Broken: Dreams of Rural Peace
It was dusk in Tubney, deep in rural Oxfordshire. The birds were singing at the end of another perfect day. The woman living at the edge of the forest could stand it no longer. She phoned the local noise pollution officer.
"It's rooks(秃鼻乌鸦)," she said. "I can't bear that awful cawing(呱呱地叫) noise. Can you do something about it?"
the call was no surprise to officials at the vale of white horse district council. __1__. The countryside, as every country-dweller knows, can be a hellishly (可怕地) noisy place.
Last week David Stead, a west Yorkshire farmer, appeared in court in Wakefield accused of allowing his cocks to break noise regulations by crowing (打鸣) at dawn, waking a neighbor. __2__. Six moths ago Corky, a four-year-old cock, was banned from crowing after complaints in the Devon village of Stoke.
Complaints about noise reasonable or not -- are at record levels in country areas. Environmental health officers say this is partly because of an increase in noisy activity. However, a significant number of complaints come from newcomers to the countryside.
There are many officers of rural noise. __3__. Mechanized grain dryers, usually switched on for three weeks in September, can produce a maddening low-frequency hum. Mike Roberts, chief environmental health officer at vale of white horse, said noise often sounded worse in the countryside than in cities. With less background sound, unwelcome noises can seem louder and travel faster.
The oddest complaints, however, are the ones council officials can do nothing about. Vale of white horse officials have been asked to silence not only nesting rooks. Pigeons and pheasants (雏鸡)have also caused concern. In Kent, council officials have been asked to silence baby lambs. __4__. Another insisted he could hear an alien spaceship landing over the garden fence.
"We get regular complaints. They usually come from retired people who have just moved into the country. We send them a polite letter."
And the lady who complained about the rooks? She was politely told she would have to put up with it. "__5__."said Mr. Roberts. "In the end, she accepted there was nothing much she could do --except move out." It is not recorded who won, the lady or the rooks.
A. Mr. Stead said they were only doing what comes naturally.
B. We asked her what we were supposed to do, shoot the birds, or chop the tress down?
C. They have heard every kind of complaint.
D. One man rang to say he was kept awake by the splashing of a fountain in the garden next door.
E. The council will ask the farmer to move it.
F. Farm machinery is a common cause.
补全短文题参考答案：
Broken: Dreams of Rural Peace
1.C.根据空格前后句句意的逻辑关系(空格后句是表示结果的句子，因此空格前的句子可能表示原因或进行解释)判断C合适。
2.A.被选项A中的Mr. Stead与空格前句中的Mr. Stead呼应。而A中的代词they应对空格前句中的复数名词 cooks，从句意上看来A也合理。
3.F.空格后句提到了机器(烘干机)，只有F才提到了机器。从句意上看空格句是总结，概括句，正好与空格后所举的例子的结构相呼应。
4.D.空格后句中的Another暗示该句前面一定有 One的结构，所以从搭配结构上看D合适。
5.B.B中的birds与空格前句中的名词 rooks相呼应;而E中的farmer在空格前句中并没有被提到。