Section B
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
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A. behavior
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B. challenging
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C. appear
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D. responsive
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E. increased
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F. sheltering
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G. command
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H. evaluate
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I. banned
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J. similar
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K. frustration
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Perhaps you’ve had to put up with a moody, uncooperative teenager. You may have been one yourself. A new study suggests that dogs go through a ____17____ phase of stubbornness and disobedience when they hit puberty (青春期) at about eight months old.
Looking at the behavior of a total of 378 dogs, researchers found that the animals were more obedient and more ____18____ on either side of that eight-month period—but only when it came to their owners, not to less familiar trainers.
So not only do dogs ____19____ to have a difficult puberty just like we do, they also share the ____20____ that we often feel towards our parents or caregivers when we hit our teenage years. That means a lot to long-term puppy care and ____21____.
“This is a very important time in a dog’s life,” says animal ____22____ researcher Lucy Asher, from Newcastle University in the UK. “This is when dogs are often rehomed because they are no longer a cute little puppy and suddenly, their owners find they are more ____23____ and they can no longer control them or train them.”
“But as with human teenage children, owners need to be aware that their dog is going through a phase and it will pass.”
In one experiment with 93 Labrador retrievers
golden retrievers and their cross breeds, the dogs at eight months old were found to take longer and be more reluctant to respond to a ‘sit’ ____24____ given by their caregiver than they were when just five months old. The eight-month-olds didn’t show the same stubbornness when the command was given by a stranger, though.
The researchers found further evidence of this effect in survey data gathered on 285 Labradors, golden retrievers, German shepherds and their cross breeds. Dog owners and trainers less familiar with the dogs were asked to ____25____ the animals’ ‘trainability’ by answering questions on obedience and how quickly commands were responded to.
Again, the caregivers ranked their dogs as less obedient at eight months old compared with five months old or 12 months old. The trainers reported the ______26______ obedience between the ages of five months and eight months.
【答案】17. J 18. D
19. C 20. K
21. F 22. A
23. B 24. G
25. H 26. E
