Foxesandfarmershavenevergotonwell.Thesesmalldog-likeanimalshavelongbeenaccusedofkillingfarmanimals.Theyareofficiallyclassifiedasharmfulandfarmerstrytokeeptheirnumbersdownbyshootingorpoisoningthem.
Farmerscanalsocallontheservicesoftheirlocalhunttocontrolthefoxpopulation.Huntingconsistsofpursuingafoxacrossthecountryside,withagroupofspeciallytraineddogs,followedbymenandwomenridinghorses.Whenthedogseventuallycatchthefoxtheykillitorahuntershootsit.
Peoplewhotakepartinhuntingthinkofasasport;theywearaspecialuniformofred
coatsandwhitetrousers,andfollowstrictcodesofbehavior.Butowningahorseandhuntingregularlyisexpensive,somosthuntersarewealthy.
Itisestimatedthatupto100,000peoplewatchortakepartinfoxhunting.Butoverthelastcoupleofdecadesthenumberofpeopleopposedtofoxhunting,becausetheythinkitisbrutal(残酷的),hasrisensharply.Nowadaysitisrareforahunttopassoffwithoutsomekindofconfrontation(冲突)betweenhuntersandhuntsaboteurs(阻拦者).Sometimestheseincidentsleadtoviolence,butmostlysaboteursinterferewiththehuntbymisleadingridersanddisturbingthetrailofthefox’ssmell,whichthedogsfollow.
Noisyconfrontationsbetweenhuntersandsaboteurshavebecomesocommonthattheyarealmostasmuchapartofhuntingasthepursuitoffoxesitself.Butthisyearsupportersoffoxhuntingfaceamuchbiggerthreattotheirsport.ALabourPartyMemberoftheParliament,MikeFoster,istryingtogetParliamenttoapproveanewlawwhichwillmakethehuntingofwildanimalswithdogsillegal.Ifthelawispassed,wildanimalslikefoxeswillbeprotectedunderthebaninBritain.
26.RichpeopleinBritainhavebeenhuntingfoxes________.
A)forrecreation
B)intheinterestsofthefarmers
C)tolimitthefoxpopulation
D)toshowofftheirwealth
27.WhatisspecialaboutfoxhuntinginBritain
A)Itinvolvestheuseofadeadlypoison.
B)Itisacostlyeventwhichrarelyoccurs.
C)Thehuntershavesetrulestofollow.
D)Thehuntershavetogothroughstricttraining.
28.Foxhuntingopponentsofteninterfereinthegame________.
A)byresortingtoviolence
B)byconfusingthefoxhunters
C)bytakinglegalaction
D)bydemonstratingonthescene
29.AnewlawmaybepassedbytheBritishParliamentto________.
A)prohibitfarmersfromhuntingfoxes
B)forbidhuntingfoxeswithdogs
C)stophuntingwildanimalsinthecountryside
D)preventlarge-scalefoxhunting
30.Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethat________.
A)killingfoxeswithpoisonisillegal
B)limitingthefoxpopulationisunnecessary
C)huntingfoxeswithdogsisconsideredcruelandviolent
D)fox-huntingoftenleadstoconfrontationbetweenthepoorandtherich