Monkey experience teaches people lessons in freedom_社会生活

Monkey experience teaches people lessons in freedom

文章来源：文章作者：发布时间：2007-02-13 03:05 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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Three men and three women experienced 5-day "new life" in a monkey kingdom in the Qinling Wildlife Park in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, where they lived with the monkeys and ate the same food as the monkeys.(Xinhua photo)

Feb. 13 - After five days of living like monkeys, six volunteers emerged from captivity¹ on Monday, each with a better sense of what it means to be human.

The six people had been living among the 65 primate² inmates³ of the monkey enclosure at the Qinling Wildlife Park in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, since February 7.

Ren Feixiang, the park's director, designed the experiment to teach people what it was like to lose their freedom like the animals at zoos.

Everyone who took part in the activity agreed to live as the monkeys lived for five days and five nights. Zookeepers gave them a little food, though most of it came from the park's visitors.

"We chose the six people from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants⁴ from all over the country and put in place numerous safety measures to protect the participants," Ren Feixiang said.

The six participants were Chen Xianhu, 37, a policeman from Xi'an; Wang Wei, 23, a salesman from North China's Shanxi Province; Liu Jialei, 22, a student at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an; Zhang Yuqin, 50, a rural doctor from Xi'an Yuhuazhai Village; Li Huan, 21, a clerk at an insurance company in Xi'an; and Zhang Hao, 22, a student at a police school in Central China's Hubei Province.

"During the past five days and nights we suffered from hunger, cold, insomnia⁵, attacks from monkeys and even disputes among the participants, but we overcame these difficulties and found unity⁶ and friendship," said Zhang Yuqin.

On the third day of the experiment, Wang Wei said he wanted to give up because of hunger and the harsh living conditions, but the other participants eventually persuaded him to stay.

During their time in the monkey enclosure, the six people ate only corn bread, carrots, bananas, apples and eggs. And they slept in two small tents, which did little to keep out the cold.

Still, none of the participants fell sick, said Zhao Liang, the doctor who was in charge of the participants' health.

"The hunger and cold were really serious tests for us because we all come from single-child families and had never had such experiences," said Li Huan and Zhang Hao, who are a couple.

"We think the campaign was a challenge. It made us stronger and more able to cope with future difficulties."

Li Yanling, a zookeeper, praised the participants' bravery and noted⁷ that the experiment aroused the public's curiosity in wildlife.

"Visitors paid more attention to the monkeys' health and did not casually⁸ throw things like cigarette butts⁹, bottles and garbage into the enclosure during the experiment," the zookeeper said.

The stunt¹⁰ marked the first time that people had been allowed to live among the animals at the zoo to experience life through their eyes.

Some commentators¹¹ initially¹² suggested that the monkeys would be scared and that the experiment would not turn out as well as the organizers expected. And some people complained that it was little more than a publicity¹³ stunt.

Zhen Yuelin, a researcher at the Xi'an Social Development Research Institute, said taking care of animals is an important task and that people should do more to show they care about the welfare of animals.

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收听单词发音

1 captivity
n.囚禁；被俘；束缚
参考例句：
A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。 He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

2 primate
n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的
参考例句：
14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。 The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

3 inmates
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )
参考例句：
One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。来自《简明英汉词典》 The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。来自《简明英汉词典》

4 applicants
申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )
参考例句：
There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。 He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

5 insomnia
n.失眠，失眠症
参考例句：
Worries and tenseness can lead to insomnia.忧虑和紧张会导致失眠。 He is suffering from insomnia.他患失眠症。

6 unity
n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调
参考例句：
When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。 We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 noted
adj.著名的，知名的
参考例句：
The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。 Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 casually
adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地
参考例句：
She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。 I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 butts
笑柄( butt的名词复数 )；（武器或工具的）粗大的一端；屁股；烟蒂
参考例句：
The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 The house butts to a cemetery. 这所房子和墓地相连。

10 stunt
n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长
参考例句：
Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。 Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

11 commentators
n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员
参考例句：
Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。 Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。来自《简明英汉词典》

12 initially
adv.最初，开始
参考例句：
The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。 Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 publicity
n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告
参考例句：
The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。 He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

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