Question

How would you like an easy way to earn $2,500? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals. There’s a catch, however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for amusement. You can’t leave until the week is up. And a camera will be recording your every move.

Two people actually took the job. The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist. He wanted to make a film about the way animals are treated. His goal was to raise people’s awareness (认识) of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food. He decided to pay $5,000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to live like chickens for a week.

To Rob’s surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement. He had interviews and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Pam, a 27-year-old chemist. The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experience, which would take place in an art museum.

The week was long and difficult. They slept on a hard wooden floor. They couldn’t stand up without banging their heads. They ate mash(a kind of food for animals) and drink water from a garden pipe. Their only privacy (隐私) was a toilet surrounded by a curtain. There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage. Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not feed the humans.”

Finally it was over, and Pam and Eric came out of the cage. They had survived the week, and they each had a $2,500 check in their hands. When Rob Thompson opened the cage, Eric came out, changed into clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away. “It’s great for me to be able to stand up.” he said. Pam just changed her clothes and left. After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she didn’t want to talk to anyone.

1.The underlined word “catch”(in Paragraph 1) probably means _______.

A. unsolved problem        B. surprising wonder

C. unbelievable condition  D. hidden difficulty

2.What made it the most difficult for the two to stay in the cage?

A. That they had nothing for fun.

B. That they didn’t have meat to eat.

C. That they couldn’t lie down to sleep in the cage.

D. That they had to do almost everything in public.

3.Rob Thompson offered the job in order to___________.

A. Make a film about humans and animals

B. Advertise for his experiment about animals

C. Show how terribly some animals are treated

D. Experiment on how long a human can live in a cage

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A. An Easy Way to Earn $2,500

B. Do Not Treat Animals Badly

C. Living Like a Chicken

D. Getting Along Well Anyway

Answer

1.D

2.D

3.C

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文叙述了艺术家Rob Thompson进行的一项实验，让两个人生活在鸡笼里一个星期，让人类体验一下像鸡一样被关在笼子里喂养的感觉。以此告诉人们我们那样对待动物，动物感受到的痛苦。

1.D 猜测词意题。根据前两句How would you like an easy way to earn $2,500? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals.似乎这2500美元是很容易就可以挣得的，你要做的就是坐着等吃的。根据横线后的however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week然而，你要在鸡笼里和一个陌生人待在一起一个星期。说明这是一个很艰难的事情。根据前后文的语义对比，可知catch意为“隐藏的困难”，这不是很容易做成的事情。故D正确。

2.D 推理判断题。根据第三段最后两句The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experience, which would take place in an art museum.可知他计划让这两个人在六英尺长和三英尺宽的鸡笼里待一个星期的时间，而且用摄像机记录下一切。另外，这件事情是在博物馆里进行的。也就是说这两个人的一切行动进行几乎都在公众的眼里。故D正确。

3.C 推理判断题。根据第二段二、三句He wanted to make a film about the way animals are treated. His goal was to raise people’s awareness (认识) of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food.可知他这样做的目的就让人们知道我们是如何对待动物的，让人类来体验一下被关在笼子里喂养的痛苦。故C正确。

4. 标题概括题。本文叙述了艺术家Rob Thompson进行的一项实验，让两个人生活在鸡笼里一个星期，让人类体验一下像鸡一样被关在笼子里喂养的感觉。以此告诉人们我们那样对待动物，动物感受到的痛苦。故C项“Living Like a Chicken”符合文章的中心思想。

考点：考查记叙文阅读