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  3. Only two animals have entered the human household otherwise than as prisoners and become domesticated by other means than those

Only two animals have entered the human household otherwise than as prisoners and become domesticated by other means than those

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问题     Only two animals have entered the human household otherwise than as prisoners and become domesticated by other means than those of enforced servilities: the dog and the cat. Two things they have in common, namely, that both belong to the order of carnivores and both serve man in their capacity of hunters.
    In all other characteristics, above all in the manner of their association with man, they are as different as the night from the day. There is no domestic animal which has so rapidly altered its whole way of living, indeed its whole sphere of interests, that has become domestic in so true a sense as the dog; and there is no animal that, in the course of its century old association with man, has altered so little as the cat. There is some truth in the assertion that the cat, with the exception of a few luxury breeds, such as Angoras, Persians and Siamese, is no domestic animal but a completely wild being. Maintaining its full independence it has taken up its abode in the houses and outhouses of man, for the simple reason that there are more mice they’re than elsewhere: The whole charm of the dog lies in the depth of the friendship and the strength of the spiritual ties with which he has bound himself to man, but the appeal of the cat lies in the very fact that she has formed no close bond with him, that she has the uncompromising independence of a tiger or a leopard while she is hunting in his stables and barns; that she still remain mysterious and remote when she is rubbing herself gently against the legs of her mistress or purring contentedly in front of the fire.
    The purring cat is, for me, a symbol of the heart side and the hidden security, which it stands for. I should no more like to be without a cat, in my home than to be without the dog that trots behind me in field or street, since my earliest youth I have always had dogs and cats about me. Business like friends have advised me to write a dog book and a cat book separately, because dog lovers often dislike cats and cat lovers frequently abhor dogs. But I consider, it the finest test of genuine love and understanding of animals if a person has sympathies for both these creatures, and can appreciate in each its own special virtue.
选项 A、are not domestic animals at all
B、are fiercer than dogs
C、are both meek and independent
D、can sometimes be very hostile to people
答案C
解析 这是一道事实分析题。文章第二、三段描述了猫的某些性格特征。第二段第二句指出，猫虽然与人共处已久，其本性却改变甚微。许多人认为，除了几种珍奇类外，猫根本不能算是家养动物，而是一种彻头彻尾的野生动物。在作者看来，这种说法有些道理。在保持其独立性的同时，它栖身在人居住的地方，仅仅是因为那里老鼠更多。猫没有与人建立密切的关系，当它在谷仓内猎取老鼠时，它表现得像虎豹一样桀骜不驯(uncompromising independence)；当它轻柔地摩挲着女主人的腿或满意地睡在火炉旁时，它却依然保持着自己的神秘感与疏远心理(remote)，这正是猫的魅力(the appeal of the cat)所在。第三段第一句指出，对作者来说，打着呼噜睡在火炉旁的猫象征着心理的平静与安全感。
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