文章大意:这是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了由研究狗认知的动物行为学家Fugazza领导的一项研究发现,相比于其他狗,边境牧羊犬是比较聪明的狗,它们能识别并记住不同玩具的名字,但是在实验中,有一些边境牧羊犬未能通过测试,所以科学家认为这个品种的狗并不是一直都表现好,它们是有个体差异的,所以下一步科学家计划要找出影响这种狗聪明的原因。
Some dogs are exceptional. Take Chaser for example, an American border collie (边境牧羊犬) regarded as the “smartest dog in the world”, who could recognize and remember 1, 022 nouns — one for each of her toys. In Germany, another border collie, a male named Rico, practiced “fast-mapping”, or figuring out the names of new things with the speed and cleverness of a three-year-old child.
Yet such examples of dog genius are often “about only one dog”, says Claudia Fugazza, an ethologist who studies dog cognition (认知) at Budapest’s Eotvos Lorand University. She and her colleagues asked owners of 34 pet dogs of various breeds (品种) to teach their dogs names for two separate toys. Out of those 34 animals, only one dog passed the test — a border collie named Oliva. “These results mean talent must be something special,” says Fugazza, lead author of a new study on the experiment.
The scientists looked for dog owners worldwide via social media, then asked them to play fetch with their dogs daily in their homes while repeating the name of the toy, a process that lasted three months. Once a month, with a scientist present, the owners tested the dogs—the study participants included both adults and little dogs — by asking the dogs to fetch one of two toys by name. Dogs that succeeded were then given a new toy and new name to learn. Despite the intensive training, only Oliva learned to match a single word to a toy — in fact, she learned 21 names in two months.
“None of the breeds learned a thing. It was such a surprise,” Fugazza says. To check if the study design worked, the scientists also tested six border collies that could already fetch some toys by name; as predicted, all six of those control dogs, including a dog named Nina, learned additional names.
It’s interesting that 18 of the 33 dogs that failed the test were also border collies, Fugazza points out, showing that the breed isn’t always high performing.
Because of such individual difference, the scientists next plan to track the genetics(基因) and history of a variety of dog breeds to try to identify the factors that produce such smart creatures.
8. Which of the following is recognized as the smartest dog in the world?
A.Chaser. | B.Rico. | C.Oliva. | D.Nina. |
9. What can we know about the test led by Fugazza?
A.15 dogs successfully passed the test. |
B.The participants included only adult dogs. |
C.The participants were dogs of different breeds. |
D.There were altogether 18 border collies in 33 dogs. |
10. What do scientists plan to do next?
A.Train different dogs to become smart. |
B.Research what can influence dogs gift. |
C.Find which breed of dog is the smartest. |
D.How to teach dogs to learn new words. |
11. Where is this text most likely from?
A.A diary. | B.A guide book. |
C.A novel. | D.A science magazine. |