Question

A dog’s tail can tell you a lot more than you might think. Is it wagging (摇) to the left or is it wagging to the right?

“The direction of tail wagging does in fact matter，”said Giorgio Vallortigara，a professor at the University of Trento in Italy. Professor Vallortigara finds that the way the tail is wagging can tell you a lot about a dog’s state of mind—whether you’re a human or another dog.

What’s the difference between a left wag and a right wag？Professor Vallortigara and his colleagues have studied 43 dogs of various breeds — German Shepherds，Beagles，Boxers，Border Collies and some mutts. They find that if a dog wags its tail to the left. it’s feeling anxious or nervous. The reason could be an unfamiliar or dangerous situation，an unfamiliar person，or an unfamiliar and possibly threatening dog. But if the tail is wagging to the right，it means the dog is feeling relaxed and approachable.

“The tail is a very important signal，”said Thomas Reimchen，a biologist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. ”There is a lot of visual information that dogs use when communicating with each other. ”

How did the scientists figure all this information out? They had the dogs in their study watch videotapes of other dogs. When the dog on the tape wagged its tail to the right，they say the other dogs remained calm and cool. But when the dog on the tape wagged its tail to the left，the other dogs got anxious.

The researchers are still not exactly sure if the direction of tail wagging is something the dog does consciously. They suspect that it might be something the dog does without even thinking about it — kind of like when you get goose bumps if something scares or startles you. They plan to do more research to get more information about what dogs are thinking and feeling while they’re wagging. As Reimchen said，“I'm not going to be surprised if we find all sorts of really interesting processes that nobody has ever seen before. ”

1.Professor Vallortigara’s study focused on the relationship between_________.

A. a dog’s state of mind and its owner's feeling

B. a dog’s state of mind and the direction of its tail wagging

C. a dog’s sense of direction and its state of mind

D. a dog’s intention of tail wagging and its feeling

2.According to the study，dogs which wag their tails to the left may feel_________.

A. calm B. happy C. angry D. nervous

3.It is implied in Thomas Reimchen’s words in Paragraph 4 that___________.

A. dogs’ tails play all important role in their growth

B. dogs show their feelings only by wagging their tails

C. dogs get to know others by watching tail wagging

D. dogs can understand each other by repeating tail wagging

4.How does the passage mainly develop?

A. By asking and analyzing questions

B. By making comparisons

C. By following the order of time

D. By providing examples

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】

试题分析:狗的尾巴可以向你传达比你能想到的更多信息。那么，关于狗的尾巴向左摇和向右摇都代表了什么呢？Vallortigara 教授和他的同事们做了研究调查显示：狗的尾巴向左摇表示它感到焦急、紧张，向右摇代表它觉得放松和亲切。生物学家Thomas Reimchen也对此发表了自己的观点。但是，关于狗的尾巴摇的方向是否是其在有意识情况下做出的还有待调查研究。

1. 细节理解题。从第二段的最后一句话“Professor Vallortigara finds that the way the tail is wagging can tell you a lot about a dog’s state of mind—whether you’re a human or another dog.” Professor Vallortigara发现狗尾巴摇动的方向能告诉你很多狗的情感——不管你是人还是其它狗。可知选B。

2.细节理解题。从第三段“They find that if a dog wags its tail to the left. it’s feeling anxious or nervous.”知，他们发现如果狗的尾巴向左摇，它是觉得焦急和紧张。选D。

3.细节分析题。在“There is a lot of visual information that dogs use when communicating with each other. ”，由此可以看出，当狗之间相互交流时，它们会看尾巴的摇动情况，故选C。

4. 细节理解题。从全文来看，作者首先抛出一个问题，然后介绍了关于这个问题的科学研究来分析它。接着又提出科学家（第5段）是如何弄明白的呢，紧跟着就是对这个问题的分析。所以呢，选项A问问题和分析问题正确。

考点：考察科普说明文阅读