(英会話リスニングスクリプト)
For three hundred years gentlemen in red
coats have ridden behind packs of dogs, chasing foxes across
the English countryside.
However, now one of England's most colorful
and traditional sights is in danger of vanishing forever.
A number of important politicians think
that fox hunting is cruel and should be banned; most people
who love animals would agree with this, but is there another
way of looking at this matter?
Firstly, banning fox hunting would result
in about 33,000 hunt staff losing their jobs, although the
real figure would be much higher.
Many more people such as blacksmiths, saddle-makers,
feed suppliers and others are dependent on the hunt for
a living and would lose a lot of their business if the hunt
were to close.
In addition, fishermen and people who enjoy
shooting are worried that people will want to ban their
sports as well if fox hunting is banned.
Its critics say that fox hunting is cruel,
but the hunters argue that other methods of controlling
foxes such as gassing or trapping are much worse.
They also say that farmers and hunters work
together to preserve parts of the countryside, which would
otherwise be lost.
Furthermore, hunters say that it is not
strictly an upper-class sport and say that people from all
walks of life enjoy hunting foxes on a regular basis.
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