CAREFUL READING 

Read the following passages carefully. Decide on the best answer.

     In the 1950s, the Sami of Finland had an economy based on fishing and reindeer herding (放养驯鹿), which provided most of the food. Reindeer had several other important economic and social functions. They were used as animals to haul wood for fuel. Their hides were made into clothing. Reindeer were also key items of exchange, both in external trade and internal gift-giving. A child was given a reindeer to mark the appearance of its first tooth. When a couple became engaged, they exchanged a reindeer with each other and when they married, reindeer were the most important wedding gift. 

     By the 1960s, all this had changed because of the introduction of the snowmobile. After that, the herds were no longer kept closely domesticated (围养) for part of the year, during which they became tame. Instead, they were allowed to roam freely all year and thus became wilder. On snowmobiles, the men covered larger amounts of territory at round-up (把牲畜赶回畜栏）time to bring in the animals, and sometimes several round-ups occurred instead of one.
     Herd size declined dramatically. Reasons for the decline included the stress caused to the reindeer by the extra distance traveled during round-ups and the tear aroused by the noisy snowmobiles. Round-ups were now held at a time when the females were near the end of their pregnancy, another factor causing reproductive stress. As the number of snowmobiles increased, the number of reindeer decreased. 

     Another economic change involved the dependence on the outside through links to the cash economy. Cash was needed in order to purchase a snowmobile, gasoline, and to pay for parts and repairs. This led to social inequality, which had not existed previously: the cash cost of effective participation in herding exceeded the resources of some families, who had to drop out of serious participation in herding; the use of snowmobiles changed the age pattern of reindeer herding in favor of youth over age; thus, older herders were squeezed out; the snowmobile pushed many Sami into debt; the dependence on cash and indebtedness forced many Sami to migrate to cities for work.