As we all know, stress is bad for children’s health and learning. Luckily, a new research found that dogs in the classroom can reduce(减少) stress in primary school students.

Some UK researchers did a study. The study found that spending 20 minutes playing with a dog twice a week is good at reducing stress in students. And that was even better than doing classroom relaxation activities like meditation(冥想).The researchers studied 105 students aged 8 or 9 in four state schools and 44 children of a similar age in 7 special needs schools in the UK.

The children were divided into three groups: a group that spent time with a dog; a group that spent time doing relaxation activities; and a “control” group that did neither of these things. Students in the dog group spent 20 minutes with a dog twice a week for four weeks. The relaxation group also spent 20 minutes twice a week, doing exercises like meditation.

Researcher Kerstin Meints said stress was lowest in the children in the dog group, but it was higher in other two groups. However, in order to reduce the stress in children most effectively(有效地), researchers said more study was needed. They wanted to find out what was the best amount of time and contact(接触) with dogs. 

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1.The underlined word “that” refers to(指的是)________.

A doing a study

B spending 20 minutes

C playing with a dog

D reducing stress in students

解析：选C。C 词意指代题。根据划线词所在句的前一句“The study found that spending 20 minutes playing with a dog twice a week is good at reducing stress in students.”可知，每周和狗狗玩两次，每次20分钟，有助于减轻学生的压力。这甚至比在课堂上进行冥想等放松活动更好，即that指的是和狗玩耍。故选C。

2.How many students did the researchers study?

A 7.

B 20.

C 105.

D 149.

解析：选D。D 数字计算题。根据第二段的“The researchers studied 105 students aged 8 or 9 in four state schools and 44 children of a similar age in 7 special needs schools in the UK.”可知，研究人员研究了四所公立学校的105名8岁和9岁儿童，以及英国7所特殊学校的44名同龄儿童，即一共研究了（105+44=）149名学生。故选D。

3.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A How students liked the study.

B How researchers did the study.

C Why students spent time with dogs.

D Why students did relaxation activities.

解析：选B。B 段落大意题。研究人员是通过把这149名儿童分成三组进行研究，最后得出和狗玩耍可以降低小学生的压力这一结论，即本段主要描述了研究人员是如何做这项研究的。故选B。

4.How long did the students do exercises like meditation in the study?

A 160 minutes.

B 140 minutes.

C 120 minutes.

D 100 minutes.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据第三段最后两句的“Students in the dog group spent 20 minutes with a dog twice a week for four weeks. The relaxation group also spent 20 minutes twice a week, doing exercises like meditation.”可知，和狗一组的学生每周两次与狗狗相处，每次20分钟，持续四周。放松组每周两次，每次20分钟，做冥想等练习。即他们花了(20*2*4=)160分钟做冥想之类的运动。故选A。

5.Which group of children had the highest stress?

A The dog group.

B The relaxation group.

C The “control” group.

D It’s not mentioned.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据最后一段的第一二句“Researcher Kerstin Meints said stress was lowest in the children in the dog group, but it was higher in other two groups. ”可知，文章中提到和狗一组的学生压力最小，但并未提到哪一组学生的压力最大。故选D。