Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not s

Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie's feet when Father cleared his throat and began, You'll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We've found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. But the lion, he cried, What about the lion?
I'm afraid there's something else I have to tell you, his father said. Looking across at Bertie's mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus(马戏团) owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would e to their farm in a few days.
No! You can't send him to a circus! said Bertie. People will e to see him. He'll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He'd rather die. Any animal would! But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt pletely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father's deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father's rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion's neck. The time had e.
Be wild now, he whispered. You've got to be wild. Don't ever e home. All my life I'll think of you. I promise I will. He buried his head in the lion's neck. Then, Bertie clambered down the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept ing. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion's head.
【小题1】Bertie's mother was sad probably because she     .A．had been seriously ill recentlyB．had decided to send Bertie to schoolC．knew selling the lion would upset BertieD．knew Bertie would hate to go to England【小题2】The underlined word they in Para.4 probably refers to     .A．some audience B．other animalsC．Bertie's parentsD．circus owners【小题3】In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to     ．A．kill the lion out of fearB．threaten the lion back to the wildC．protect himself from the lionD．show his anger towards his father【小题4】The passage intends to show that     .A．animal-hunting is popular in AfricaB．parents are sometimes cruel to their childrenC．animals usually lead a miserable life in circusesD．people and animals can be faithful to each otherC