高一英语Zoology教案1.docVIP

Reference for Teaching Ⅰ.异域风情 1.Cats in Egypt It seems that there is no middle ground when it comes to cats.People either love them or hate them.These feelings are not new either.All through history,cats have been worshiped or hated.A study of ancient writings and evidence found in tombs indicates that for the past 5000 years,cats have been kept as pets in China,Arabia,Egypt,and India.This may not seem very long compared to the fact that dogs have been domesticated for 50 000 years.The period in which cats have been domesticated may be quite short,but it has definitely had its high and low points. Cats were at their highest position of domesticated life in ancient Egypt.There were more cats living in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs than in any other place in the world since that time.This high concentration of cats was probably due to the laws protecting the animal.Cats were associated with the moon goddess,Bast,so the Egyptians worshiped them as holy animals.If anyone was caught killing a cat,the person could be put to death.Families in Egypt also mourned the death of a cat and had the body of the dead cat wrapped in cloth before it was finally laid to rest.This respect for cats carried over to the Roman Empire where cats were the only animals allowed into temples.This fact was probably due to the ability of cats to keep the temples free of mice and rats. With the coming of the Dark Ages in Europe,the place of cats in society took a turn for the worse.Because they were associated so closely with the “old religions” in Egypt and in the Roman Empire,christians began to associate cats with pagan beliefs.Cats had a reputation as helpers of witches.When a person was accused of being a witch,a cat would often be put on trial with the person.The cat would be tortured to try and make the person tell the truth,and usually the cat and the person would end up being burned in a bonfire or drowned.Bonfires of collected cats were not uncommon during this time. The da