阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
If you ever get the
impression that your dog can "tell" whether you look content or
annoyed, you may be onto something. Dogs may indeed be able to distinguish
between happy and angry human faces, according to a new study.
Researchers trained a
group of 11 dogs to distinguish between images(图像)of
the same person making either a happy or an angry face. During the training
stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the person's
face. The researchers then tested the dogs' ability to distinguish between
human facial expressions by showing them the other half of the person's face or
images totally different from the ones used in training. The researchers found
that the dogs were able to pick the angry or happy face by touching a picture
of it with their noses more often than one would expect by random chance.
The study showed the
animals had figured out how to apply what they learned about human faces during
training to new faces in the testing stage. "We can rule out that the dogs
simply distinguish between the pictures based on a simple cue, such as the
sight of teeth," said study author Corsin Muller. "Instead, our
results suggest that the successful dogs realized that a smiling mouth means
the same thing as smiling eyes, and the same rule applies to an angry mouth
having the same meaning as angry eyes.”
"With our study,
we think we can now confidently conclude that at least some dogs can
distinguish human facial expressions," Muller told Live Science.
At this point, it is
not clear why dogs seem to be equipped with the ability to recognize different
facial expressions in humans. "To us, the most likely explanation appears
to be that the basis lies in their living with humans, which gives them a lot
of exposure to human facial expressions," and this exposure has provided
them with many chances to learn to distinguish between them, Muller said.
(1)
The new study focused on whether dogs can_________.
A . distinguish shapes
B . make sense of human faces
C . feel happy or angry
D . communicate with each other
(2)
What can we learn about the study from paragraph 2?
A . Researchers tested the dogs in random order.
B . Diverse methods were adopted during training.
C . Pictures used in the two stages were different
D . The dogs were photographed before the test.
(3)
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A . A suggestion for future studies.
B . A possible reason for the study findings.
C . A major limitation of the study
D . An explanation of the research method.
答案: B
C
B