狗可以帮助孩子提升阅读技能？
Can children improve their reading skills by reading to dogs? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, reported that the answer is yes. Just ask Taivion Scott. He began learning to read last year. He has difficulty with new words, but says it helps when a dog is sitting next to him.
Dog Izzy has been coming to the school for a year with Denise Velasquez, a volunteer with PAL. PAL stands for People Animals Love, a group in Washington that brings dogs into schools and libraries.
Denise Velasquez helped Taivion with his reading. She said, “I pulled Izzy in a little bit, too, so he could feel a little bit closer to her, and then we started to take it one word at a time because a whole book can be overwhelming, but a single word is something you can deal with.”
Eric Reithel from the PAL program says he can understand the children because he had problems with reading when he was young. He said, “They feel more confident when reading to a dog; a dog isn’t going to tell them that’s the wrong word.”
The Anacostia neighborhood is the poorest area in Washington, DC. 75% of the students here are raised by a single parent, usually a mother. Reading to dogs helps the children living here with their reading. For example, Melvin Hansberry, one of the children here, says the dogs help him learn big words. He said, “It’s like you’re reading to your little sister or your brother.”
1.How many children are mentioned in the passage?
A Two.
B Three.
C Four.
D Five.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。全文共提到了两个小孩子，分别为：第一段的Taivion Scott和第五段的Melvin Hansberry，故选A。
2.The underlined word “overwhelming” in the third paragraph means _____.
A interesting to read
B necessary to read
C easy to deal with
D hard to deal with
解析：选D。D 词义猜测题。根据该句but a single word is something you can deal with所表示的转折关系可判断,overwhelming 表示“令人难以应对的,故选D项。
3.Why do children feel confident when reading to a dog?
A Because it loves them.
B Because it doesn’t judge them.
C Because it is listening carefully to them.
D Because it helps correct their mistakes.
解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据第四段They feel more confident when reading to a dog; a dog isn't going to tell them that's the wrong word.可判断，狗不作任何评判是孩子有信心的原因，故选B项。
4.We can know from the passage that ______.
A the purpose of PAL is to sell more dogs to students
B Izzy made great progress in reading by being read to
C Demaris Hamilton is glad to be working in Anacostia
D Eric Reithel wasn’t good at reading when he was young
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据第四段Eric Reithel from the PAL program says he can understand the children because he had problems with reading when he was young.可知Eric Reithel小时候并不善长阅读，故选D项。