Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog’s life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.
Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation(状况) would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (the name of a kind of dog), is groomed for months before competing in the Oklahoma City Summer Classic Dog Show and can be the winner sometimes. So people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.
Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog(比垃圾场的狗更凶狠). Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this place. They bark or attack people who try to enter the place. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say barking dogs never bark.
Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.
What does this passage mainly talk about?
A.How to live with the dog. |
B.Expressions related to(与...相关) the dog. |
C.Americans’ love for the dog. |
D.Dog expressions with the weather. |
Working too hard can make people ___________.
A.lead a dog’s life |
B.become sick as a dog |
C.live in a dog-eat-dog world |
D.work like a dog |
What does the underlined word “groomed” mean?
A.trained |
B.honored |
C.awarded |
D.dressed |
What can we learn from the passage?
A.Everyone can be successful if he learns from the old. |
B.It might be difficult for the young to learn new skills. |
C.Junkyard dogs are careful in money arrangement. |
D.Mean dogs aren’t so awful as their appearance in fact. |
To support her idea, the author develops the passage mainly by ________.
A.listing reasons |
B.using quotations(引用语) |
C.making comparisons(作比较) |
D.giving examples |