Body language lessons from my dog

山東 李全忠

主題語境：人與自然 篇幅：305詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1Some people are exceptionally skilled at reading others'body language—they are what I call“masters of non-verbal communication”.But regardless of how well a human reads other people's nonverbal cues,the family dog is much better.We can learn some valuable lessons in emotional and non-verbal communication from dogs.

2Our golden retriever(尋回犬)sleeps in our bedroom.Although she appears to be in a deep sleep,the sound of moves in our bed causes her to look up,and listen.She can actually distinguish from sounds and body movement,whether I am getting up to go to the bathroom or getting out of bed to start the day.

3Dogs are closely attuned to sounds.Our dog appears in the kitchen each time I open the fridge or her treat jar.She arrives when I open the kitchen drawer to take out the can opener.When my wife is not feeling well or is sad,the dog comes and lies down beside her out of concern.The dog can tell if we are annoyed with her or if we are about to reward her or give her love.

4Why are dogs so good at reading body language?They have sharp senses that give them an advantage over humans,and they also get a lot more practice.So an important body language lesson from your dog is practice.Make it a habit to improve your non-verbal communication skills,and work at it.Observe people interacting and see if you can tell,fromtheir body language alone,what they are talking about,how they are feeling,and what their relationship is.Watch a TV show with the sound off and see if you can figure out what's going on.

5Realize that developing non-verbal communication skills is hard work.Your dog has been doing it all its life.

Reading Check

Ⅰ.Choose the best answers according to the text.

Ⅱ.Discussion

Have you ever raised a dog?Do you like it?Why?

Language Study

Ⅰ.Discover useful structures in the text

1.what引導表語從句

Some people are exceptionally skilled at reading others'body language—they are what I call“masters of non-verbal communication”.有些人非常擅長解讀他人的肢體語言——他們是我所說的“非語言交流大師”。

2.although引導讓步狀語從句

Although she appears to be in a deep sleep,the sound of moves in our bed causes her to look up,and listen.雖然她似乎在沉睡，但我們床上的移動聲讓她抬起頭來聽。

Ⅱ.Memorize some theme-centered chunks

regardless of不管；不顧；不理會

distinguish from辨別；識別

take out拿出

lie down躺下

out of concern出于關心

work at在……工作；從事……；致力于……