23. Which is the national animal of Tanzania?
A. The giraffe.
B. The eagle.
C. The elephant.
D. The mouse.
24. What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. The qualities.
B. The countries.
C. The lions.
D. The symbols.
25. Why does Italy choose the wolf as its national animal?
A. It shows the idea of freedom.
B. It's considered as a dangerous animal.
C. It brought up the men who started Rome.
D. Its natural environment is southern Europe.
26. What is the structure of the text?

答案： 23.A 24.B 25.C 26.B