2014英语四级听力练习慢速3.18(2)_大学英语听力

2014英语四级听力练习慢速3.18(2)

　　Earlier this year, police in California arrested a school teacher for hoarding 400 snakes. The mans neighbors reported that his home had a very bad smell coming from it. When police arrived, they found the home filled with snakes in small plastic containers. Some of the snakes were dead, but others were alive. Other containers also had rats and mice.

　　A few years ago, a grand jury in New York charged a man and his wife with hoarding hundreds of cats. The cats clearly had not received good care. Investigators said some of the animals were missing teeth or eyes. Others were suffering from many insect bites and dehydration -- a lack of needed fluids in the body. The owners were charged with torturing and injuring animals.

　　Americans have shown deep interest in the strange behavior of animal hoarders like the people in New York. Several television stations show reality programs about hoarders. Reality programs present events as they happen, such as the rescue of animals from hoarders homes.

　　Television cameras capture the sadness of the owners as animal police take away their pets. And the cameras show the struggles of the hoarders and the efforts of people who want to help them.

　　Gregory Chasson is a mental health expert. He teaches at Towson University in Maryland. He says the publics interest in hoarding programs comes from most peoples desire to save things.

　　He says that for most people, this simply means behavior like keeping too many papers or having a little clutter. But he says hoarding becomes a mental health problem when it interferes with normal life.