小托福大智慧--閱讀系列【動物世界】—

小托福大智慧--閱讀系列【動物世界】——周麗華

發布時間：2013-12-10

作者：

來源于：昂立外語網站

Do dogs understand us?

Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.

A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee.

In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.

In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.

The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked

out the answer by process of elimination. A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.

Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.

It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!

Reading Comprehension:

1. From paragraph 2 we know that __ .

A. animals are as clever as human beings

B. dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees

C. chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills

D. dogs have similar 'learning abilities as 3-year-old children

2. Both experiments show that .

A. Rico is smart enough to get all commands right

B. Rico can recognize different things including toys

C. Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics

D. Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities.

B. Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training.

C. The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects.

D. Rico is born to understand its owner's commands.

4. What does the writer want to tell us?

A. To train your dog. B. To talk to your dog.

C. To be friendly to your dog. D. To be careful with your dog.

Information Background:

狗是一種很常見的犬科哺乳動物，也是飼養率最高的寵物。據聯合國統計，全球總犬數約有六億只，我國大約有兩億只。狗是肉食動物，以肉食為主，在喂養時，需要在飼料中配制較多的動物蛋白和脂肪，輔以素食成分.狗的消化道比食草動物要短，狗胃鹽酸含量在家畜中居于首位，加之腸壁厚吸收能力強，所以容易和適宜消化肉食食品。狗喜歡啃咬骨頭。這也是原生態時撕咬獵物所留下的習慣。我們在喂養時要經常給它一些骨頭。狗有獨特的自我防御能力，吃進有毒食物后，能引起嘔吐反應而把有毒食物吐出來。

New Words:

Chimpanzee 黑猩猩

Elimination 排除法

breed 品種

Key:

1.C.答案由The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee.可知，狗和黑猩猩學習單詞的能力是一樣好的，因此推斷出答案。

2.B.答案出自The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination.說明大部分情況下狗狗還是選出了正確答案。

3.A.由For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品種)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.可知.

4.C.文章的最后有提到It wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!

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