最近关于狗狗的讨论进行得如火如荼。小编以为，无论你爱狗如命，还是谈狗色变，只要我们对动物多一分了解，人类与动物之间的和谐也就更进了一步。在本期SSP，作者Rodney就为大家讲解一部“宠物百科”。
——小编按

 Dogs are often called “man’s best friend”: they are valued for their loyalty and devotion.
Animals as servants
 Long ago, humankind started to tame animals. At first, the aim was probably just to use them: dogs to sniff for buried food; birds of prey to catch animals, also as food; horses to travel faster; oxen to pull ploughs; sheep to provide wool and meat; elephants to move heavy loads — the list is endless. From the 15th century on, “pointer” dogs were used in Europe to help hunters. In the 19th century in both North America and the British Isles “retriever” dogs were trained to help fishermen and hunters.
Animals as friends
 No one knows for sure when human beings first started to see animals as friends. The Roman poet Horace wrote a poem (65-8 B.C.) about the death of a pet canary.
 In the modern world, especially in the developed countries, pets can be a very important part of people’s lives. Old people can find their pets, especially dogs, a great comfort in their loneliness, old and young enjoy the beauty of goldfish swimming in bowls in their own homes, and young people often love to play with pets, especially small, furry ones!
 A lot of families have pets, sometimes unusual ones. Pet shops in the West often sell animals like boas and stick insects. 
When are pets pests?
 Not everybody who buys a pet knows what keeping it can involve. When some people go on holiday they just abandon their dogs in the street. Cats are rarely a problem, but in parts of Europe domestic cats escape from their owners and run wild. When they feel threatened, they can be dangerous to small children, and that is especially easy as the children do not necessarily see them as different.
 In Britain, my country, dog droppings in cities can be a big problem: not only are they dirty, smelly and unhygienic: children who touch them, even by accident, and then touch their eyes, can go blind.  
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Notes

I. Words and expressions abandon /='b7nd=n/v. 遗弃 boa  /'b=U=/ n. 蟒蛇 canary  /k='ne=rI/ n. 金丝雀 devotion  n. 忠诚，奉献 domestic  /d=U'mestIk/ adj. 驯养的 encrust  /In'kr2st/ v. [with sth.] 用(贵重物品)装饰外层 例：The vase was encrusted with precious stones. 花瓶外镶嵌了一层宝石。 involve v. 包括 license v. 给……发许可证 pointer n. (会指示猎物位置的)猎犬 retriever  /rI'tri:v=(r)/ n. (经过训练会衔回猎物的)猎犬 roam v. 流浪 shelter n. 庇护所 | v. 庇护 spectrum  /'spektr=m/ n. 光谱；范围，幅度 例：different opinions from all sides of the political spectrum 来自各种政治派别的不同意见 The exhibition covers the entire spectrum of space history. 这个展览涵盖了宇宙从开始到现在的全部历史。 stick insect 竹节虫 stray n. 流浪者，迷路者 unhygienic /;2nhaI'd3i:nIk/ adj. 不卫生的 vaccinate /'v7ksIneIt/ v. [against sth.] 接种疫苗 by accident偶然 例：He stepped on her toe by accident.   他无意中踩了她的脚。 in place   在合适的位置 Horace贺拉斯(65-8B.C.，古罗马抒情和讽刺诗人，对西方诗歌有过很大的影响) II. Culture:             “Dog”在中西文化中的差异 　　                汉语中的“狗”常带有“令人讨厌、卑鄙”等贬义，如：“走狗”、“狗眼看人低”、“狼心狗肺”等。而西方人对“dog”则情有独钟，“dog”代表“忠实”、“友好”、“可爱”等意，如本期文章里提到的：“Dogs are man’s best friend”和“Dog owners treat their pet dogs as they were their own children, so they are called pet-parents.”许多国家每年都会举行各种各样的狗选美(dog beauty pageant)、狗马拉松(dog marathon)，甚至还有世界上最丑的狗的评选(World’s Ugliest Dog Contest)。 　　 下面再来介绍几个含有“dog”的英语成语或表达： Every dog has his day. 凡人皆有得意日(或风水轮流转)。  Love me, love my dog. 爱我，就得爱我的狗(可作多种比喻用法)  dog eat dog人之间残酷无情的竞争(注意eat为原形)  work like a dog 拼命工作  (as) sick as a dog 病得很厉害