I once knew a dog named Newton who has a unique sense of humor. Whenever I tossed out a Frisbee (飞碟) for him to chase, he’’d 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, I’’d give up and head into the field to help him out. But no sooner would I get within 10 ft. 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 behind 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 six blocks home. And so on. These behaviors are certainly clever, but what do they mean Is 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 animal-behavior experts would have gone mad on hearing such a question. The worst sin in their moral vocabulary is 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 is only in the eye of the viewer. What is going on, they insist, is that the dog or cat has been conditioned, through a perhaps unintentional series of punishments and rewards, to behave certain way. The behavior is a mechanical result of the training.The belief that the animals have______________ is unacceptable to experts of animal behavior.
I once knew a dog named Newton who has a unique sense of humor. Whenever I tossed out a Frisbee (飞碟) for him to chase, he’’d 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, I’’d give up and head into the field to help him out. But no sooner would I get within 10 ft. 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 behind 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 six blocks home. And so on. These behaviors are certainly clever, but what do they mean Is 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 animal-behavior experts would have gone mad on hearing such a question. The worst sin in their moral vocabulary is 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 is only in the eye of the viewer. What is going on, they insist, is that the dog or cat has been conditioned, through a perhaps unintentional series of punishments and rewards, to behave certain way. The behavior is a mechanical result of the training.The belief that the animals have______________ is unacceptable to experts of animal behavior.
题目解答
答案
a mental and emotional life The behavior is a mechanical result of the training．
解析
考查要点：本题主要考查学生对文章主旨的理解，特别是对对比两种观点的能力。文章通过宠物主人的观察与动物行为专家的解释，探讨宠物行为的本质。
解题核心思路：
- 明确文章结构：前半部分描述宠物主人对宠物行为的拟人化解读，后半部分引出专家的机械行为解释。
- 抓住关键矛盾点：宠物是否具有心理和情感生活，以及行为是否由机械训练导致。
- 根据上下文逻辑，确定空格处需填入对比双方的核心观点。
破题关键点：
- 第一空需对应“宠物主人的信念”，即宠物有心理和情感生活。
- 第二空需对应“专家的反驳理由”，即行为是机械训练的结果。
第一空分析：
文章最后一段首句提出问题：“The belief that the animals have ________ is unacceptable to experts of animal behavior.”
结合上下文可知，宠物主人认为宠物有心理和情感生活（如“mental and emotional life”），而专家认为这是拟人化的错误。因此，空格应填入宠物主人的信念，即“a mental and emotional life”。
第二空分析：
最后一段末句需补充专家的核心观点。根据前文，专家认为宠物行为是“a mechanical result of the training”，即通过奖励和惩罚的条件反射，而非情感驱动。因此，空格应填入专家的解释，即“The behavior is a mechanical result of the training.”