Question

    Americans use many expressions with the word “dog”. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. 1.However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. 2.They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

3.This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

4.People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard.5.

A. Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways.

B. Dogs are people’s loyal friends all the time.

C. Still, people say every dog has its day.

D. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them nice meals.

E. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.

F. Sometimes, morning rain can light up the day.

G. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

Answer

1.D

2.E

3.C

4.A

5.G

【解析】

本文属于文化说明文，介绍了一些与dog有关的英语短语并解释了这些短语的意思以及使用语境。

1.考查上下文和句意理解，根据上文：People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well.可知：他们带狗散步，让他们在外面玩，给他们食物和医疗护理，答案是：D。

2.考查上下文和句意理解，根据上文：Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world.可知：这意味着很多人在为同样的事情竞争，像工作，答案是：E。

3.考查上下文和句意理解，根据上文：This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life.可知：然而，人们会说：every dog has its day.答案是：C。

4.考查上下文和句意理解，根据下文都是一些不好的含义：可知：一些人被恶意的比喻成狗，答案是：A。

5.考查上下文和句意理解，根据上文：But we do not want it to rain too hard.可知：我们不想rain cats and dogs.（倾盆大雨）答案是：G。