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任务型阅读 Why do we go to zoos? Millions of people around the world visit zoos each year, but the reason is hard to explain . But the animals they see in zoos are little like the toys, cartoons, and decorations that fill their homes. For such children, meeting with real animals can be confusing, even upsetting.
The great interest that children have in animals today might lead one to suppose that this has always been the case. That was also when zoos became an important part of middle-class life.
They lived together with our ancestors in a shared natural environment. In the Industrial Era, the human domination (支配)of animals could be seen in the popularity of real-looking animal toys. Children rode rocking-horses that had realistic features, and they slept with bears, tigers, and rabbits that looked and felt almost real. The Twentieth Century marked a further development--the change of animals into people.
This was the age of Babar the Elephant, Hello Kitty, and the Lion King. Parents and children had previously wanted animals that looked like animals..
In a zoo they hope to see the living breathing versions of their character friends. They find instead unfamiliar creatures who cannot speak, smile, or interact with them. For this reason, a visit to the zoo can be disappointing for children today. Meeting real animals reminds us forcefully of the boundary between imagination and reality.
When we visit animals in a zoo, perhaps we will recall our true relationship not only to animals but to the entire world.
A. Animals are the best friends of the human beings.
B. Most of children are looking forward to visiting zoos.
C. Perhaps that disappointment is the best gift a zoo can offer.
D. But now they want animals that look and act like humans
E. Yet, it was not until the Industrial Era that animals became part of childhood.
F. In prehistoric times, there had been no zoos, as animals were a real part of the human world.
G. Many of those visitors are children, whose lives are already surrounded by animals' images.
