英女爱猫成痴 
英女爱猫成痴 

A mother-of-two has said how she spends £90,000-a-year looking after more than 120 rescue cats. Silvana Valentino-Locke, 55, even employs two to look after her pet posse at her home in Downe in Bromley, Kent. Even more surprising than the dozens of cats and care costs, Mrs Valentino-Locke, who has been married to Tony for 32 years, says her spouse does not mind her cats.

“Every man who comes to adopt a cat always asks, ‘have you got a husband?’ They can't believe anyone would tolerate all these cats,” she said. Luckily Tony works long hours so he doesn't see all the work of caring for them. Mrs Valentino-Locke, who has two sons with Tony - Daniel, 30 and Tony Jnr, 27 - has also taken in some 30 cats, who all live and wander in a neighbouring field.

The mother-of-two spends £500 per week on the daily feeds, and with 12 litter trays to change every day, the cost of litter alone is £30 per day. Mrs Valentino-Locke employs two, who are paid £250 a week plus food and board, and spend £4,500-a-month on veterinary bills.

Silvana herself is devoted to the cause of caring for the cats, and gets up at 6.30am every day to look after them, sometimes not returning to bed until after midnight. The annual total of £90,000 is funded 50 per cent by Tony, who runs a film, with the rest covered by donations, fund-raising drives and Mrs Valentino-Locke's charity shop. Despite the 52 cats sharing a home with her and Tony, Mrs Valentino-Locke refuses to let her cats affect her standards. With the help of her staff, the couple's Kent-home is cleaned from top to bottom, twice a day.  “It takes about an hour and a half. We clean every bit of floor and furniture,” Mrs Valentino-Locke said. “It's a long, exhausting job.”


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1.Which of the following WON’T make people feel surprised?

A The care cost she pays for the cats.

B The number of cats she rescued.

C The employees she found for her.

D The age when she began rescuing.

解析:选D。D。细节理解题。 根据文章第1段第2句的even employs two to look after her pet posse at her home in Downe in Bromley, Kent. Even more surprising than the dozens of cats and care costs可知为拯救猫花费的钱,她救助猫的数量和她因为救助猫而雇佣员工,这都是让人感觉到吃惊的;没有提到的是她开始救助猫的年龄。

2.The underlined word “spouse” may mean ______.

A pet

B husband

C cat

D family

解析:选B。B。词意推测题。从前面的Mrs Valentino-Locke, who has been married to Tony for 32 years可以推知她和托尼结婚32年了,而此处说的her spouse很显然是指她的“丈夫”。

3.The people came to adopt a cat wondered whether _____.

A her husband worked long hours

B her son taken in many cats too

C her husband support her cause

D her son helped to care for cats

解析:选C。C。推理判断题。根据文章第2段第1句的Every man who comes to adopt a cat always asks, ‘have you got a husband?’ They can't believe anyone would tolerate all these cats可知来收养猫的人都问她是否有丈夫,他们不相信的是她丈夫居然能够忍受这么多的猫,因此他们质疑她丈夫支持她。

4.In the fourth paragraph, the writer mainly tells us _______.

A caring for the cats is expensive

B looking after the cats is tiring

C fund raising is really necessary

D paying for veterinary bills is ok

解析:选A。A。主旨大意题。从文章第4段提到的各种支出可以得知该段讲述了照顾这些猫的花费是很昂贵的。

5.How much will Tony pay for the cost of caring for the cats every year?

A £90,000.

B £45,000.

C £500.

D £250.

解析:选B。B。细节理解题。根据文章最后1段第2句的The annual total of £90,000 is funded 50 per cent by Tony可知托尼支付一半也就是£45,000。