13．For age the word has been going around that the dog is the man's best friend．I agree．A dog can be hardly as a night watchman around the house，as a pointer on a hunting trip，as a guardian and playmate for the children．But I think that having a dog for a pet is so expensive and annoying that I can do without such a friend．
Providing for the dog's needs is so expensive that the animals should be an income tax deduction（扣除）．There's the medical bill for shots to keep the animal healthy．Unless it's kept in the house 24hours a day，a female must be given"preventive maintenance"a ten-to twenty-dollar investment．Otherwise，before you know it，you'll have more"income tax deductions"in your family．And dogs have to eat．Don't think you can buy a case of Ken-L-Ration and be done with it．A dog can be as particular about food as a French expert．To feed even a Chihuahua，a very small Mexican dog，you'll spend three to five dollars a week．If you own a big，you need a large dog-house．They're expensive．A carpenter will build a luxurious model for about seventy-five dollars．For about thirty dollars'worth of materials，a weekend's work，and a smashed thumb，you can build a simple one yourself．And these are only the major costs．
A dog is so annoying that no one in his right mind would want to own one．Consider the dog owner blessed with a dog that fetches-slippers，rubber toys，newspapers．Have you eased your bare feet into slippers bitten by dogs，seen a living room destroyed by a toy boxer，tried to read a newspaper chewed to wet pieces by an obedient Boston bull？And dogs make noise．Some huge dogs bark all night．But you aren't the only one to endure sleepless nights； your neighbors let you know they didn't sleep either．Policemen are frequent visitors to dog owners'homes．They inquire about holes reported dug in neighbors'flower beds，prize cats injured and bleeding，and pet chickens and ducks sent to their reward．Suspect：your dog!You deny everything，of course．Rex，you assure the officers，was asleep by the door．But you secretly suspect him，because you don't really know where Pex was all week．And you remember wondering why feathers were floating in his water bowl yesterday．Dogs are annoying．Neither a fire-breathing mother-in-law nor a talkative wife prove more annoying to man than a dog．
Dog lovers will，of course，claim my argument one-sides，even exaggerated．They might consider me as cruel as the Russians，who possibly attempting to solve their own canine crisis--shot Fido into orbit．But the fact remains，if our best friends caused us the expense and annoyance our dog does，we'd soon encouraged them to become astronauts．
74．Which statement is NOT true about the dog as man's best friend？A
A．A dog will help to watch people．
B．A dog will guard your house at night．
C．A dog will play with your children．
D．A dog will serve as a guide for the hunters．
75．In paragraph2，"preventive maintenance"meas a measure toC．
A．keep the dog in the house the whole day
B．invest ten to twenty dollars in female pregnant
C．prevent a female dog from becoming pregnant
D．provide for the food that dogs eat
76．Policemen frequently visit dog owners'homes becauseB．
A．the police station was destroyed by dogs
B．neighbor's domestics pets were killed or injured．'
C．they want to ask about neighbor's flowers
D．they can't stand sleepless nights any more
77．From the last two paragraphs，we can learn thatD．
A．a dog is not as annoying as a fire-breathing mother-in-law
B．it is more difficult for man to cope with a talkative wife than with a dog
C．dog lovers prove to be as cruel as the Russians in the argument
D．a dog is a troublemaker that causes its owner the most annoyance．
