Dogs can be worried and pessimistic just like people, researchers report in a new study in Current Biology. And they aren’t talking about basset hounds (短脚猎狗): those dogs just look as if they expect the worst.
What the scientists say is that dogs that exhibit anxiety when left home alone by their owners may have bigger problems — they may be in a permanent bad mood.
This pessimistic outlook may not otherwise be easily apparent in a dog’s other characteristics, like running speed or learning ability, the study reports.
Dogs are similar to humans in the role that emotional state plays in decision making, said Michael Mendel, a veterinary scientist at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author. The study’s researchers looked at 24 dogs in shelters in Britain.
They placed the dogs in isolated settings and observed their reactions — many barked, jumped on furniture and scratched at the door.
Then they placed bowls in two rooms. One bowl contained food, while another was empty. After training the dogs to understand that bowls can sometimes be empty, and sometimes full, they began to place bowls in ambiguous locations.
Dogs that quickly raced to the locations were more optimistic, and in search of food. Those that did not were deemed pessimistic.
The more separation anxiety a dog expressed while in isolation, the more likely the dog was to have a pessimistic reaction, the researchers found.
The study carries an important message for dog owners, Dr. Mendel said.
Dogs that express serious anxiety when alone may need treatment, as it could be a sign of unhappiness and instability.
【小题1】This passage can be classified as _________.
| A．an advertisement | B．a feature story |
| C．a news report | D．a book review |
| A．they couldn’t find the bowl with food in it |
| B．they were left alone |
| C．they needed to be treated |
| D．they wanted to be active and optimistic |
| A．Like humans, dogs are good at decision making. |
| B．Dog owners should train dogs to find food. |
| C．Emotional state works sometimes when humans make decision. |
| D．Dogs can always find the bowl with food quickly. |
| A．Dogs will be optimistic as long as they are left alone. |
| B．Dogs must be in a permanent bad mood when their owners left. |
| C．Dogs that express anxiety don’t need treatment. |
| D．Dogs may easily show their pessimistic outlook in learning ability. |
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Reading to dogs is an unusual way to help children improve their literacy skills（读写能力）. With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence（自信心）, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals（ITA）in Salt Lake City. The group says it is the first program in the country to use dogs to help develop literacy in children, with the introduction of Reading Education Assistance Dogs （READ）.
The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea. “Literacy specialists admit that children who read below the level of their fellow pupils are often afraid of reading aloud in a group, often have lower self-respect, and regard reading as a headache,” said Lisa Myron, manager of the children’s department.
Last November the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children’s department of the main library. About 25children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “pawgraphed” book at the last class.
The program was so successful that the library plans to repeal it in April, according to Dana Thumpowsky, public relations manager.
59．What is mainly discussed in the text?
A．Children’s reading difficulties. B．Advantages of raising dogs.
C．Service in public library. D．A special reading program.
60．Specialists use dogs to listen to children reading because they think__________.
A．dogs are young children’s best friends
B．children can play with dogs while reading
C．dogs can provide encouragement for shy children
D．children and dogs understand each other
61．By saying “The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea”, the writer means the library ______________.
A．uses dogs to attract children B．accepts the idea put forward by ITA
C．has opened a children’s department D．has decided to train some dogs
62．A “pawgraphed” book is most probably _________.
A．a book used in Saturday classes B．a book written by the children
C．a prize for the children D．a gift from parents
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A store owner was putting a sign above his door that read “Puppies For Sale”. Signs like that have a way of 1 small children, and 2 enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner’s sign. “ 3 are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked.
The store owner replied, “Anywhere from $30 4 $ 50.”
The little boy 5 in his pocket and pulled out some 6 . “I have $ 2.37,” he said. “ 7 I please look at them?”
The store owner 8 and whistled and out of the kennel (狗窝) came a lady, who ran down the aisle (过道) of his store 9 by five puppies. One puppy was 10 . Immediately the little boy singled out the puppy and said, “What’s 11 with that little dog?”
The store owner explained that the veterinarian (兽医) had 12 the little puppy and had discovered that it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always walk slowly and with difficulty. It would always be lame. The little boy became 13 “That’s the little puppy that I want to buy.”
The store owner said, “No, you don’t want to buy that little dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”
The little boy got quite upset. He looked 14 into the store owner’s eyes, pointing his finger and said, “I don’t want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I’ll pay 15 price. In fact I’ll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month 16 I have him paid for.”
The store owner answered, “You really don’t want to buy this little dog. He is 17 going to be able to jump and play with you like the other puppies.”
To his surprise, the little boy reached 18 and rolled up his pant leg to show a badly twisted, crippled (残疾的) left leg 19 by a big metal brace (支架). He looked up at the store owner and softly replied, “Well, I don’t run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who 20 !”
1. A. absorbing B. attracting C. bargaining D. greeting
2. A. sure B. luckily C. surprisingly D. interestingly
3. A. What B. How come C. When D. How much
4. A. on B. at C. to D. between
5. A. put B. arrived C. reached D. filled
6. A. coin B. note C. value D. change
7. A. Can B. Shall C. Will D. Must
8. A. performed B. smiled C. disagreed D. announced
9. A. applied B. guided C. followed D. linked
10. A. falling behind B. setting foot C. lending a hand D. putting forward
11. A. the price B. the matter C. the weight D. the name
12. A. tested B. studied C. examined D. experimented
13. A. excited B. shocked C. worried D. disappointed
14. A. straight B. deeply C. closely D. totally
15. A. half B. lower C. higher D. full
16. A. unless B. after C. until D. once
17. A. always B. often C. no D. never
18. A. up B. down C. out D. over
19. A. supported B. assisted C. adjusted D. surrounded
20. A. encourages B. cooperates C. understands D. recognizes
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The German shepherd runs off and noses around in the grass of Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau． “OK, Oakley,” the dog’s handler orders, “Find it!”
Oakley sniffs （嗅） until he comes to a bush, then stops, sits, and looks up at his handler． She bends to see what he has found: the waste of an endangered African wild dog． “Good dog!” she praises． The handler pulls a tennis ball from her pocket． Oakley jumps for his reward．
“He doesn’t actually want the waste,” says Aimee Hurt, a founding member of the U．S．-based group Working Dogs for Conservation． Hurt is in Kenya to train both Oakley and his handler． “He finds it so he can play with his ball． We’re the ones who want the waste．”
Detection dogs are sometimes taught to locate actual animals． Black-footed ferrets （雪貂） have been studied with their help． But more often the dogs learn to locate the waste of creatures such as bears, wolves and mountain lions．
What the dogs find provides scientists with data about a species． Scientists can use the DNA collected from animal waste to identify individuals, sex, and population sizes — all without ever seeing the animal itself． “It can take years to gather this kind of information if you have to trap animals,” Hurt explains．
Waste analysis might make a huge difference when wild species are accused of attacking domestic livestock （家畜）． Hurt says, “A good detection dog will find the waste so we can see what the animal is actually eating．” This may help reduce problems between people and wildlife．
The underlined word “She” in Paragraph 2 refers to “_____”．
A． the German shepherd B． an African wild dog
C． Aimee Hurt D． the handler
Oakley is interested in finding the waste because _____．
A． he wants to study endangered animals
B． he can get a tennis ball to play with
C． he wants to eat it
D． he wants to play with it
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A． Trapping animals is not difficult．
B． People are making efforts to protect the environment．
C． Detection dogs attack domestic livestock frequently．
D． Collecting animal waste is a good way to gather information．
What is the main idea of the passage?
A． Detection dogs can help scientists study wildlife．
B． Detection dogs can defend wildlife．
C． Detection dogs can help the police catch the criminals．
D． Detection dogs can help local people defend domestic livestock．
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：陕西省五校2010届高三下学期第一次模拟考试试题（英语） 题型：阅读理解
Dogs are known for their sense of smell．They can find missing people and things like bombs and illegal drugs．Now a study suggests that the animal known as man’s best friend can even find bladder（膀胱）cancer．
Cancer cells are thought to produce chemicals with unusual odors（气味）．Researchers think dogs have the ability to smell these odors, even in very small amounts, in urine（尿）．The sense of smell in dogs is thousands of times better than in humans．
The study follows reports of cases where, for example, a dog showed great interest in a growth on the leg of its owner．The man was later found to be skin cancer．Carolyn Willis led a team of researchers at Amersham Hospital in England．They trained different kinds of dogs for the experiment．The study involved urine collected from bladder cancer patients, from people with other diseases and from healthy people．Each dog was tested 8 times．In each test there were 7 samples for the dogs to smell．The dog should signal the one from a bladder cancer patient by lying down next to it．Two cocker dogs were correct 56 percent of the time．But the scientists reported an average success rate of 41 percent．The British Medical Journal published the research．In all, 36 bladder cancer patients and 108 other people took part．During training, all the dogs reportedly even identified（认出）a cancer in a person who had tested healthy before the study．Doctors found a growth on the person’s right kidney（肾）．Carolyn Willis says dogs could help scientists identify the combined chemicals produced by bladder cancer．That information could then be used to develop machines to test for the chemicals．The team also plans to use dogs to help identify markers for other kinds of cancer．
49．What’s the general idea of the text?
A．Dogs have a good sense of smell B．Dogs can help cure cancer
C．Dogs can smell cancer D．Dogs help perform experiments
50．According to the text, people who suffer bladder cancer_____
A．often have urine with unusual smell B．probably smoke cigarettes in their life
C．can easily make dogs lie down
D．are likely to die within nine years
51．The underlined word “involved” in the text is closest in meaning to _____．
A．showed B．used C．proved D．preferred
52．What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
A．Dogs can only smell bladder cancer．
B．Dogs have a good knowledge of cancer．
C．Cancer doesn’t have any sign in the beginning．
D．Scientists might invent some equipment to test cancer．
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英语 来源：陕西省五校2010届高三下学期第一次模拟考试试题（英语） 题型：阅读理解
Dogs are known for their sense of smell．They can find missing people and things like bombs and illegal drugs．Now a study suggests that the animal known as man’s best friend can even find bladder（膀胱）cancer．
Cancer cells are thought to produce chemicals with unusual odors（气味）．Researchers think dogs have the ability to smell these odors, even in very small amounts, in urine（尿）．The sense of smell in dogs is thousands of times better than in humans．
The study follows reports of cases where, for example, a dog showed great interest in a growth on the leg of its owner．The man was later found to be skin cancer．Carolyn Willis led a team of researchers at Amersham Hospital in England．They trained different kinds of dogs for the experiment．The study involved urine collected from bladder cancer patients, from people with other diseases and from healthy people．Each dog was tested 8 times．In each test there were 7 samples for the dogs to smell．The dog should signal the one from a bladder cancer patient by lying down next to it．Two cocker dogs were correct 56 percent of the time．But the scientists reported an average success rate of 41 percent．The British Medical Journal published the research．In all, 36 bladder cancer patients and 108 other people took part．During training, all the dogs reportedly even identified（认出）a cancer in a person who had tested healthy before the study．Doctors found a growth on the person’s right kidney（肾）．Carolyn Willis says dogs could help scientists identify the combined chemicals produced by bladder cancer．That information could then be used to develop machines to test for the chemicals．The team also plans to use dogs to help identify markers for other kinds of cancer．
49．What’s the general idea of the text?
A．Dogs have a good sense of smell B．Dogs can help cure cancer
C．Dogs can smell cancer D．Dogs help perform experiments
50．According to the text, people who suffer bladder cancer_____
A．often have urine with unusual smell B．probably smoke cigarettes in their life
C．can easily make dogs lie down
D．are likely to die within nine years
51．The underlined word “involved” in the text is closest in meaning to _____．
A．showed B．used C．proved D．preferred
52．What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
A．Dogs can only smell bladder cancer．
B．Dogs have a good knowledge of cancer．
C．Cancer doesn’t have any sign in the beginning．
D．Scientists might invent some equipment to test cancer．
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互联网违法和不良信息举报平台 | 网上有害信息举报专区 | 电信诈骗举报专区 | 涉历史虚无主义有害信息举报专区 | 涉企侵权举报专区
违法和不良信息举报电话：027-86699610 举报邮箱：58377363@163.com
