少数“天才”狗能很快学会单词

Scientists in Hungary have learned that though most dogs have trouble learning new words, some talented dogs can learn new words without really being taught. They just have to hear the word four times.

Researchers from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary studied two very smart dogs—a Border Collie called Whisky and a Yorkshire terrier named Vicky Nina. The scientists discovered that these “genius” dogs could remember the name of a new toy after hearing their owners say the name a few times while they were playing together.

Adam Miklósi, one of the scientists involved in the study, says the way these clever dogs learn seems to be similar to the way children learn words when they’re two or three years old. The experiment involved giving the dogs new toys with names that were   ▲   to them. To show that they had learned the name of the new toy, the dogs had to go get the correct toy from another room and bring it back.

To find out how the dogs learned new words so quickly, the scientists set up a test. In the test, the names of the new toys were only spoken four times. The dogs simply played with their owners, who gave them the new toy. The owner would say things like “This is a lunchbox.” or “Get the lunchbox.” This process was repeated with a second toy. After hearing each new toy’s name only four times, the two dogs were able to choose the correct toy when asked.

The scientists believe only a few very talented dogs have these abilities.

1.It is found by scientists that_______.

A most dogs can learn new words easily

B clever dogs have no trouble learning new words

C all dogs learn new words after hearing them four times

D no dogs can learn new words without really being taught

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据第一段第一句可知，科学家们发现：大多数狗在学习新单词方面有困难，但一些有天赋的狗可以在没有被真正教过的情况下学习新单词。也就是说有一些聪明的狗可以毫无困难地学会新单词。故选B。

2.What does the underlined part in Para. 2 refer to?

A Whisky and Vicky Nina.

B Border Collie and Whisky.

C Yorkshire and Vicky Nina.

D Budapest and Border Collie.

解析：选A。A 词意指代题。第二段主要介绍被科学家用来做实验的两只狗，一只是名叫Whisky的边境科利狗(Border Collie)，另一只是名叫Vicky Nina的约克夏㹴犬(Yorkshire terrier)。结合下文可知这两只狗非常聪明，能够快速学会单词。故选A。

3.Which of the following can be put in ▲ ?

A difficult

B important

C unknown

D familiar

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。根据该空的下一句中的“To show that they had learned the name of the new toy...”为了表明它们学会了新玩具的名称，可知这些狗起初并不知道这些新玩具的名称。故选C。

4.What didn’t dog owners do in the experiment?

A Play with the dogs.

B Give the dogs toys.

C Give the dogs tests.

D Say something to the dogs.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第四段第三四句可知，狗主人和狗狗们玩耍、给它们玩具，还对它们说话，并没有对它们进行测试。故选C。

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A How to get on with dogs.

B Why not take a dog as a pet?

C How to help dogs learn words quickly.

D A few dogs can learn words quickly.

解析：选D。D 文章标题题。文章第一段第一句的后半句是文章的主题句，即少数狗狗可以快速学会新单词。故选D。