在中国养宠物的人也很多，这些宠物中以猫、狗等居多。由于越来越多的人们开始养宠物，随之关于宠物的商业也越来越火，宠物医院、宠物超市、宠物美容店、宠物学校等在我们的生活中越来越常见。书店中随处可见各类关于宠物的书籍，互联网上也有各种不同的宠物论坛和宠物网站，甚至还有宠物婚介。

    现在，中国人养宠物的情况比较复杂：但是在很多大城市，很多养宠物的人家把宠物当成自己的家庭成员；在中国的农村和偏远地区，这些"宠物"尤其是狗还在按照传统的方式饲养，在更大程度上还是被看作动物一样饲养，人们喂它们的是吃剩的饭菜，作用是看门或抓老鼠。

Is Doggie a family member?

It is a tendency that more and more Chinese families raise pets, mainly dogs and cats. Therefore, the demand for a wide variety of pet services is increasing. Hospitals, supermarkets, beauty salons, and schools for pets then emerge in cities. Pet books can be easily found in bookstores. Pet forums and related websites for pet lovers, and even pet on-line dating agencies have been created.

However, in China, pets have been bred for very different purposes. Most pet owners in big cities raise pets as companions and treat them as part of the family. In contrast, pets in the rural areas, especially dogs, are seen and treated as watchdogs and fed only leftovers.

• tendency [´tendənsi]   n.趋势；倾向   (初中英语单词)
• mainly [´meinli]   ad.主要地；大体上   (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:]   ad.&conj.因此；所以   (初中英语单词)
• variety [və´raiəti]   n.变化；多样(性)；种类   (初中英语单词)
• emerge [i´mə:dʒ]   vi.出现；显露；暴露   (初中英语单词)
• contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st]   n.对比 v.使对比(照)   (初中英语单词)
• related [ri´leitid]   a.叙述的；有联系的   (高中英语单词)