题干
The Beagle Brigade
Return to the United States from a trip abroad ,and your luggage will get inspected by the Beagle Brigade, a team of beagles and their human partners. Working with human partners, the beagles sniff out potential threats to American agriculture.
An orange or apple, for example, might have a Mediterranean fruit fly. Hams could carry a disease such as hog cholera. These and other pests could destroy farmers' crops and livestock. " Once we introduce something that is not part of the environment, there may not be any controls of it in the environment," notes Lisa Davis at the National Dog Detector Training Center in Orlando, Florida. "The best thing for us to do is prevent it from coming across the border and becoming established. "
When a beagle sniffs specific food smells, it signals its partners by siting there. The human officer then investigates. When the dog is right ——which happens 90 percent of the time ——it gets an edible（可食用的） treat.
"The dog is not out there working," explains Davis. " It's out there playing. It's a game to the dog. "The handlers give the beagles plenty of food and love. They make sure they get first-class medical attention, too. When the dogs finally retire after 9 to 11 years ,they will find caring homes for them. It's a dog's life indeed!
Their people partners work and study somewhat harder. As specialized quarantine（检疫） officers,most hold degrees in the biological sciences or related sciences.
How well does the Beagle Brigade do its job? " On average," notes Davis, " each year our 54 teams prevent around 75,000 prohibited , restricted items. Since even one infected item could cause widespread destruction, that's a great result for America's agricultural environment.
【小题1】According to the article, what is the problem with agricultural products brought into the United States by passengers traveling from abroad?| A．They generate similar types of food smells. |
| B．They are difficult to identify, even with trained dogs. |
| C．They must be inspected before being allowed to enter the country. |
| D．They may carry something that could harm the local agricultural environment. |
| A．By barking at its partners. |
| B．By begging for a treat. |
| C．By sitting next to the item. |
| D．By playing a game. |
| A．The handler praises it with a hug. |
| B．The beagle gets to play for a few hours. |
| C．The beagle gets to retire to a caring home. |
| D．The handler gives it an edible reward. |
| A．By providing statistics about the number of items detected by the dogs. |
| B．By showing that the dogs enjoy discovering prohibited items. |
| C．By pointing out that good homes are found for the dogs when they retire. |
| D．By praising the fact that the dogs work for a government agency. |
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