Question

    Most dog owners believe their dogs experience guilt, but animal behaviorists say the “guilty look” of a dog is simply a reaction to you and that dogs lack the ability to feel shame.

Alexandra Horowitz, a psychology professor and principal investigator at the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Columbia University once carried out a study on dog “guilt”. She videotaped 14 dogs in a series of trials and observed how they reacted when their owners left the room after instructing them not to eat a treat. When the owner was gone, Horowitz gave some of the dogs the forbidden treat. Then she would tell the owners whether their dogs had eaten the treat or had behaved. However, Horowitz wasn’t always honest with them.

Horowitz found that the dogs’ “guilty looks” had little to do with whether they’d eaten the treat or not. In fact, dogs that hadn’t eaten it but were scolded by misinformed owners tended to exhibit the most elements of the “guilty look”.

Horowitz says this shows that the dogs’ body language is actually a response to their owner’s behavior---not an experience of shame for a misdeed. Why then, do dogs look so ashamed when we scold them?

Maybe that look of guilt is the result of a learned association. When you scold your dog for chewing up a pair of slippers, he quickly learns that if he lowers his head and tucks his tail, the undesirable response---raised voice and angry expression---is more likely to disappear.

1.According to Horowitz, the dogs’ “guilty look” is _____.

A. the dogs’ nature. B. a reaction to people’s behavior.

C. a direct result of copying people’s behavior. D. a response to a shameful behavior.

2.How was Horowitz’ study carried out？

A. By giving examples. B. By telling her experience.

C. By doing an experiment. D. By reasoning.

3.What might be the most suitable title for the passage ？

A. The “Guilty Look” of the Dog B. Dog without the Sense of Guilt

C. Dogs’ Ability to Feel Shame D. The Study on Dogs

4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that dogs were ______.

A. born with the look of guilt B. born with the ability to feel guilty

C. so smart to copy people’s behavior D. so smart to adjust its behavior

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。大多数狗主人认为他们的狗狗会有负罪感，但动物行为学家表示，狗的肢体语言实际上是对主人行为的一种反应，而不是因为做错了事而感到羞耻。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段第一句but animal behaviorists say the "guilty look" of a dog is simply a reaction to you 可知动物行为学家说"心虚"的狗是对你（人类）的反应，所以B选项符合题意。

2.推理判断题。根据文章第二段She videotaped 14dogs in a series of trials and observed how they reacted Alexandra Horowitz可知她拍摄了14只狗进行了一系列的试验，并观察他们的反应时，可以推断出她是通过实验的方式来完成自己的研究的，故答案选C。

3.推理判断题。根据文章倒数第二段第一句Horowitz says this shows that the dogs’ body language is actually a response to their owner’s behavior---not an experience of shame for a misdeed.可知狗的肢体语言实际上是对主人行为的一种反应，而不是因为做错了事而感到羞耻。即狗自身是缺乏感到羞耻的能力的。所以答案选B。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段的描述当你骂你的狗嚼了一双拖鞋的时候，如果他低下头，夹着他的尾巴那么他很快就明白了你的意思，由此可以推断狗可以很聪明地调整自己的行为，所以答案选D。