365个英语简短小故事-103.Selling Those Bunnies

An animal rights group in Phoenix¹, Arizona is gathering² signatures to present to the president of PetsRUs, a nationwide store that sells pet accessories³ and small pets. “They said they would never sell dogs, cats, or rabbits,” said activist⁴ Barbara Walters. “Now they’re selling rabbits, and it’s only a matter of time before they start selling cats and dogs.”

She said that there are already too many rabbits in shelters, along with too many cats and dogs. People can get all the rabbits, cats, and dogs that they want at any local shelter, she advised. In addition, she warned that rabbits make terrible pets: they scratch, they bite, they’re not people friendly, they don’t like to be held or petted, they multiply like “well, like rabbits,” and they’re high maintenance⁵. She said that people no sooner buy a rabbit than a month or two later they take it out to a field and release it. These house-reared rabbits often die quickly in the wild, she said. Finally, she said, there are plenty of small, independent pet shops that already sell rabbits, so it’s not like there’s a lack of places to get these so-called pets.

A spokesman⁶ said that this was only a trial program for PetsRUs. The Phoenix store was the only store in the state that was selling rabbits. He said that a market survey showed a demand for rabbits, and that PetsRUs was merely trying to satisfy customer needs. If sales were slow, he said, the trial program would probably end. “I don’t know what the problem is,” he said. “Rabbits are cute, they don’t bark, and they eat all the vegetables that your kids refuse to eat.”

 

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 accessories   

n.附件；附件( accessory的名词复数 )；（衣服的）配饰；从犯；妇女饰品

参考例句：

• a range of furnishings and accessories for the home 各种各样的家居装饰物及配件
• These are indispensable accessories. 这些是不可缺少的附件。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。

6 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。