【明報專訊】Instead of performing with animals, members of the Smarties' circus do all the stunts by themselves. This is because they care a lot about animal rights.

The word circus comes from the Latin word circus, which means "circle" or "ring". A circus is a group of entertainers who perform skilful and amusing acts in a show that travels around to different places. Such a show usually takes place in an arena or in a large tent called a big top.

Performances given by trained animals are popular acts in circuses, but how they use animals is controversial. Many animal rights activists criticise such performances, saying they involve animal abuse. Inadequate care for animals and inhumane training processes have aroused their concern.

There are now circuses that do not use animals in their performances. For example, Cirque du Soleil (太陽劇團), a Qu�mbec-based circus that has over 1,300 artists from over fifty countries, combines high-tech special effects and acrobatics in its shows.

■Mission 1

Bill is showing off his juggling skills by tossing and catching five cubes simultaneously! The diagram on the left shows the net (展開圖) of one of the cubes. Do you know which one it is?

(see the picture)

■Mission 2

More circuses are giving up using animals in their shows. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus is one of them. Learn more about the story by filling in the blanks with the words provided.

retire / pressure / welfare / well-known

Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus is a 1. _________ American circus, which has a history of using animals like elephants and camels in their shows. Because of increasing 2. _________ from animal 3. _________ groups like Born Free USA, it has decided to step up its plan to phase out using pachyderms (厚皮動物) in its performances. According to the company, its famous elephants will all 4. _________ by May this year, two years earlier than the scheduled date.

■Mission 3

Eason the evil magician is determined to use animals in his tricks. Luckily they are not real animals. They are only pictures on his playing cards. Do you recognise them?

(answers on next text)

■acrobat 雜技演員

juggler 拋接雜技演員

stilt walker 踩高蹺表演者

magician 魔術師

tightrope walker 走鋼絲表演者

audience 觀眾

trampoline 彈�H

pony 小馬

animal tamer 馴獸師

unicycle 單輪腳踏車

trapeze artist 空中飛人

hula hoop 呼拉圈

clown 小丑

ringmaster 馬戲團表演指導者

■English highway﹕-words and collocations

controversial

If a subject, view or decision is controversial, people do not approve of it, or they disagree with one another about it.

e.g. The plan to build a shopping mall in the rural area is controversial.

■Key words

animal rights activist 動物權益主義者

animal abuse 虐待動物

■Glossary

amusing (adj) 有趣的

tent (n) 帳篷

criticise (v) 批評

inadequate (adj) 不充分的

inhumane (adj) 不人道的

camel (n) 駱駝

step up (phr v) 增強╱加快

phase out (phr v) 逐步廢除