Every night for a year, Neil Simmons quietly went out of his house. He wanted to “talk” to an owl settling for the night at the end of his garden. He made owl cries like a real wild owl (猫头鹰)and was happy to hear the bird “hooting (大声叫嚣)” back to him.
Last year Fred Cornes moved in next door. He heard an owl hooting and answered back. For 12 months the neighbors got into the back gardens of their homes, thinking they were talking with nature. Mr. Simmons kept a diary of all his talks with his bird friend. They would both be out again tonight if it wasn’t for a chance talk between their wives.
Mr. Simmons said. “My wife Kim was telling Fred’s wife Wendy about my owl watching and described how I got the birds to boot back. She said, ‘That’s funny — that’s just what Fred has been doing.’ Then the penny dropped, I felt such a fool when I found out. The trouble is that owl calls aren’t exactly the same and it’s easy to make a mistake.”
Mr. Cornes said, “I’m really flattered (过奖). I didn’t know I sounded so real. I love nature and I couldn’t resist hooting at the owls. I was very excited when they hooted back. I’m sorry that I was fooling my neighbor who was fooling me.”
45．After the talk between the wives, the two men would probably _________ .
A．stop observing owls B．not stay up hooting again
C．not enter the back garden again D．make no mistakes about wild owl cries
46．“Then the penny dropped.” most probably means “Then __________.”
A．I understood B．everybody knew about it
C．I heard the noise D．no money was paid
47．Mr. Simmons felt upset about the whole thing because __________.
A．all his efforts seemed to be meaningless
B．his wife let out his secret by chance
C．garden owls hooted so differently
D．Fred had been doing the same
48．The text suggests that __________.
A．Nail seldom heard natural owl calls
B．the owl never hooted back to Neil
C．Fred was always good at pleasing owls
D．owl watching is no longer interesting to Fred
