考研英語時文賞讀（117）：給貓去爪也犯法？

　　New York State Bans Cat Declawing

　　紐約州禁止給貓去爪

　　New York on Monday became the first state in the country to ban cat declawing, a practice that animal advocates consider cruel and unnecessary. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the bill into law after state legislators passed the ban last month.

　　周一，紐約成為美國首個禁止給貓咪做去爪手術(shù)的州，動物權(quán)益倡導(dǎo)者認(rèn)為去爪術(shù)殘忍且毫無必要。上個月，在州議員通過該禁令后，紐約州州長安德魯·M·庫默簽署了該法案，使之正式成為了法律。

　　“By banning this archaic practice, we will ensure that animals are no longer subjected to these inhumane and unnecessary procedures,” Governor Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement.

　　紐約州州長、民主黨人庫默在一份聲明中說:“通過禁止這種由來已久的做法，我們將確保貓咪不再遭受此類殘忍且不必要的對待。”

　　The law goes into effect immediately and makes exceptions for medical purposes. Performing the procedure on a cat for any other reason could lead to a fine of up to $1,000.

　　該法案立即生效，但是也對出于醫(yī)療目的去爪術(shù)作出了豁免。如果出于其他原因?qū)ω堖鋵?shí)施去爪術(shù)，最高將被罰款1000美元。

　　Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal, a Democrat, first introduced the bill in January 2015. “As a cat lover and someone who has cats, I said this is cruel, barbaric and inhumane,” Ms. Rosenthal said on Monday.

　　眾議員、民主黨人琳達(dá)·B·羅森塔爾于2015年首次提出了該法案。她周一說道：“作為一名愛貓人士和養(yǎng)貓者，我認(rèn)為這么做是殘忍、野蠻且不人道的。”

　　She said she hoped a similar bill would also pass in Massachusetts, where legislators are considering a ban on declawing cats. “Other states tend to emulate what New York does,” Ms. Rosenthal said.

　　她表示，她希望馬薩諸塞州也能通過類似的法案，那里的立法者正在考慮禁止給貓去爪。羅森塔爾說：“其他州也將效仿紐約州的做法。”

　　Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver were the first cities to ban cat declawing.

　　洛杉磯、舊金山和丹佛是最早禁止給貓去爪的城市。

　　“Governor Cuomo’s signing of this historic bill in New York is a watershed moment for the declawing issue, and we hope other states will follow suit by prohibiting this unnecessary surgery,” Kitty Block, the president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.

　　美國動物保護(hù)協(xié)會的總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官基蒂在一份聲明中說道：“在對貓實(shí)施去爪手術(shù)的這一問題上，庫默州長在紐約州簽署這份具有歷史意義的法案是一個重要的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，我們希望其他國家也能效仿，禁止這種不必要的手術(shù)。”

　　(全文共239個詞，紐約時報)

　　重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　inhumane  adj. 殘忍的；無人情味的

　　barbaric  adj. 野蠻的，粗野的；原始的

　　emulate  vt. 仿真；模仿；盡力趕上；同…競爭 n. 仿真；仿效

　　watershed  n. 流域；分水嶺；集水區(qū)；轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn) adj. 標(biāo)志轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)的

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