单选题 Now which are the animals really to be pitied in captivity? First, those clever beings whose lively urge for activity can find no outlet behind the bars of the cage. This is most conspicuous, even for the uninitiated, in the ease of animals which, when living in a free state, are accustomed to roaming about widely. Owing to this frustrated desire, foxes and wolves housed, in many oldfashioned zoos, in cages which are far too small, are among the most pitiable of all caged animals.
Though pinioned swans generally seem happy, under proper care, by hatching and rearing their young without any trouble, at migration time things become different: they repeatedly swim to the lee side of the pond, in order to have the whole extent of its surface at their disposal, trying to take off. Again and again the grand preparations end in a pathetic flutter of their half wings; a truly sorry picture!
This, however, rarely awakens the pity of the zoo visitor, least of all when such an originally highly intelligent and mentally alert animal has deteriorated, in confinement, into a crazy idiot, a very caricature of its former self. Sentimental old ladies, the fanatical sponsors of the societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, have no compunction in keeping a grey parrot in a relatively small cage or even chained to a perch. Together with the large corvines, the parrots are probably the only birds which suffer from that state of mind, common to prisoners, namely, boredom.

单选题 What is an "outlet" in the context of this passage?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词义理解。根据文章第一段第二句“First, those clever beings whose lively urge for activity can find no outlet behind the bars of the cage.”可知，这些聪明的生灵向往自由活动的欲望在笼子里是无处发泄的。outlet指(精力、强烈的情感等的)发泄的出路。所以，答案是A。

单选题 What does "the uninitiated" mean?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词义理解。将解题点定位在第一段第三句“This is most conspicuous, even for the uninitiated, in the case of animals which, when living in a free state, are accustomed to roaming about widely.”，由此可知，这种情况很明显，甚至对没有经验的人也是这样。uninitiated缺乏某种特定经验的人。所以，答案是C。

单选题 According to the author in Paragraph 1, what animals suffer most in captivity?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查推理判断。根据文章第一段第四句“Owing to this frustrated desire, foxes and wolves housed, in many old-fashioned zoos, in cages which are far too small, are among the most pitiable of all caged animals.”可知，狐狸和狼在所有笼养的动物中是最值得同情的。根据常识判断，foxes and wolves属于hunting animals。所以，答案是B。

单选题 What do you think "hatching and rearing their young" means?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词义理解。Hatch意为“孵，孵化”，rear意为“培养，饲养”，hatching and rearing their young的意思是“抚养孩子”；raising families“养家”；Getting on well with smaller birds“与幼鸟相处良好”；Behaving like young birds“行为像幼鸟”；Attacking smaller birds“袭击幼鸟”。比较可知，答案是A。

单选题 Which is the "lee side" of the pond?

单选题 According to the author, swans in captivity are ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查推理判断。根据文章第二段第一句话“Though pinioned swans generally seem happy...at migration time things become different”可知，尽管被囚禁了，但天鹅大部分时间都很幸福，但是迁徙时事情就有所不同了。据此推断，答案是B。

单选题 What effect does confinement have on clever animals, according to the text?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查推理判断。根据文章第三段第一句“...such an originally highly intelligent and mentally alert animal has deteriorated, in confinement, into a crazy idiot...”可知，因为被关在笼子里，原本很聪明且很机敏的动物变成了疯狂的傻瓜。据此推断，答案是D。

单选题 In Paragraph 3, the expression "have no compunction in" most probably means "have no ______".

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词义辨析。将答题点定位在第三段第二句，根据语境可知，老妇女对于自己把把鹦鹉放在一个小笼子里或是把鹦鹉拴起来没有任何悔恨之意。have no compunction about“毫无悔恨”；reaction to“对……的反应”；understanding of“对……的理解”second thoughts about“重新考虑”，与上面词组意思接近。enlightenment“启迪”。由此可知，答案是C。

单选题 What does the author say about sentimental old ladies?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查推理判断。根据文章第三段第二句“Sentimental old ladies, the fanatical sponsors of the societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, have no compunction in keeping a grey parrot in a relatively small cage or even chained to a perch.”可知，这些老年妇女是防止虐待动物协会的狂热支持者，但是，她们却把鹦鹉放在一个小笼子里或是把鹦鹉拴起来时，并没有意识到这样会使鹦鹉很痛苦。据此推断，答案是D。