Donna is 19 years old and loves animals, which is why I’m always happy to leave my dog with her when I go on holiday. Donna also helps to train hunting dogs, but recently, her boyfriend told me, she returned home from a farm in tears after being told to hit some dogs.
“She wasn’t being asked to hit them because they didn’t behave well,” he said. “She was told to punch these puppies with a closed fist simply to let them know who is the boss,” Donna refused. Good for Donna. In my view, you hit an animal for only two reasons: as a way to teach it an important lesson to protect it from danger, such as not into the road; or because you like hurting animals.
Last summer, I attended a horse race. I don’t know much about horses, but I was alarmed when I saw a horse with a huge ulcer (溃疡) on its legs. “Surely this horse won’t race?” I asked. I was very surprised that nobody in the crowd seemed concerned.
The horse began the race, but later it fell heavily. It had broken its leg. The next thing I saw was its dead body in a bag, being driven past. No one seemed to care, except those who had bet on it. I know people care for horse racing, but do they really care for horses? I doubt it.
Oh, but it’s a tradition, I hear you say. Wouldn’t the world be a boring place if we didn’t occasionally hit, shoot and chase animals? Traditions are made by man and can be unmade. It was once acceptable to kill servants when their master died, to visit the mental hospitals to laugh at the patients or to watch public execution (执行死刑).
Nor should it be forgotten that in our progress to a more civilized world, animals have played an important role: they have fed us, carried us, worked for us, rescued us, died for us and sometimes just saved us from loneliness. Surely by now they deserve our kindness. At the very least, they deserve our respect.
小题1:Donna was asked to hit the young dogs because ________.
A．they misbehaved
B．their owner disliked them
C．people on the farm enjoy hurting them
D．it was a way to train them to obey people小题2:What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 probably mean?
A．strike
B．stroke
C．scold
D．pump小题3:What is the author’s purpose in telling the readers the story about the horse?
A．To explain the traditional horse race to readers.
B．To prove that the weak horse can’t win in the race.
C．To show that animals are treated unfairly by humans.
D．To say that people care more for horses than horse racing.小题4:Which of the following is NOT true?
A．People no longer watch killing criminals in public.
B．The author cannot accept anyone who hits the animals.
C．It was a traditional practice to kill servants for their dead master.
D．The author thinks it is possible to change the traditions made by man.小题5:What’s the best title of the passage?
A．No One Cares for Animals Nowadays.
B．Let’s Protect the Endangered Animals.
C．Show Animals the Respect They Deserve.
D．The Stories Between Animals and People.
