Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused of killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.
Farmers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of pursuing a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox they kill it or a hunter shoots it.
People in Britain who take part in hunting think of it as sport; they wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.
It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting. But over the last couple of decades a number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is brutal, has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of confrontation between hunters and hunt saboteurs. Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox’s smell, which the dogs follow.
Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labor Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.
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. The word “saboteurs” is closest to ______.
A. hunters
B. advocates
C. destroyers
D. officials
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
参考答案Passage 3. A C B B C
狐狸和农场主从来就不能和睦相处。这些象狗的小动物一直因为咬死农场动物而受到指责。狐狸被正式划为有害动物，农场主通过枪死和毒杀减少它们的数目。
农场主还可以要求当地人帮助追猎以控制狐狸的数目。追猎就是用一群经专门训练的狗在乡村追杀狐狸，后面跟着骑马的男人和女人。当狗最后抓住狐狸的时候, 狗便咬死它或者猎人枪杀它。
参加追猎的人把它看成是一项运动，他们穿着红上衣白裤子的特别制服，严格遵守一些行动规则。但拥有一匹马和定期追猎很昂贵，所以大多数猎手都是有钱人。
据估计高达十万人观看或者参加与追猎狐狸。但是最近几十年反对猎杀狐狸的人数急剧上升，因为他们认为这样做很残酷。现在几乎没有哪一次狩猎不因狩猎者和阻拦者之间发生某种冲突而告终。有时这些事件会导致暴力，但大多数阻拦者都是通过误导骑马的或打乱猎犬跟踪的狐狸嗅迹来干预狩猎。
狩猎者和阻拦者之间发生的喧嚣冲突很寻常，这种冲突几乎成为整个狩猎过程中与追捕狐狸本身同等重要的一部分。但是今年猎狐支持者面对这项运动的更大威胁, 议会工党员迈克福斯特力图让议会批准一项使用狗来猎取野生动物为非法的新法律。如果这项法律通过获得，像狐狸这样的野生动物将在英国禁止令下得到保护。
