A new study finds that the animal known as man’s best friend can also be a good friend to the heart. Researchers in California say they have found that even just a short visit with a dog helped ease the worries of heart patients.
The study divided the patients into three groups. In Group A, a dog and a person visited each patient for twelve minutes. Patients in Group B received just a human visitor for twelve minutes. And members of Group C received no visitor, human or canine(犬的).
The dogs would lie on the hospital bed so the heart patients could touch them. The researchers say some patients immediately smiled and talked to the dog and the human visitor. Dogs, in her words, “make people happier, calmer and feel more loved.”
The researchers examined the patients before, during and after the visits. They measured stress levels based on blood flow and heart activity. They say they found a twenty-four percent decrease in the group visited by both a dog and a person. They reported a ten percent decrease in the group visited by a person only. There was no change in the patients without any visit. These patients, however, did have an increase in their production of the hormone epinephrine (epinephrine肾上腺素). The body produces epinephrine during times of stress.
The increase was an average of seven percent. But the study found that patients who spent time with a dog had a seventeen percent drop in their levels of epinephrine. Patients visited by a human but not a dog also had a decrease, but only two percent.
【小题1】The author believes that . A．the dog can take the place of most medicinesB．the dog is the most popular pet for manC．the findings of the research cannot be trustedD．visits by a human work better than visits by a dog【小题2】Which of the following best shows the stress level changes in the groups of patients? BACC
【小题3】From the research findings we may conclude that .A．the less the body produces epinephrine, the betterB．the longer a visit lasts, the happier the patient should beC．the patients enjoyed the dogs’ pany more than the human visitors’D．it’s impossible for heart patients to recover without dogs’ visits【小题4】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A．Worried Heart PatientsB．Epinephrine and StressC．Good Friend to the HeartD．Three Groups of PatientsB
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(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】推理判断题。本题要求根据作者的遣词用句和表述方式判断其情感态度，这是对
较高层次的阅读能力的考查。A选项有些言过其实: 作者虽认同狗在病人康复过程中的
积极作用，但没有表明它可以取代药物；透过全文的字里行间，可以看出作者对该项研
究成果的极大兴趣和深度认同，故排除C项；仔细研究第4、5段提供的数据，可知狗
的探视比人的探视给病人提供的安慰更多，故排除D项；文章首句中known as man’s best
friend表面上似乎是陈述事实，实际上在字里行间表明了他（她）也认为狗是人类最好
的朋友。
【小题2】图表题。将文字信息转化为图表信息是考查阅读理解能力的很好的
题型。根据文章第2段和第4段，A组病人接受了狗和人的共同探视，其心理压力指数下降
了24％；B组病人只接受了人的探视，其心理压力指数下降了10％；C组病人没有得到任
何探视，其心理压力指数没有改变。图A正确地描述了上述信息。其他图便不必再深究了。
【小题3】归纳推理题。做这类题要特别注意将推理基于文章的信息之上，把握
好度。根据本文可知：人在经受不同程度的精神压力时，身体会生产肾上腺素，平均增
加7％。压力缓解，肾上腺素便下降。但未说明人体生产的肾上腺素越少越好。事实上，
根据医学常识，适量的肾上腺素对人体有着积极作用，故排除A项；文章没有说明探视
的效果与探视时间的关系，因而不可盲目做出结论，故排除B项；D项显然言过其实；
认真研究第4、5段提供的数据，可知C项正确。
【小题4】归纳主旨题。选项A意为“着急的心脏病患者”，不能表达本文主旨；选项A意为“肾上腺素和压力”，只是本文中的枝节信息；选项D意为“三组病人”，而本文并非主要谈论病人的情况；选项C意为“心脏的好友”，既表达了本文主旨，又生动新颖，引人注意。