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Finding the Perfect Pooch 搜寻你的完美宠物

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It’s no secret that Americans love pets. But there is a darker side to the world of animal ownership that many people aren’t ___1___. Of the eight million pets that are admitted to U.S. animal shelters each year, nearly three million are put to death because they are not adopted. That’s why animal lovers throughout the nation have ___2___ two campaigns to help these adorable creatures find homes before they are euthanized.

美国人喜爱宠物这件事，一向都不是秘密，但是对拥有动物的这个领域来说，多数人都不知道其中更黑暗的一面。每年都有八百万只宠物被送进美国动物收容所，其中将近三百万只因为无人领养而被处死。这就是为什么美国的动物爱好者发起两项活动，希望在这些可爱的生物被处以安乐死之前，能帮助牠们找到各自的家。

The first campaign is the Shelter Pet Project. It ___3___ to educate people about the plight of animals confined in shelters and also encourages them to adopt an animal from a shelter ___4___ buy from a pet shop. To get the point across, the campaign uses funny, animated TV commercials.

第一项活动是「收容所宠物计划」，旨在让民众了解被关在收容所里的动物惨况，并鼓励民众从收容所里领养宠物，而非从宠物店购买。为了传达这样的观点，这项活动采用了滑稽逗趣的动画电视广告。

Another effort that helps pets find new homes is Adopt Your Doggie Double. Potential pooch owners can visit a special website and find their doggie doppelganger through facial recognition technology. First, the person uploads their ___5___ to the website. Then, special software scans a database of available pets in the area and ___6___ the person with a similar-looking pet. In a 24-hour period in March, over 170,000 people found their “long-lost twins” through this innovative approach.

另一项为帮助宠物找到新家所做的努力是「领养你的双胞胎狗狗」活动。想成为狗狗饲主的民众，可以去浏览一个特别的网站，藉由这个网站的脸部辨识科技，找到与自己长相极为相似的狗狗。第一步，网络用户先将自己的影像上传到该网站，接下来，一种特殊的软件就会扫描可供领养宠物的数据库，配对出与网络用户相像的宠物。在三月某一天的24小时里，这个创新的方法让超过十七万的人找到自己「失散已久的双胞胎」。

Hopefully these campaigns will enlighten people about the difficult conditions at many animal shelters in the U.S., and around the world. Maybe someday soon, would-be pet owners in Taiwan will have a similar ___7___ for discovering their own doggie doubles.

希望这些活动能让民众更明白，美国和世界各地许多动物收容所的困境。或许不久以后，想成为宠物饲主的台湾民众，也能有类似的资源帮助他们找到自己的双胞胎狗狗。

－by Jamie Blackler

Vocabulary

单词发音

pooch [putʃ] n. <美俚> 狗，杂种狗

shelter [ˋʃɛltɚ] n. 收容所

campaign [kæmˋpen] n. 活动

adorable [əˋdorəb!] adj.【口】可爱的 delightful, lovable, and charming

euthanize [ˋjuθə͵naɪz] v. 使安乐死

plight [plaɪt] n. 困境 a condition of extreme hardship, danger, etc

confine [kənˋfaɪn] v. 禁闭

doggie [ˋdɔgɪ] n. 狗；小狗

doppelganger [ˋdɑpəl͵gæŋɚ] n. 面貌极相似的人 match; identical part or thing

long-lost [ˋlɔŋlɔst] adj. 遗失了很长时间的 a long-lost person, especially a relative, is someone who you have not seen for a long time

enlighten [ɪnˋlaɪtn] v. 启发，启迪

would-be [ˋwʊd͵bi] adj. 想要成为的 desiring, attempting, or professing to be

double [ˋdʌb!] n. 酷似的人或物 one that closely resembles another; a duplicate

Idiom

dark side of someone or something  黑暗的一面  the negative and often hidden aspect of someone or something

admit to 允许（某人）进入… to allow entering some place

put someone or some creature  to death  处死  to kill someone or some creature

get across（使）被理解  to make understandable or clear

Please Adopt a Shelter Pet

Awesome "Adopt Me" Dog Commercial!

Answer