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Indian's snake charmers are to be retrained as wildlife teachers under a plan to prevent their unique skills
and knowledge from being lost. The charmers, who make snakes dance to the sound of flutes (笛子), used
to be a traditional feature of Indian life, performing in towns and villages, until they were banned in 1972 to
control the trade in snake skins.
The government is now considering a plan to train the saperas, as they are known, to visit schools and
zoos to tell children about forests and wildlife. There is also a proposal to set up a "dial a snake charmer"
service to help householders to deal with unwelcome intruders.
"For generations they have been a feature of Indian life but now they can't earn a living for fear of arrest,"
said Behar Dutt, a conservationist behind the plans,"if a policeman doesn't catch them, animal rights activists
report them."
Many snake charmers have continued to work clandestinely since the ban, despite the threat of up to
three years in jail. But their trademark cloth-covered baskets, hung from a bamboo pole carried across their
shoulders, make them an easy target for police.
The fate of Shisha Nath, 56, from Badarpur, a village just outside of Delhi, is typical of practitioners (从
业者) of the dying art."I used to earn enough to support my family and send my children to school, "he said
"Now it's hard to earn even f, 1 a day. My children want to be snake charmers. It's our identity. We love the
work. But it s become impossible.
Next month Dutt's project to train 30 snake charmers will begin at a snake park in Pune, western India,
where experts will enrich their home-grown skills with some formal knowledge.
More than the law, though, it is the dishonest attitude of their fellow countryman that angers many snake
charmers.
"'We're disturbed all the time but when people want a snake removed from the house, they rush to us,"
said Prakash Nath, who was ordered recently to the home of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party leader.
1. According to the passage, snake charmers will be retrained as wildlife teachers mainly because _____.
A. schools need large numbers of such teachers
B. most of them cannot support their families
C. their performances on the street are banned
D. the government plans to save the dying art
2. The purpose of the proposed "dial a snake charmer" telephone service is _____.
A. to give performance of snake dancing
B. to teach householders how to catch and kill snakes
C. to offer cleaning service to wealthy householders
D. to help remove unwanted snakes from the houses
3. The word "clandestinely" in paragraph 4 can be best replaced by the word "_____"
A. secretly
B. publicly
C. subconsciously
D. diligently
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Snake charmers can easily be recognized by the police on the street.
B. Children of snake charmers would not like to continue their fathers' job.
C. Snake charmers are quite angry with the attitude of their fellow countrymen.
D. The animal rights activists take a negative attitude towards snake charmers.
