阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    With his unique black mane (鬃毛)and impressive stature(身材), 13-year-old Cecil was a popular tourist attraction at the 3.6 million-square-acre Hwange National Park(万基国家公园) in Zimbabwe (津巴布韦).

    Cecil was head of a pride of lions that includes 12 cubs(幼崽), but the well-known lion was shot and killed in early July by American dentist Walter J. Palmer.  

Cecil's death has already sparked an international outcry (强烈抗议) with many calling for an end to hunting endangered animals and for Palmer to be extradited(引渡) to Zimbabwe to stand trial.

Professor David Macdonald, the head of the Oxford University research program that monitored the daily movements of Cecil and dozens of other lions, is deeply saddened by Cecil's death. Macdonald hopes the death can inspire the public to take an interest in lion conservation.

    Macdonald says many of the lions tracked by the program have been shot  and killed. “The background to this story is that there is a crisis for lions throughout much of Africa.” He says.

    African lion populations have fallen almost 60 percent over the past thirty decades, and as few as 32,000 of them remain in the wild, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare(国际爱护动物基金会).

“And as troubling as it is, the rarer these hunted animals become, the more hunter s are willing to pay to kill them,” said Jeff Flockedn, the fund's North American regional director.

    In addition to excessive hunting, lions throughout Africa also continue to face threats that include conflicts with local farmers, loss of habitat and risk of traffic and railway collisions(碰撞).

The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid—we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.

    However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard (蜥蜴)native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we，d need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate w hitting. ''

    But fortunately there is an alternative : cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a “non-Newtonian” liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子）in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick Liquid of cornflour.

    Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink--and take a shower afterward!

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Attention from strangers is nothing new to me. Questions about my height is the center of almost every public interaction. My friends say my height is just a physical quality and not a personality aspect. However, when I reflect on my life, I realize that, my height has shaped my character in many ways and has helped to make me who I am.

    I learned how to be kind. When I was younger, some parents in my neighborhood regarded me kind of dangerous because I was so much larger than other children my age. I had to be extra welcoming and gentle simply to play with other children. Of course, now my coaches wish I weren't quite so kind on the basketball court.

    I learned the quality of not being too proud about myself. At 7 feet tall, everyone expects me to be an amazing basketball player. They come expecting to see Dirk Nowitzki, and instead they might see a performance more like Will Ferrell(successfully starred a professional basketball player). I have learned to be modest and to work even harder than my fellows to meet their (and my) expectations.

    I developed a sense of lightheartedness. When people playfully make fun of my height, 1laugh at myself too. On my first day of high school, a girl dropped her books in a busy hallway. I got down to her level and gathered some of her notebooks. As we both stood up, her eyes widened as I kept rising over her. Astonished, she dropped her books again. Embarrassed, we both laughed and picked up the books a second time.

    All of these lessons have defined me. Looking back, I realize that through years of such experiences, I have become a confident, expressive person. Being a 7-footer is both a blessing and a curse, but in the end, accepting who you are is the first step to happiness.

    The bike-sharing companies that are powering a transportation revolution in China's urban centers are not like those in the rest of the world. Their bikes have no docking ports or assigned zones for parking. Instead, riders open their smartphone apps, hop on, and start riding. So easy!

    In 2015, Ofo, China's bike-share pioneer, launched its first fleet of bicycles in Beijing. The bikes' bright yellow frames were soon met by the orange-rimmed（镶边）, basket-equipped models launched by Mobike, Ofo's main competitor today. In little over a year, the two companies have had a huge impact on revitalizing (重振) cycling in China, particularly among young people.

    Ofo placed 1 million bicycles across 35 cities and registered 15 million users in its first years, while Mobike has now gained more than 10 million unique users and bicycles in 21 cities. Inspired by their success, at least 10 other companies have jumped into the market, launching their own app-powered, brightly colored bikes in quick succession. But Mobike and Ofo are far ahead of them.

    The two industry leaders each take a different marketing method to a similar product. The Mobike app uses GPS to display bikes' locations to users. They can use the map to reserve a bike and walk over to it. A scan of the bike's QR code (二维码) unlocks the bike, and when users manually（手动地） lock the bike at the end of their trip, the app records the trip's end and the bike will pop back up on the map as available. Equipped with this wireless technology, Mobikes cost between 1,000 and 3,000 yuan. Rides cost 1 yuan for an hour or a half hour, depending on whether a user chooses a “Lite” or regular bike, and the deposit (押金) required to the service is 299 yuan.

Ofo, meanwhile, is devoted not just to producing its own bikes, which have slim yellow bodies and cost about 250 yuan, but also to connecting existing bikes to its network—-- a philosophy that begins with the practice of 2000 bikes offered to a campus bike-share program. The 2000 bikes were the first generation of Ofo. Yet the majority of the company's bikes are currently ones that have been specially manufactured and fitted with their lock system. Unlike Mobike,Ofo bikes themselves are offline: their locations are tracked through users' cell phones. Users find a free bike, enter the license plate number into their app, and receive the bike unlock code. When they have reached their destination, they end the ride on the app and manually lock the bike. Rides cost 1 yuan for an hour and the deposit is 99 yuan.

    Ninety years ago a man named Howard Carter made a great find. But he didn't discover an unknown people group or a new plant. He found the resting place of a king.

    People had seen signs of King Tutankhamun's tomb (坟墓) but had never found it. Finally, Carter's team discovered a set of steps that led down to some underground rooms. There Carter found the king's body and many of his treasures.

    Carter recorded his first impression in his popular book, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen：

At first I could see nothing, the hot air coming from the room causing the candle light to flicker (闪烁), but later, as my eyes grew used to the light, details of the room within appeared slowly and clearly, strange animals and gold—everywhere the light of gold... I was struck speechless with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the silence any longer, asked anxiously,  “Can you see anything?” it was all I could do to get out the words, “Yes, wonderful things.”

    The discovery has made King Tutankhamun, Tut for short, one of the best-remembered kings of Egypt. Tut became king when he was only 9 years old and ruled ancient Egypt from 1332 to 1323 B.C. No one is sure why, but he died suddenly before he turned 20. Because he died so young, there wasn't time to prepare a great tomb for him. So he ended up with a smaller tomb. Its small size was actually the reason why it stayed hidden for so long. And, Tut's tomb was not like other Egyptian kings'—it was not as damaged by time or robbers as other tombs. King Tut's tomb remains the best-kept royal (皇室的) tomb ever discovered. The discovery of this little tomb has helped people learn a great deal about ancient Egypt.

    Little black taxis, often run-down and falling apart from decades of use, have for a long time been a main feature of Cairo's chaotic urban landscape. But their days may be numbered, thanks to a new taxi replacement programme aimed at knocking out older, potentially unsafe vehicles.

    The government-sponsored action, launched earlier this year, allows drivers of taxis 20 years or older, mostly Fiats and Peugeots, to trade their cars for shiny new all-white ones at generous rates of financing. Drivers can choose between five different locally manufactured car models.

    According to officials, more than 11,000 brand new taxis, sporting trademark checked stripes on the sides, have already hit the streets of the capital, and they've been welcomed enthusiastically by passengers. Many people say that not only are the new taxis more comfortable, but they also make the streets of Cairo far more presentable. Furthermore, taxi fares have only increased by a small amount.

    The poor condition of most black and white taxis is almost legendary. Passengers often have to deal with windows and doors that do not open and close, and heavy, thick petrol gases. Air conditioning is unheard of. The new all-white taxis, meanwhile, are cleaner, more fuel-efficient and provide air conditioning on request. Furthermore, all the new taxis come equipped with functioning fare meters, which avoids arguments and sometimes fights with passengers!

    The government hopes to replace all of the capital's 40,000 elderly black cabs soon, but not everyone in Cairo will be happy to see them go. Hotel manager Ibrahim Al-Toukhy says that the old black cabs were weak and run-down, and maybe even a little dangerous, but they were part of the city, and part of Cairo's character.