A

Dogs can smell fear, but can they smell out the truth? It turns out, dogs are pretty good at picking up on human behavior. A team led by Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University in Japan conducted a study which found out that dogs actually know if you're to be believed or not.

The study involved tricking dogs in the name of science. Humans have known for a long time that if you point at an object, a dog will run to it. Researchers applied this information in their study. During the experiment, they pointed at a container that was filled with hidden food. Sure enough, the dogs ran towards the container. Then, they pointed at a container that was empty. The dogs ran towards it, but found that it had no food. The third time the researchers pointed at a container with food, the dogs refused to go there. They knew the person pointing wasn't reliable based on their previous experience. 36 dogs were used in the experiment, and every single dog wouldn't go towards the container the third time. This experiment proves that dogs can spot a liar or that dogs have major trust issues.

In other words, if you lie to your dog, your dog forms the opinion that your words aren't good and will behave accordingly. “Dogs have more complex social intelligence than we thought. This social intelligence evolved selectively in their long life history with humans, ” said Takaoka, who was also surprised that dogs were quick when they “devalued the reliability of a human”.

John Bradshaw of the University of Bristol in the UK, who wasn't involved in this study, says that the results indicate that dogs prefer predictability. When gestures are inconsistent, dogs tend to become nervous and stressed. The researchers plan to repeat the experiment with wolves to look into the “effects of domestication” on dogs.

1. What does Takaoka's study focus on?

A. Dogs' relationship with humans.       B. Dogs' reaction when cheated.

C. Whether dogs can recognize lies.      D. Whether dogs can smell fear.

2. What can we learn about the study from Paragraph 2?

A. 12 dogs were tested each time.

B. Researchers took advantage of dogs' habits.

C. The same container was used in the three stages.

D. Dogs were trained to smell out food before the experiment.

3. What do Takaoka's words in Paragraph 3 imply about dogs?

A. They are more intelligent than humans.

B. They used to devalue humans' reliability.

C. They have evolved high social intelligence.

D. They react quickly to humans' gestures.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. Wolves tend to get used to inconsistency.

B. Wolves can be domesticated like dogs.

C. Dogs are good at predicting human behavior.

D. Dogs are easily influenced by changes.