It seemed like it had only been a few years ago that Indigo, our black Lab (拉布拉多寻回犬), had first rushed through our door. While time raced by, our children grew up and went off to university. The mirror, which had reflected a young mum when Indigo first arrived, now showed a woman in late middle age. We all turned grey: me, my husband, the dog. In August 2017, I took Indigo for one last walk. She was slow and shaky on her paws. She died that month, a tennis ball by her side. Not long after, I got a call from our dog daycare. One of their customers was dying, and her dog, Chloe, needed a home. Given our recent loss, they asked, might our family be interested in adopting her? I told them I’d owned a succession of dogs since 1964, each one of them a witness to a particular phase of my life. But with the loss of Indigo, all that was over. The days of my dogs, I now understood, were done at last.
Then one morning, as I was passing the dog daycare, I changed my mind. What harm could Chloe do? She spent hours that first day going to every corner, sniffing things out. Finally she sat down by the fireplace and gave me a look as if to say if you wanted, I would stay with you.
Everything I know about love I’ve learned from dogs. But everything I know about loss I’ve learned from them, too. They fill our hearts. And then, in what seems like no time at all, they’re gone.
【小题1】What do we know about Indigo and the author from paragraph 1?
| A．Indigo liked playing tennis ball with her. |
| B．Indigo kept her company for many years. |
| C．Indigo was the first dog she ever adopted. |
| D．Indigo took its last walk hesitantly with her. |
【小题2】Why did the author refuse to adopt Chloe initially?
| A．She was not interested in Chloe. |
| B．She was too old to take care of Chloe. |
| C．She feared suffering mental loss again. |
| D．She already owned a succession of dogs. |
【小题3】How did Chloe probably feel when she first arrived at the author’s home?
| A．Cautious. | B．Energetic. | C．Scared. | D．Easy. |
【小题4】Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．Why I adopt dogs | B．What I learn from dogs |
| C．How I get along with dogs | D．How dogs keep me company |
