Question

    Scientific research gives new explanations to a very old relationship.

Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behaviour Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet. By John Bradshaw. Basic Books; 324 pages; $25.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

Dogs seem to have been our beloved companions since there was written history. It is hard to be precise(精确地) about when the friendship began, but a reasonable guess is that it has been going strong for more than 20,000 years. For John Bradshaw, a biologist who founded the anthrozoology department(the place known as human-non-human-animal studies) at the University of Bristol, having some idea about how dogs got to be dogs is the first step towards gaining a better understanding of human-dog relationship. It is generally accepted that dogs were raised by human beings from wolves. However, Bradshaw’s research refuted the wrong ideas about the close relationship of dogs to wolves and the mistakes that this has led to, especially in the training of dogs over the past century or so.

Dogs are not like nicely brought-up wolves, says the author, nor are they much like people despite their excellent ability to enter our lives and our hearts. However, dogs have a distinguish talent: they experience and react to the world through their extraordinary sense of smell: their sensitivity to smells is between 10,000 and 100,000 times greater than ours. And their trainability allow dogs to perform almost unimaginable tasks, such as smelling the early stages of a cancer long before a normal medical diagnosis(诊断) would discover it.

The latest scientific research can help dogs and their owners have happier, healthier relationships by encouraging people to understand dogs better. But Mr. Bradshaw is also fearful. In particular, he fears the incestuous（近亲繁殖）narrowing of the gene pool that modern breeders have brought about. He also worries that the increasing urbanization of society and the pressures on couples to work long hours are putting dogs under huge stress.

“Dog Sense” is neither a report nor a description of the joys of dog-ownership. At times its use of research data can be slightly difficult to understand. But this is a wonderfully informative, instructive book that will do good to every dog whose owner reads it.

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined word in Paragraph 3?

A.Proved B.Disagreed C.Described D.Explained

2.Which of the following statements about dogs is not true according to the passage?

A.Dogs and wolves are close relatives.

B.Some dogs can smell early stage cancers.

C.The relationship between dogs and humans has a long history.

D.Dog may suffer from depression.

3.The purpose of the passage may be         .

A.to introduce something about dogs

B.to present the result of a book

C.to change people’s attitude towards dogs

D.to advertise a book about dogs

4.How does the author find Dog Sense?

A.Boring B.Interesting C.Useful D.Hard

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。介绍了Dog Sense 这本书，带领人们更多地去了解狗。

1.

词义猜测题。由第三段“It is generally accepted that dogs were raised by human beings from wolves. However, Bradshaw’s research refuted the wrong ideas about the close relationship of dogs to wolves and the mistakes that this has led to, especially in the training of dogs over the past century or so.”可知，人们普遍认为狗是由狼养出来的。然而，布拉德肖的研究 refuted了狗和狼关系密切的错误观点，以及由此导致的错误，特别是在过去一个世纪左右的狗的训练中。根据上下文的语境可知，布拉德肖的研究 驳斥了狗和狼关系密切的错误观点，以及由此导致的错误，特别是在过去一个世纪左右的狗的训练中。由此判断出，划线词的意思是“不赞同”。故选B项。

2.

细节理解题。由第三段“Dogs seem to have been our beloved companions since there was written history. It is hard to be precise(精确地) about when the friendship began, but a reasonable guess is that it has been going strong for more than 20,000 years.”可知，从人类开始有记载历史起，大概是2万年前开始，狗狗便成为人类最友好的伙伴。C项是说狗狗与人类的友谊有很长的历史，所以C项正确。由第四段“And their trainability allow dogs to perform almost unimaginable tasks, such as smelling the early stages of a cancer long before a normal medical diagnosis(诊断) would discover it.”可知，狗狗可以嗅出癌症早期。所以B 项正确。由第五段“He also worries that the increasing urbanization of society and the pressures on couples to work long hours are putting dogs under huge stress.”可知，社会的逐步城市化以及夫妻长期加班的压力可能会使狗狗也处于高压之下。所以D项正确。由第三段“However, Bradshaw’s research refuted the wrong ideas about the close relationship of dogs to wolves and the mistakes that this has led to”可知，Bradshaw 的研究否认了狗狗和狼的近亲关系。所以A项错误。故选A项。

3.

推理判断题。文章第二段“Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behaviour Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet. By John Bradshaw. Basic Books; 324 pages; $25.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk”介绍了书名、作者、书的页数、价格以及购买网址等相关信息。第三、四、五段提到了John Bradshaw 对人狗关系的一些新观点。最后一段点题，提到了本文作者对这本书的评价。由上可以推断，文章旨在向人们介绍这本有关狗狗的书 。故选D项。

4.

推理判断题。由文章最后一句话“But this is a wonderfully informative, instructive book that will do good to every dog whose owner reads it.”可知，文章作者认为 Dog Sense 这本书信息量很大，有指导意义。狗的主人阅读了这本书，会对他们的狗狗大有裨益。由“wonderfully，do good to，informative，instructive”这样一些字眼可判断出，作者认为 Dog Sense 这本书是大有裨益的。故选C项。