Do dogs understand us?
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie博德牧羊犬 named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 mands right. As the dog couldn't see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of l0 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by the process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed (品种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It's hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can't talk back. Still, it wouldn't hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
【小题1】From paragraph 2 we know that ..A．animals are as clever as human beingsB．dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzeesC．chimpanzees have very good word-learning skillsD．dogs have similar 'learning abilities as 3-year-old children【小题2】Both experiments show that .A．Rico is smart enough to get all mands rightB．Rico can recognize different things including toysC．Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematicsD．Rico won't forget the names of objects once recognizing them【小题3】Which of the following statements is true?A．The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie's mental abilities.B．Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training.C．The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects.D．Rico is born to understand its owner's mands.【小题4】What does the writer want to tell us?A．To train your dog. B．To talk with your dog.C．To be friendly to your dog. D．To be careful with your dog.C
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(答案→)C
解析：本文通过两个实验告诉我们狗也许有自己的智慧，能够理解人的思维，也可能有很强的记忆能力。所以对狗要好一些。
【小题1】C 推理题。根据第一段The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).说明是把狗的这种技能与黑猩猩进行比较，说明在这方面黑猩猩比较擅长，故C正确。
【小题2】B 推理题。根据文章3,4段可知在这两个实验里，Rico都成功地执行了命令，找出了主人要找的东西，说明他能认出来，有理解力。故B正确。
【小题3】B 细节题。根据文章倒数第二段最后一句In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.说明也许是因为小时候接受的训练让它更为聪明，故B正确。
【小题4】C 主旨大意题。根据文章第一段Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.说明狗有可能能理解我们所说的话，所以要对狗友好。故C正确。