未来的猫会是什么样子的？

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.

（材料选自National Geographic网站，有删改）

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：细节理解题。材料第四段的第二句提到“一种可能是未来的猫类体型会大于现在的种类”，第五段的第一句提到“与人类持续接触或许还有助于猫变得更为友善”。由此可知，C选项“更大更友善”与材料内容相符，故选C。

2. A。解析：细节理解题。材料第五段的第二句提到“猫天生就比狗更孤独、更冷漠，狗在进化史上是群居动物而不是独行的捕猎者”。由此可知，A选项“天生就是更孤独、更冷漠”与材料内容相符，故选A。

3. D。解析：主旨大意题。材料最后一段提到“随着人类越来越多地了解猫的心理和行为，这种努力为我们改善与猫的关系提供了机会。通过了解猫的喜好——什么能激励它们、什么能让它们快乐、它们能忍受什么、它们不能忍受什么——我们可以确保猫拥有尽可能美好的生活”。由此可知，D选项“研究猫的心理和行为的好处”与材料内容相符，故选D。

4. D。解析：推理判断题。材料第三段的第一句提到“高能量的猫粮的出现导致猫的体型越来越大”，第五段的第一句提到“与人类持续接触或许还有助于猫变得更加友善”，第三句中提到“与人类持续接触可能有助于使更友善的猫在生存竞争中占据优势”。由此可知，D选项“为了展示人猫关系对猫的影响”与材料内容相符，故选D。