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 case 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 old-fashioned 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：词义题型。outlet出现在第一段第二句First，those clever beings whose lively urge for activity can find no outlet behind the bars of the cage．(首先，在笼中，这些聪明的生灵的活力是无处发泄的。)中。outlet指(精力、强烈的情感等的)发泄的出路：He needs an outlet for all that pent—up fury．他那积愤需要有机会倾吐。所以，判断A项正确。

单选题 What does "the uninitiated" mean?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：词义题型。uninitiated缺乏某种特定经验的人：What’s the difference，the uninitiated may ask，between eggshell white and wedding gown whim?没有经验的人可能会问，蛋壳白色和结婚礼服白色之间有什么差别?

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：推断题型。答案出自第一段第四句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．根据常识判断，foxes and wolves属于hunting animals。

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

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

单选题 According to the author, swans in captivity are________.

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：推断题型。根据第三段第一句…such an originally highly intelligent and mentally alert animal has deteriorated，in confinement，into a crazy idiot…(由于被关在笼中，原本很聪明机敏的动物变成了疯狂的傻瓜)推断可知。

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：词义题型。have no compunction about不内疚，没有不安：I wouldn’t have any compunction about telling him to leave．我不会因把他赶走而感到内疚。C项的no second thoughts about(不迟疑)与上面词组意思接近。enlightenment理解，启迪。

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

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：推断题型。根据第三段第二句的…the fanatical sponsors of the societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals可知她们是关心动物的，她们在keeping a grey parrot in a relatively small cage or even chained to a perch时认为是对动物的保护，并没有意识到把动物养在笼中的结果一鹦鹉的痛苦，所以，应选D项。