In Europe more than 1，000 years ago， cats were used both as pest control and as a source of fur. When a group of Scandinavian archaeologists compared the size of cat pelts from the time of the Vikings to the bodies of modern-day kitties， they found that 21st-century cats were 16 percent larger.

What made these results so unusual is that domestication usually shrinks an animal. Dogs are a quarter smaller than wolves; livestock animals， such as cattle， and goats， are also smaller than their wild counterparts.

And it’s not just the availability of energy-dense kibble that has led to bigger cats. Scientists have also documented larger body sizes in free-roaming and wild cats in the Australian bush. Although those cats might steal human food scraps， they aren’t all being regularly fed by people.

But what kind of cat will they become？ One possibility is that the cats of the future will be larger than today’s types.

Continued contact with humans may also help cats grow friendlier. By nature， cats tend to be more solitary and standoffish（不友好的） than dogs， which have a long evolutionary history as pack animals rather than lone hunters. Ongoing contact with humans may have helped give friendlier cats a survival advantage， making them more likely to pass on more sociable genes to their offspring.

Over time， this might have helped create a more relaxed pet—without ruining one of the most endearing parts of living with a cat： that when your kitty cuddles， you know it’s for real.

As humans spend more time learning about cat psychology and behavior， this effort creates an opportunity to improve our relationship. By understanding what makes cats tick—what motivates them， what makes them happy， what they can and can’t tolerate— we can ensure that our cats have the best lives possible.

（材料選自National Geographic網(wǎng)站，有刪改）

1.What will the cats of the future look like according to the text？

A. Smaller and tamer.

B. Smaller and more furry.

C. Larger and friendlier.

D. Larger and more aggressive.

2. Compared with dogs， cats ________.

A. are lonelier and colder by nature

B. are born more sociable and friendlier

C. have a longer history of domestication

D. shrink more quickly under domestication

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about？

A. Humans’ ongoing learning about cats.

B. The ways to get along well with cats.

C. The study on cat psychology and behavior.

D. The benefits of studying cat psychology and behavior.

4. What’s the purpose of this text？

A. To persuade people to protect cats.

B. To advise people to keep cats as pets.

C. To prove the ties between humans and cats.

D. To show human-cat relationship’s effect on cats.

1. C。解析：細節(jié)理解題。材料第四段的第二句提到“一種可能是未來的貓類體型會大于現(xiàn)在的種類”，第五段的第一句提到“與人類持續(xù)接觸或許還有助于貓變得更為友善”。由此可知，C選項“更大更友善”與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選C。

2. A。解析：細節(jié)理解題。材料第五段的第二句提到“貓?zhí)焐捅裙犯陋殹⒏淠?，狗在進化史上是群居動物而不是獨行的捕獵者”。由此可知，A選項“天生就是更孤獨、更冷漠”與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選A。

3. D。解析：主旨大意題。材料最后一段提到“隨著人類越來越多地了解貓的心理和行為，這種努力為我們改善與貓的關系提供了機會。通過了解貓的喜好——什么能激勵它們、什么能讓它們快樂、它們能忍受什么、它們不能忍受什么——我們可以確保貓擁有盡可能美好的生活”。由此可知，D選項“研究貓的心理和行為的好處”與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選D。

4. D。解析：推理判斷題。材料第三段的第一句提到“高能量的貓糧的出現(xiàn)導致貓的體型越來越大”，第五段的第一句提到“與人類持續(xù)接觸或許還有助于貓變得更加友善”，第三句中提到“與人類持續(xù)接觸可能有助于使更友善的貓在生存競爭中占據(jù)優(yōu)勢”。由此可知，D選項“為了展示人貓關系對貓的影響”與材料內(nèi)容相符，故選D。