大学英语六级经典阅读4

　　Passage 1：

　　I once knew a dog named Newton who had a unique sense of humour. Whenever I tossed out a Frisbee (飞碟)for him to chase， hed take off in hot pursuit but then seem to lose track of it .Moving back and forth only a yard or two from the toy ，Newton would look all around ，even up into the trees. He seemed genuinely puzzled. Finally ，Id give up and head into the field to help him out. But no sooner would I get within 10ft.of him than he would run invariably straight over to the Frisbee ，grab it and start running like mad ，Looking over his shoulder with what looked suspiciously like a grin.

　　Just about every pet owner has a story like this and is eager to share it with anyone who

　　will listen. On very short notice， TIME reporters came up with 25 stories about what each is convinced is the smartest pet in the world. Among them ：the cat who closes the door be hind him when he goes into the bathroom; the cat who uses a toilet instead of a litter box and flushes it afterward; the dog who goes wild when he sees his owner putting on blue jeans instead of a dress because jeans mean it is time to play; and the cat who used to wait patiently at the bus stop every day for a little girl， then walk her the six blocks home， and so on.

　　These behaviours are certainly clever， but what do they mean? Was Newton really deceiving? Can a cat really desire privacy in the toilet? In short ， do household pets really have a mental and emotional life? Their owners think so， but until recently， animal behaviour experts would have gone mad on hearing such a question. The worst sin in their moral vocabulary was anthropomorphism-(拟人化) projecting human traits onto animals. A dog or a cat might behave as if it were angry， lonely ，sad ，happy or confused， but that was only in the eye of the viewer. What was going on ，they insisted， was that the dog or cat had been conditioned， through a perhaps unintentional series of punishments and re-wards， to be have a certain way. The behaviour was a mechanical result of the training.

　　These behaviors are certainly clever， but what do they mean? Was Newton really deceiving? Can a cat really desire privacy in will listen. On very short notice， TIME reporters came up with 25 stories about what

　　1. What did Newton seem puzzled about?

　　2.Why does the author say Newton had unique sense of humour?

　　3.What made it possible for the TIME reporters to come up with so many interesting stories about pets?

　　4.What belief about pet behaviour was unacceptable to experts of animal behaviour?

　　5What is the explanation of animal behaviour experts for the clever behaviour of pets?

　　Passage 2

　　Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would constantly be on call as entertainers for their children. They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were kids. But their own kids seem different ，less resourceful， somehow. When theres nothing to do， these parents observe regretfully， their kids seem unable to come up with any thing to do besides turning on the TV.

　　One father， for example， says， When I was a kid， we were always thinking up things to do， projects and games. We certainly never complained in an annoying way to our parents， I have nothing to do !He compares this with his own children today ：Theyre simply lazy. If someone doesn t entertain them， they ll happily sit there watching TV all day.

　　There is one word for this father s disappointment： unfair. It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language. He deplores(哀叹)his children s lack of inventiveness， as if the ability to play were something innate (天生的)that his children are missing. In fact ，while the tendency to play is built into the human species ，the actual ability to play-to imagine， to invent ， to elaborate on reality in a playful way-and the ability to gain fulfillment from it， these are skills that have to be learned and developed.

　　Such disappointment， however， is not only unjust， It is also destructive. Sensing their parents disappointment ，children come to be-1ieve that they are， indeed， lacking something ，and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect. Giving children the opportunity to develop new resources， to enlarge their horizons and discover the pleasures of doing things on their own is， on the other hand， a way to help children develop a confident feeling about themselves as capable and interesting people.

　　1.According to many parents， without TV， their children would like them to ___.

　　2. Many parents think that， instead of watching a lot of TV， their children should

　　3. The father often blames his children for not being able to entertain themselves. This is unfair because they 4. When parents show constant disappointment in their children ，the destructive effect is that the children will _______ ____ 5. Developing childrens self-confidence helps bring them up to be _______

　　答案：

　　Passage 1：

　　1. where the Frisbee was/the location of the Frisbee/where to find the Frisbee

　　2. Newton seemed to deceive us/Newton seemed to be deceiving us/Newton seemed to like to deceive people

　　3. That the owners want others to share their stories.

　　4. That animals have a mental and emotional life.

　　5. Training/It is a mechanical result of the training/unintentional series of punishments and rewards

　　Passage 2：

　　1. be on call as entertainers/ be entertainers/entertain themselves/act as entertainers playing with them

　　2. come up with some thing to do/think up things to do projects and games

　　3. have to learn these skills/should learn and develop the actual ability to play/have to learn these skills which are not innate， 另外的说法have no condition to develop their ability to play

　　4. lose self-confidence/believe that they lacking something/believe that they are less worthy of

　　admiration and respect

　　5. capable and interesting people