1 . Ever wondered if dogs can learn new words? Yes, say researchers as they have found that talented dogs may have the ability to grasp new words after hearing them only four times.

While previous evidence seems to show that most dogs do not learn words, unless eventually very well trained, a few individuals have shown some extraordinary abilities, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“We wanted to know under which conditions the gifted dogs may learn novel words,” said researcher xuekw Claudia Fugazza from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. For the study, the team involved two gifted dogs, Whisky and Vicky Nina. The team exposed the dogs to the new words in two different conditions.

In the exclusion-based task, presented with seven known toys and one new toy, the dogs were able to select the new toy when presented with a new name. Researchers say this proves that dogs can choose by exclusion when faced with a new word, they selected the only toy which did not have a known name.

However, this was not the way they would learn the name of the toy. In fact, when they were presented with one more equally new name to test their ability to recognize the toy by its name, the dogs got totally confused and failed.

The other condition, the social one, where the dogs played with their owners who pronounced the name of the toy while playing with the dog, proved to be the successful way to learn the name of the toy, even after hearing it only 4 times. “The rapid learning that we observed seems to equal children’s ability to learn many new words at a fast rate around the age of 18 months,” Fugazza says. “But we do not know whether the learning mechanisms(机制) behind this learning are the same for humans and dogs. ”

To test whether most dogs would learn words this way, 20 other dogs were tested in the same condition, but none of them showed any evidence of learning the toy names, confirming that the ability to learn words rapidly in the absence of formal training is very rare and is only present in a few gifted dogs.

1. What was the purpose of the study published in Scientific Reports?

A．To better train dogs’ ability to learn new words.

B．To further confirm previous evidence about dogs.

C．To prove extraordinary memory abilities of gifted dogs.

D．To explore favorable conditions for gifted dogs’ new-word learning.

2. How did the dogs react when exposed to two new names in the first condition?

A．Slow to understand.

B．Quick to learn.

C．At a loss.

D．In a panic.

3. What was found about dogs’ new-word learning in the social condition?

A．Learning through playing applied to most dogs.

B．The social condition helped dogs learn new words.

C．Dogs’ new-word learning turned out to be less effective.

D．Dogs shared similar learning mechanisms with children.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Gifted Dogs Can Learn New Words Rapidly.

B．Dogs Identify Newly-named Toys by Exclusion.

C．Dogs Can Acquire Vocabulary through Tons of Training.

D．Gifted Dogs Have Similar Learning Abilities to Humans.