Question

[Taka]

The sentences:

The dog and the cat. Two things they have in common, namely, that both belong to the order of carnivores and both serve man in their captivity of hunters.
-----
My book interprets " both serve man in their captivity of hunters" as "both animals work as hunters and help man to capture other animals". Is this correct? Does the word "hunters" refer to the dog and the cat??

I thought "hunters" referred to "man", and "in their captivity of hunters" meant "confined by man"...

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Taka

The sentences:

The dog and the cat. Two things they have in common, namely, that both belong to the order of carnivores and both serve man in their captivity of hunters.
-----
My book interprets " both serve man in their captivity of hunters" as "both animals work as hunters and help man to capture other animals". Is this correct? Does the word "hunters" refer to the dog and the cat??

I thought "hunters" referred to "man", and "in their captivity of hunters" meant "confined by man"...

their captivity of hunters is an odd phrase, notably 'captivity of'. I can't help but wonder if it's supposed to read, capacity as hunters:

, and both in their capacity as hunters serve man.

By the way, lions are hunters. An animal that hunts for food is a called hunter.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Taka

The sentences:

The dog and the cat. Two things they have in common, namely, that both belong to the order of carnivores and both serve man in their captivity of hunters.
-----
My book interprets " both serve man in their captivity of hunters" as "both animals work as hunters and help man to capture other animals". Is this correct? Does the word "hunters" refer to the dog and the cat??

I thought "hunters" referred to "man", and "in their captivity of hunters" meant "confined by man"...

Hi Taka. Sorry I missed your message.

I agree with Cas on this one. The sentence only makes sense to me if "captivity" is replaced with "capacity".