There is a competition for photographers(摄影师) of wildlife in the Natural History Museum in London every year. This year, the competition had about 50,000 photos. These photos come from different parts of the world. They take us underwater, deep into the woods, and high above cities. All of them show different kinds of life on the earth.
In the end, the great prize went to Laurent Ballesta. The French photographer won the prize for his photo of a horseshoe crab. In the photo, the horseshoe crab looks for food in the sea. Three little fish follow it closely. They may hope to eat what the horseshoe crab misses.
Horseshoe crabs are known as "living fossils(化石)". They have lived for at least 445 million years and stayed almost unchanged. They're now in great danger, however. What happened to them? In the 1960s, scientists found something surprising. The blue blood of horseshoe crabs can be used for scientific study. As a result, hundreds of thousands of them are caught each year.
For a long time, Ballesta took photos of horseshoe crabs in the sea. His winning photo took the judges(评委) by surprise. "To see a horseshoe crab so alive and well, in such a beautiful way, was fantastic," said one of them.
()8. How many photos did the competition have this year?
A. 445.
B. 1960.
C. About 5,000.
D. About 50,000.
()9. Who got the great prize at last?
A. A Chinese photographer.
B. A French photographer.
C. An American photographer.
D. An Australian photographer.
()10. What does the underlined word "They" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Horses.
B. Horseshoe crabs.
C. Fishes.
D. All the crabs.
()11. What do the judges think of the winning photo?
A. Common.
B. Usual.
C. Surprising.
D. Strange.
D

8.D 9.B 10.B 11.C

【分析】这是一组英语阅读理解细节题，解题思路为：每道题都需根据题干关键词定位原文对应内容，再对比选项选出正确答案。第8题关键词是“how many photos”，定位原文找数量；第9题关键词是“great prize”，定位获奖人信息；第10题关键词是“they”，定位代词所在句及前文指代对象；第11题关键词是“judges think of the winning photo”，定位评委评价的内容。
【解析】
8. 根据原文第一段第二句“This year, the competition had about 50,000 photos.”可知，今年比赛的照片数量约为50000，对应选项D。
9. 根据原文第二段前两句“In the end, the great prize went to Laurent Ballesta. The French photographer won the prize...”可知，大奖得主是法国摄影师，对应选项B。
10. 第三段第一句提到“Horseshoe crabs are known as 'living fossils'”，后句的“They”指代前文的主语Horseshoe crabs，对应选项B。
11. 根据原文第四段第二句“His winning photo took the judges by surprise.”可知，评委对获奖照片感到惊喜，对应选项C。
【答案】8.D 9.B 10.B 11.C
【知识点】阅读理解（细节理解）、代词指代
【点评】本题为基础英语阅读理解题，主要考查学生快速定位原文信息的能力，代词指代题需结合上下文语境判断指代对象，整体难度较低，只要仔细阅读原文即可轻松解答。
【难度系数】0.9