Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one
hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something
happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a
cage.We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds
would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument
made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the
mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it
in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a
cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the
cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with
myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the
second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with
food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was
pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her
baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my
captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was
shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so
I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be
visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird,
explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a
cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her
young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and
put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
1.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a
boy of 12?
A．He had just
got a new cage. B．He liked its
beautiful feather.
C．He wanted it
to sing for him. D．He wanted a
pet for a companion.
2.The mockingbird died because it ______.
A．was
frightened to death B．ate the
poisonous food its mother gave it
C．refused to
eat anything D．drank the
poisonous water by mistake
3.An ornithologist probably means ______.
A．a religious
person B．a kind person
C．a
schoolmaster D．an expert in
birds
4.What is the most important lesson the writer learned
from the incident?
A．Freedom is
very valuable to all creatures.
B．All birds put
in a cage won’t live long.
C．You should
keep the birds from their mother.
D．Be careful
about food you give to baby birds.
