How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments---mostly for entertainment purposes --- is fair and respectful?
Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely and far from their natural homes.
Zoo claims to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leaves zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals’ natural behaviour, intelligence, or beauty. Zoo keeps animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range. The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.
The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusual and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis. A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.
Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding (圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and another species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?
Actually, we still save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.
小题1:How would the author describe the animals’ life in Zoos?
A．Dangerous
B．Unhappy
C．Natural
D．Easy小题2:In the state of zoochosis, animals _______________.
A．remain in cages
B．behave strangely
C．attack other animals
D．enjoy moving around小题3:According to the passage what point of view does the author hold?
A．Zoos are not worth the public support.
B．Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals.
C．Zoos should treat animals as human beings.
D．Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment.小题4:The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by________.
A．pointing out the faults in what zoos do
B．using evidence he has collected at zoos
C．exploring the way animals are protected
D．discussing the advantages of natural habitats小题5:Although he argues against zoos, the author would still agree that___________.
A．zoos have to keep animals in small spaces
B．most animals in zoos are endangered species
C．some endangered animals are reproduced in zoos
D．it’s acceptable to keep animals away from their habitats
小题1:B
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:B
小题5:C
题目分析：文章讲述了作者对动物园的看法，表明动物园的动物并不快乐，而且呼吁我们去支持那些真正为保护野生动物栖息地的工作。
小题1:细节题。从第二自然段Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.可知，作者认为动物们在动物园并不开心，故选B
小题2:细节题。从第二自然段Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain可知有动物精神病的动物行为非常的怪异，故选B
小题3:细节题。从最后一句Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.可知作者的态度是不要去支持动物园而应该支持那些为保护动物自然栖息地的工作，故选A
小题4:推断题。从第二，三自然段可知作者用了一些从动物园收集的事实来表明自己的观点，故选B
小题5:推断题。从第三段Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out.可知虽然作者反对动物园，但是动物园也确实进行了圈地繁殖来保证动物不会灭绝，故选C
点评：文章较难，首先把握好作者的写作中心思想，对动物园的看法展开论述。对于细节题，学生在理解全文的基础上要对题目中关键字在文章中迅速定位，找到相对应的出处，答题比较备选答案的区别及和文章信息最相关的是哪个，即那个就为正确答案。