街頭獸醫

山西 李改英

經濟大蕭條讓許多不幸的人露宿街頭，這些人唯一的精神寄托就是身邊的寵物。這些寵物面臨各種健康問題，動物收容所的獸醫斯圖爾特自掏腰包為它們進行治療，他的善舉不僅解了別人的燃眉之急，也讓他自己獲得了極大的滿足感！

題材體裁人與社會記敘文372★★★文章詞數難度建議用時6分鐘

Kwane Stewart stepped outside a Modesto,California, convenience store with his morning coffee and spotted a homeless man sitting with his back against the building. It was 2011, and the Great Recession(蕭條)had caused many unfortunate people to be onto the streets. A small dog sat in the homeless man's lap. Stewart, a veterinarian at an animal shelter, approached the man and offered to bring flea (跳蚤) medication for the dog whose skin showed signs of an allergic reaction to fleas, a gift the man readily accepted.

“I remember returning a week and a half later, and the man said his dog was finally sleeping again because it no longer stayed up scratching and chewing,”Stewart told The Modesto Bee.

Stewart was hooked. “When you give back something to society, there is something you get in return that feels much larger. I knew I wanted to keep doing it,” he told medium.com.

Today, Stewart, 50, has his own practice in town, yet he still finds time for street pets. He's helped roughly 400 animals since 2011, mostly dogs and a few cats.

There's a crying need for his kind of help.About 25 percent of Modesto's homeless population own a pet, but there are few health-care options available to them. To fill that void (空白),Stewart can often be found wandering in many places where he thinks the homeless might camp out. He carries his medical bag, which Stewart pays for out of his own pocket.

He knows there are some people who question whether the homeless should even have pets. “I think that more than anybody, they need a pet,” Stewart told The Modesto Bee. “They love their pets probably more than the average person. Because the owner is the pet's home.Their animals are their reason for getting up in the morning,” Stewart said.

One of those people is Joe, who has landed on rough times. He said his breed was his life.“Every morning, I wake up; her tail is wagging.I don't feel that lonely. To have somebody like Dr Stewart come out here to take care of my dog just because it's the right thing to do, that's huge,” he said in a video that Stewart posted on the GoFundMe page.

Reading Check

1. How did Stewart help the homeless man's dog?

A. By scratching its hair off.

B. By offering to buy food for it.

C. By providing it with medical care.

D. By bringing it to an animal shelter.

2. What's the homeless man's attitude to Stewart?

A. Doubtful.

B. Grateful.

C. Indifferent.

D. Disappointed.

3. Why is there an urgent need for a street vet's job?

A. A quarter of the local homeless have pets.

B. The local government can't afford to treat pets.

C. Modesto's most homeless population own pets.

D. 25 percent of the health-care options aren't available.

4. Why should the homeless have pets according to Stewart?

A. They depend on pets to wake them up.

B. They can care for their pets on the street.

C. They love their pets more than most people.

D. They need pets' company to feel motivated.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. Stewart, a veterinarian at an animal shelter, approached the man and offered to bring flea medication for the dog whose skin showed signs of an allergic reaction to fleas, a gift the man readily accepted. 斯圖爾特是一家動物收容所的獸醫，他走近這名男子，主動為這只皮膚上有跳蚤過敏反應的狗帶些治跳蚤的藥，這名男子欣然接受了這份禮物。

【點石成金】句中的a veterinarian是同位語，whose引導定語從句，先行詞為the dog，whose在定語從句中作定語，a gift后省略掉了引導定語從句的關系代詞that/which。

2. To fill that void, Stewart can often be found wandering in many places where he thinks the homeless might camp out. 為了填補這一空白，斯圖爾特經常在他認為許多無家可歸者可能露宿的地方徘徊。

【點石成金】句中的to fill 作目的狀語，where引導定語從句，先行詞為many places，在定語從句中作狀語。

Ⅱ. Theme-centered chunks

offer to do sth 主動做某事

stay up 熬夜

be hooked 著迷

in return 作為回報

camp out 露營

out of one's own pocket 自掏腰包

land on rough times 陷入困境

take care of 照顧