From the beginning of human history, wild animals provided food, clothing and sometimes medicine for man. We may not depend as much on wild animals now. But we hear about them every day. Americans use the names of animals in many ways. Automobile manufacturers and gasoline companies especially like to use big cats to sell their products. They like lions, tigers and wildcats. When Americans say wildcat, they usually mean a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat. All these cats attack quickly and fiercely. So wildcats represent something fast and fierce.
An early American use of the word wildcat was quite different. It was used to describe members of Congress who declared war on Britain in 1812. A magazine of that year said the wildcat congressmen went home. It said they were unable to face the responsibility of having involved their country in an unnecessary war.
Wildcat also has been used as a name for money in the 1800s. At that time, some states permitted banks to make their own money. One bank in the state of Michigan offered paper money with a picture of a wildcat on it. Some banks, however, did not have enough gold to support all the paper money they offered. So the money had little or no value. It was called a wildcat bill or a wildcat banknote. The banks who offered this money were called wildcat banks. A newspaper of the time said those were the days of wildcat money. It said a man might be rich in the morning and poor by night.
Wildcat then was also used for an oil well or gold mine that had almost no oil or gold in it. Dishonest developers would buy such property. Then they would sell it and leave town with the money. The buyers were left with worthless holes in the ground. Today, wildcat oil wells are in areas that are not known to have oil.
小题1:What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Wildcats and their stories.
B．Wildcats and their characters.
C．Varieties of animal species.
D．Relationship between animals and humans.小题2: The underlined words "a lynx, an ocelot or a bobcat" in Paragraph 1 may refer to "__________".
A．gasoline companies
B．automobile manufacturers
C．brands of automobile
D．names of wildcats小题3:Which of the following would people like to have or trust according to the passage?
A．Wildcat congressmen.
B．Wildcat oil wells.
C．Wildcat banks.
D．Wildcat cars.小题4:It can be inferred that during the days of wildcat money__________.
A．people couldn't buy anything with the money
B．people complained and suffered a lot
C．the rich invested too much on oil wells
D．people didn't know how to save money
