Question

Do dogs understand us?

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

A border collie博德牧羊犬 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(黑猩猩).

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 the process of elimination(排除法). 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 (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.

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!

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 with your dog.

C．To be friendly to your dog.

D．To be careful with your dog.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

試題分析：本文通過兩個實驗告訴我們狗也許有自己的智慧，能夠理解人的思維，也可能有很強的記憶能力。所以對狗要好一些。

1.C 推理題。根據第一段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(黑猩猩).說明是把狗的這種技能與黑猩猩進行比較，說明在這方面黑猩猩比較擅長，故C正確。

2.B 推理題。根據文章3,4段可知在這兩個實驗里，Rico都成功地執行了命令，找出了主人要找的東西，說明他能認出來，有理解力。故B正確。

3.B 細節題。根據文章倒數第二段最后一句In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.說明也許是因為小時候接受的訓練讓它更為聰明，故B正確。

4.C 主旨大意題。根據文章第一段Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.說明狗有可能能理解我們所說的話，所以要對狗友好。故C正確。

考點：考查說明文

點評：本文通過兩個實驗告訴我們狗也許有自己的智慧。本文主旨鮮明,很容易在文中找到答案。做題時要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因為它們往往就是文章的主題句。閱讀中要注意要點之間的關系。然后帶著問題，再讀全文，找出答題所需要的依據，完成閱讀任務。