阅读理解 Elephants who paint aren''t new. Paintings by Ruby, an Asian elephant who lived at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, sold for up to $5,000 in the late 1980s, said Dick George, a consultant with the zoo. "Ruby was about seven months old when she first came to the zoo," said George. "She lived with a goat and some chickens, but she didn''t have an elephant companion for a number of years. She spent a lot of time drawing in the dirt with a stick to make her days more stimulating. Her keeper bought her some art supplies." George said, "Ruby was excited about painting right from the beginning." The elephants at the art academies in Southeast Asia are taught to hold a paintbrush with the tip of their trunks. Initially, the keeper guides the elephant''s trunk over the canvas (画布) and offers rewards for good performance. "It only takes a few hours to a day to teach them," said Mia Fine man, an art historian whose book "When Elephants Paint" is an illustrated history of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project.

单选题 Ruby was an Asian elephant ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】问题线索在文章的第一段，应该逐条对比四种选项与原文的意思是否一致。5000美元是销售大象所画图画的价格，而不是卖大象的价格，因此A项显然不正确；B、D两项属于误导项，文中未曾提及大象Ruby因为是第一个能画画的大象而出名和在80年代末它开始画画。因此只有C项是正确答案。

单选题 Why did Ruby start painting according to Dick George?

A、 Because she was seven years old.
B、 Because she was the first to come to the zoo.
C、 Because she learned a lot from the goat and the chickens.
D、 Because she had no elephant partners to play with.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】本题的依据句是文章的第三段谈话。从“She lived with a goat and some chickens but she didn't have an elephant companion for a number of years．”可知，Ruby开始画画是因为没有其他的大象伙伴，因此本题的正确答案为D。

单选题 How did Ruby paint at the very beginning?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】经分析可知，B、C两项答非所问。本题所提问题是Ruby在刚开始时是怎样画画的，而B项是说Ruby每天的大部分时间都在泥土里玩，C项是说Ruby每天自娱自乐，显然这两项都不正确。本题强调的是“at the very beginning"，通过第三段谈话可以判断出A项在时间上要先于D项，因此正确答案为A。

单选题 To encourage the elephants to paint well, the keeper______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】问题的线索在文章的第五段，由“offers rewards for good performance”可知，为了鼓励大象将画画好，管理员对做的好的给予奖励。A、B、C三项都没有此含义，只有D是正确答案。

单选题 When Elephants Paint is a book _______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】本题的线索在文章的第六段，由“When Elephants Paint is an illustrated history of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project”可知，只有B项“关于亚洲画画的大象”符合此意。而A项“关于艺术史”里未涉及大象，显然不对。C项“说明怎样教大象画画”和D项“主要将大象艺术理论化”都不正确。