Dogs have a seemingly endless list of lovely behavior, and their curious head tilt(歪头) at human voices is no exception. While conducting a study on dogs’ ability to learn words, scientists stumbled upon a potential link between dogs’ memory and their head tilt.

In the study, researchers looked at the head tilt patterns of both“gifted”and “typical” dogs. Owners ordered their dogs to fetch a specific toy from another room. While most dogs struggled to memorize the name of just two toys, the seven “gifted” dogs-all of which were border collies(牧羊犬)could remember at least ten different toy names they＇d been taught by researchers.

The team found that dogs that were particularly good at toy recall tilted their heads more often when hearing a command than dogs which weren’t as skilled. When they compared the dogs’ responses to a command from their owners, gifted dogs tilted their heads 43 percent of the time, while typical dogs did so just 2 percent of the time. It’s possible, scientists concluded, that the dogs’ head tilt may be a sign of paying attention or even matching a name to a visual image in their heads.

Researchers also discovered that dogs usually tilted their heads in the same direction regardless of where the owner was standing. The so-called “right-tilters“ and “left-tilters” may be a matter of individual preference. “The next step is to ask more questions to know what the head tilt really means, “says the researcher Monique Udell. “Can we use head tilting to predict word-learning ability, or attention, or memory?””

The researchers agree that the study is still in the early stages. For now, dog owners can take comfort in knowing that their dogs’ head tilt maybe a lovely attempt to better understand them.

【小题1】Which of the following best explains “stumbled upon“ underlined in paragraph 1?

A．Broke by accident.	B．Discovered unexpectedly.
C．Imagined without reason.	D．Investigated secretly.

【小题2】What were the dogs asked to do in the study?

A．Find out the hidden toys.

B．Find the name of the toys.

C．Separate the different toys.

D．Go to get the toys mentioned.

【小题3】What did the researchers find out about the gifted dogs hearing commands?

A．Their responses were faster.

B．They tilted their heads more often.

C．They tilted their heads to the left more often.

D．They were more easily influenced by the owners’ locations.

【小题4】What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Dogs mainly communicate by tilting their heads.

B．Dogs have developed specific communication skills.

C．A new study offers a clue as to why dogs tilt their heads.

D．Border collies are the smartest species in the animal kingdom.