It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting. But over the lastcouple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it isbrutal (殘酷的), has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kindof confrontation (沖突) between hunters and hunt saboteurs (阻攔者). Sometimes theseincidents lead to violence, but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading ridersand disturbing the trail of the fox’s smell, which the dogs follow.

　　Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they arealmost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself. But this year supporters of foxhunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament,Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament toapprove a new law which will make the hunting of wildanimals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under theban in Britain.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. Rich people in Britain have been hunting foxes ________.

　　A. for recreation

　　B. in the interests of the farmers

　　C. to limit the fox population

　　D. to show off their wealth

　　2. What is special about fox hunting in Britain?

　　A. It involves the use of a deadly poison.

　　B. It is a costly event which rarely occurs.

　　C. The hunters have set rules to follow.

　　D. The hunters have to go through strict training.

　　3. Fox hunting opponents often interfere in the game ________.

　　A. by resorting to violence

　　B. by confusing the fox hunters

　　C. by taking legal action

　　D. by demonstrating on the scene

　　4. A new law may be passed by the British Parliament to ________.

　　A. prohibit farmers from hunting foxes

　　B. forbid hunting foxes with dogs

　　C. stop hunting wild animals in the countryside

　　D. prevent large-scale fox hunting

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

　　A. killing foxes with poison is illegal

　　B. limiting the fox population is unnecessary

　　C. hunting foxes with dogs is considered cruel and violent

　　D. fox-hunting often leads to confrontation between the poor and the rich

　　1.[A] 事實細節題。根據第3段第1句的前半部分People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport可知，參加捕殺的人們把獵殺狐貍當成是一種運動，A與之相符。

　　2.[C] 事實細節題。根據第3段首句末尾說，凡是參加的人都要遵循嚴格的行為準則，C “獵手已建立起需要遵循的規則”與之相符，故選C。

　　3.[B] 事實細節題。第4段末句提到，在大部分情況下，阻攔者利用為騎馬的人引錯路和進行氣味干擾來干涉捕獵，B與之相符，故選B。

　　4.[B] 事實細節題。文章倒數第2句提及，督促議會通過一項新法案,將帶狗獵殺野生動物列為非法。而狐貍是野生動物的一種，故選B。

　　5.[C] 推斷題。.根據第4段第2句后半部分可知，反對捕獵狐貍的人數在上升是因為他們認為捕獵狐貍是殘酷的，故選C。

　　The way people hold to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equals happiness actuallyreduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal tohappiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: moreoften than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

　　As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. Theyfear the paininevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professionalachievement, religious commitment(承擔的義務), self improvement.

　　Ask a bachelor(單身漢) why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and lesssatisfying.If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. Forcommitment is in fact quitepainful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement.Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

　　Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night's sleep or three-day vacation. I don'tknow any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples whodecide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with agrandchild.

　　Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the mostliberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that cangenuinely increase ourhappiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothesthat will do nothing to increaseour happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us fromenvy: we now understand that all those who arealways having so much fun actually may notbe happy at all.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because______

　　A. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

　　B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

　　C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

　　D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

　　2. Raising children, in the author's opinion, is_______

　　A. a moral duty

　　B. a rewarding task

　　C. a thankless job

　　D. a source of inevitable pain

　　3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from______

　　A. hatred

　　B. misunderstanding

　　C. prejudice

　　D. ignorance

　　4. To understand what true happiness is one must_______

　　A. have as much fun as possible during one's lifetime

　　B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

　　C. put up with pain under all circumstances

　　D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

　　5. What is the author trying to tell us?

　　A. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.

　　B. One must know how to attain happiness.

　　C. It is important to make commitments.

　　D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

　　1.[A] 第3段第2句解釋了單身漢為什么不愿結婚的原因，A項的reluctant to take on familyresponsibilities是對原文中afraid of making a commitment的同義替換,故選A。本題中D項的干擾性比較強，但這不是單身漢不愿結婚的直接原因，且文中也說到Marriage has such moments,所以put an end的說法也不正確，故排除。

　　2.[C] 原文第4段中說，雖然養孩子的過程實在不能算是“有趣”,但決定不要孩子的夫婦們永遠也不能了解看著孩子長大的那種歡樂以及與孫兒一起玩耍的歡樂。換言之，在作者看來，養孩子雖辛苦，但也是值得的，故答案為C。

　　3.[B] 文章最后一段最后一句說它還讓我們從嫉妒中解脫出來：我們現在了解到那些總有很多樂趣的人也許根本就不幸福。這說明我們嫉妒別人是誤以為那些總有很多樂趣的人很幸福，這是一種誤解，故選B。

　　4.[D] 由文章第1段和最后一段第1句可看出要理解真正的幸福就要把fun和happiness區分開，故選D。

　　5.[A] 本題是主旨題。主旨題的答案常位于首段或結尾段。本題的答案可以在文章第1段最后一句找到：通往幸福的路上多半會涉及到痛苦，因此本題選A。D中雖也提到pain,但對分強調pain對幸福的作用，故錯誤。