It is men’s nature to live together in families and tribes(部落), and cities and nations, and therefore men have learned to prize those qualities in each other which make social life the happiest and best.
Of these qualities one of the most important is sympathy－fellow-feeling. If a man had no fellow-feeling, we should call him “inhuman”; he would be no true man. We think so much of this quality that we call a kind man “human”－that is, man-like in his conduct, first to other men, and afterwards to all living things.
If you are cruel to animals, you are not likely to be kind or thoughtfull to men; and if you are thoughtful towards men, you are not likely to be cruel and thoughtful towards animals. This is why the wise man of old wrote, “The merciful man is merciful to his beast.”
What a pleasure it is also to be loved by our pets or domestic animals; and to feel that we are caring for them and are deserving of their love; or to watch the ways of wild creatures, and gradually to make friends with them!
Treating animals kindly does not mean that we must never inflict any pain on them. We ourselves are trained by pains as well as by pleasures; so too, punishment is sometimes needed to train our dogs and horses to obey us. We endure pains at the hands of the surgeon, to cure some wound or to heal some disease; so too, animals must submit to being doctored.
We send out our bravest men to face wounds, sickness and death, for the good of the nation; so too, we let our horses share the risk of battle. For similar reasons, we cannot hesitate to destroy dangerous creatures like wolves and show senseless ferocity(残忍). It is no excuse to say that these animals deserve to be treated cruelly on account of their own cruelty. They are not really cruel, for they tear and kill not from love of unkindness, but because they must do so in order to live.
小题1:One of the most important qualities of men is fellow-feeling because .
A．you are likely to be cruel and thoughtful without it
B．a man would be inhuman without it
C．men can’t bear any pain on themselves and animals
D．only sympathy makes a man man-like in his conduct小题2:The author would probably agree with the following EXCEPT that .
A．we must never force any pain on animals
B．some people have to kill some animals in order to live
C．it is human for a doctor to cut off some part from the animals
D．wise men are not only good to men but also to animals小题3:What do you think is the title of the passage?
A．Loving your pet.
B．Fellow-feeling.
C．Making friends with animals.
D．Kindness to animals.小题4:Which of the following is inhuman according to the writer?
A．To treat animals cruelly because they are cruel.
B．To train animals.
C．To destroy some of the dangerous animals.
D．To make animals submit to being doctored.小题5:The underlined word “inflict” here means .
A．make sb/sth suffer
B．forbid
C．punish
D．avoid
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