首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
A profound change seems to have taken place in the economic relationship between Americans and their animals. In 1993, the pet b
A profound change seems to have taken place in the economic relationship between Americans and their animals. In 1993, the pet b
admin
2009-06-15
85
问题
A profound change seems to have taken place in the economic relationship between Americans and their animals. In 1993, the pet business was a $16 billion field dominated by mom and pop outfits and independent veterinarians. Today, it is a $ 23 billion empire.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans live with one or more animals. More than 30 million have dogs, and 27 million have cats. While the overall number of owners has remained relatively stable since the 1980s, they are spending ever greater amounts on their animals. Signs of the boom are everywhere. On the retail side, superstore chains are covering the country.
Americans consider cats and dogs a "part of the family" rather than property, which, legally, at least, they remain. (Being property themselves, for instance, animals cannot legally inherit property in wills, though growing numbers of them are being provided for in estates, and some law firms have developed a specialty in the area. )
The reasons for this metamorphosis from property to person are mysterious. No one seems to know exactly why Americans have changed their views. A decline in warmth among homo sapiens may explain part of the phenomenon, says attorney Lane Gabeler. She says it actually helps the practice by giving her people a softer edge. "People hate lawyers, and we look more human with a dog," Gabeler insists.
On the other hand, there are more reasons now to own pets than there were a generation ago. Adults in their 20s and 30s marry and have kids later, leaving more room in their lives to adopt a beast. Medical research has determined that contact with pets can lower blood pressure and fend off heart attacks, so more and more of the elderly have embraced the animal kingdom.
The pet industry is confident that the future remains bright. On the health insurance side alone, for example, the market has hardly been scratched. In the United Kingdom, 13 percent of the country’s 15 million owners have policies, and in Sweden, 57 percent of 7 million have been insured. But in the United States, with a total of 114 million pets, fewer than 1 percent of pets are covered if they choke on a chicken bone or try to bite the UPS truck driver. So if the bond between people and their creatures truly exists, and if that bond keeps deepening economically as well as emotionally, the next wave of American moguls may well be pet insurance agents rather than Internet pioneers.
选项
A、more people now own vets than before
B、people own more pets today than before
C、the cost of pet food has decreased
D、people spend more money on their pets
答案
D
解析
该题要求理解美国人和他们的宠物之间的经济关系发生深刻变化的原因。根据第二段,虽然饲养宠物的人数没有什么增加,但花在宠物身上的费用增加了。因此,造成美国人和他们的宠物之间的经济关系发生深刻变化的原因,是美国人在宠物的身上花了更多的钱。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xRLd777K
本试题收录于:
职称英语理工类A级题库职称英语分类
0
职称英语理工类A级
职称英语
相关试题推荐
RetirementBringsMostaBigHealthBoostTheself-reportedhealthofthenewlyretiredimprovessomuchthatmostfeeleig
Techniquestoharnesstheenergyofthesunarebeingdeveloped.
LifeExpectancyintheLastHundredYearsAhundredyearsago,lifeexpectancyindevelopedcountrieswasabout47;inthee
LifeExpectancyintheLastHundredYearsAhundredyearsago,lifeexpectancyindevelopedcountrieswasabout47;inthee
LifeExpectancyintheLastHundredYearsAhundredyearsago,lifeexpectancyindevelopedcountrieswasabout47;inthee
HarryPotterismentionedinthepassage,becausescientistsWhatdoestheword"coaster"meaninthepassage?
WhenJackeventuallyovertookthelasttruckhepulledovertotheinsidelane.
Accordingtothepassage,howcanyoulearnthatmanypeopleareuneasyaboutinformationtechnology?Whatconclusioncanyoud
TheDeer’sDeathHeranclose,andagainstoodstill,stoppedbyanewfear.Aroundhimthegrasswaswhisperingandalive.Hel
Gasdoesaccumulateintheminesaroundhere.
随机试题
易淬火钢的淬火区冷却后的组织为()。
8个月男婴Ⅱ。烧伤时每l%.面积、公斤体重额外丢失补液量为
通过招标、拍卖、公开协商等方式承包( )等农村土地,依照土地承包法等法律和国务院的有关规定,其土地承包经营权可以转让、入股、抵押或者以其他方式流转。
张女穿行马路时遇车祸,致两颗门牙缺失。交警出具的责任认定书认定司机负全责。张女因无法与肇事司机达成赔偿协议,遂提起民事诉讼,认为司机虽赔偿3,000元安装假牙,但假牙影响接吻,故司机还应就她的“接吻权”受到损害予以赔偿。关于本案,下列哪一选项是正确的?(2
后置锚固件应设计要求安装,锚栓的有效锚固深度在混凝土墙中,EPS板不得小于()mm,且单个锚栓抗拉承载力标准值不小于()kN。
保险营销观念的发展经历了四个阶段,其第一阶段是()。
试述第二次世界大战的影响。(首都师范大学2013年历史学基础综合真题)
中世纪城市文学的代表作是_______。
五名选手在一次知识竞赛中共获得404分,每位选手的得分互不相等(每位选手的得分都是整数),并且其中得分最高的选手为90分,则得分最低的选手至多得
设矩阵A=不可对角化,则a=___.
最新回复
(
0
)