It is often said that you cannot “teach an old dog new tricks”, but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise by learning a skill --- driving a car!
What's even more impressive is that the three who have bee skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA.
To get their training started, 10-month old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.
The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels（方向盘）and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized（装上发动机的）car. Then finally, it was time for the big test--- driving a real car!
Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit fortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.
Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.
Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs? The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet.
We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today!
【小题1】Who do the three dogs belong to?A．Some rich owners.B．Animal Q.C．A shelter.D．A zoo.【小题2】The car the dogs drove was adjusted .A．because is was too big for the dogs to driveB．because it had no steering wheels and brakesC．to ensure the dogs could sit fortably and drive easilyD．to motorize the car and turn it to be a real one【小题3】Which is the right order of the following events?
a. Teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques.
b. Selecting three dogs and moving them to Animal Q.
c. The dogs practiced everything they had learnt in a motorized car.
d. Choosing the best driver to show his great driving skill on live television.
e. Driving a real car.A．a-b-c- d-eB．b-a-c-e-dC． b- d- a-c-eD．a- e- c-b-d【小题4】Why does the SPCA decide to teach the three dogs to learn to drive a car?A．To prove old dogs can learn new tricks.B．To teach them performing tricks for movies and television shows.C．To provide amusing performances for homeless childrenD．To encourage people to adopt the abandoned dogs.【小题5】What can we learn from the passage?A．A new Guinness category for driving dogs will probably be created.B．Abandoned dogs are much cleverer than house-kept ones.C．All the dogs at New Zealand’s SPCA will soon be adopted.D．New Zealand has the most homeless dogs among all countriesC
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(答案→)C
解析：人们都说“老狗学不会新把戏”，但是来自新西兰的三只小狗却要来证明这是错误的说法。这三只是经过收容所训练的、会驾驶真正汽车的小狗。收容所之所以花大力气去训练这三只小狗，目的是向人们证明，收养的宠物不一定比花钱买的宠物差，鼓励人们去收养被遗弃的动物。
【小题1】C细节理解题。根据文章第二段but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA. 和倒数第二段adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean...可知这三只小狗属于一家叫New Zealand's SPCA的收容所，故答案选C。
【小题2】C细节理解题。根据文章第四段the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit fortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.可知狗驾驶的汽车经过改装为的是能够让小狗们坐着更舒适，也能够更容易地驾驶汽车，因此答案选C。
【小题3】B推理判断题。根据文章第三、四、五段内容可知经过挑选后的小狗，先是接受基本的驾驶技能训练，然后经过在电动车中的练习之后，再驾驶真正的汽车，最后才可以上电视表演，因此B选项正确。
【小题4】D细节理解题。根据文章倒数第二段The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet. 可知收容所做这一切的目的是为了证明收容所的动物不比花钱买来的差，鼓励人们去收养被人们遗弃的动物，故D选项正确。
【小题5】A推理判断题。根据文章末段we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist可以推断小狗驾驶汽车的事情是前所未有的，因此很可能被录入吉尼斯纪录，所以判断A选项正确。