5．Elephants are the only species on the earth known to have death ritual（仪式）besides man．
They show a strong interest in the bones of their own kind．They are often seen gently touching the bones with their trunks and feet while remaining very quiet．Sometimes elephants completely unrelated to the dead will still visit their graves．
Elephant researcher Meredith recalls something in his book about a typical elephant death ritual．The entire family of a dead elephant，including her young baby，were all gently touching her body with their trunks，trying to lift her．The elephant herd were all rumbling（低吼）：The baby elephant was even observed to be weeping and made sounds that sounded like a scream，but then the entire herd fell incredibly silent．Then they began to throw leaves and dirt over the body and broke off tree branches to cover her．They spent the next two days quietly standing over her body．They sometimes had to leave to get water or food，but they would always return．
Events of elephants behaving this way around human beings are common throughout Africa．On many occasions，they have buried dead or sleeping humans or helped them when they are hurt．An old woman fell asleep under a tree．When she woke up，there was an elephant standing over her，gently touching her．She kept very still because she was frightened．As other elephants arrived，they began to scream loudly and buried her under branches．She was found the next morning by the local people，unharmed．
George Adamson also recalls when he shot all elephant from a herd that kept breaking into the farmers'gardens．George gave the：elephant's meat to 1ocal men and then dragged the rest of the body miles away．That night，the other elephants found the body，took the leg bones，returned them to the exact spot the elephant was killed，and made the death ritual．
56．Elephants touch the bones of their own kind toA．
A．express sorrow at the death
B．search for the hunter
C．clean their trunks and feet
D．call for other elephants
57．What can we learn about the ritual from Meredith's book？B
A．All the elephants were observed to be weeping．
B．All the elephants felt sad in the ritual．
C．The whole herd screamed for two days．
D．The elephants ate nothing for two days．
58．The elephant watched the woman becauseB．
A．it thought she was sleeping
B．it thought she was dead
C．it tried to protect her
D．it wanted to wake her up
59．The case mentioned in the last paragraph mainly shows thatC．
A．it's cruel of humans to kill elephants for meat
B．elephants can find out who hunted their members
C．elephants tend to make the death ritual for their members
D．there are often conflicts between elephants and humans
60．What is the best title for the passage？D
A．Humans and elephants
B．The intelligenee of elephants
C．The feelings of elephants
D．The death rituals of elephants．
分析 本文是一篇科教类文章，通过讲述死亡大象的仪式展示出除了人类以外，大象用这种仪式表现出其群体的团结．
解答 ABBCD
56A 细节理解题．根据文章第二 段Sometimes elephants completely unrelated to the dead will still visit their graves．可知大象触摸他们同类的骨头是为了表达死亡的痛苦，尤其是毫无关联的大象也来参加仪式，故选A．
57B 细节理解题．根据文章第三 段 The entire family of a dead elephant，including her young baby，were all gently touching her body with their trunks，trying to lift her．可知在Meredith书中大象群体用各种不同的行为表达了各自的痛苦，ACD均为各自的行为表现故选B．
58B 细节理解题．根据文章第四 段On many occasions，they have buried dead or sleeping humans or helped them when they are hurt． 可知大象因为认为女士死了才站在她周围并且关注她，故选B．
59C 细节理解题．根据文章最后一段the other elephants found the body，took the leg bones，returned them to the exact spot the elephant was killed，and made the death ritual． 可知大象找到尸体并把骨头带到它被杀的地方举行了仪式，说明大象倾向于为死去的同类做仪式．故选C．
60D主旨大议题．通读全文可知这篇文章主要描述了大象的死亡仪式，故选D．
点评 做阅读理解时要快速的浏览全文，把握文章主旨大意，带着问题回到原文，寻找细节或概括相应的答案，最后要理清作者写作思路．
