2020年高考英语外刊时事命题阅读理解：三条腿的狗扶我走过人生
优美句子-渭南招生考试信息网
The Three-Legged Dog Who Carried Me
三条腿的狗扶我走过人生
The vet knelt over my
three-legged Australian shepherd (牧羊犬), Patou, in
my living
room. She had just completed a
procedure to end Patou’s life. The first injection
(注射) was to
relax her; my husband and I,
holding her, felt her taut (紧张的) back muscles melt
into a
softness we hadn’t known for years. The
second shot sent her off.
“Now she’ll be
whole again, reunited with her other leg,” the vet
said.
I knew what she meant about wholeness.
Born with four legs yet living the last years of
her life with three, Patou must have seemed
incomplete to some. But at that moment, I had to
question that idea.
When Patou came into
my life, I had lived with multiple sclerosis (MS,
多发性硬化症)
for nearly nine years, which caused
periods of weakness on my left side that impaired
my ability
to get around.{2} I had collected
three canes (拐杖) by then. Aware that a flare-up
(复发) could
come at any time without notice, I
taught the young, four-legged Patou to help me
upstairs.
Many MS flare-ups have come
and gone since then, leaving their after-effects
along the
way. Just as I considered getting a
larger dog to help me navigate the world, Patou
was
diagnosed with bone cancer. After the
amputation (截肢), her body remolded itself to suit
her
movement. Her left front paw angled (倾斜)
inward, forming a strong center paw. It grew to
nearly twice its original size, eventually
capable of holding large bones upright as she
chewed.
Her back hunched (弓背) more, neck
thicker and stronger. She still jumped to catch
toys in
midair and ran faster than other dogs.
Nearly four years later, the same cancer
returned in Patou’s remaining front leg. She began
to fall. Through my own experience, I wondered
if physical therapy could help her as it had
helped me strengthen my leg and relearn, for a
while, to walk. The vet supplied us with a set of
wheels.
Patou started using them at the
jogging track of a local park. One day, we spotted
a man
using a wheelchair heading toward us.
Patou rushed straight for him, nearly pulling the
leash
(狗绳) out of my hand. The man broke into
a broad smile and laughed, “No shame in the game.”
The beauty of this moment, which I have yet to
understand fully, was not lost on me:
_________________________.
（选自The NewYork
Times）
1. According to the article, Patou
lost one of her front paws ______.
A. before
she was adopted by the author
B. before she
learned how to help the author upstairs
C.
after the author thought of finding a substitute
dog
D. after the author recovered from her
illness
2. According to the article, after
losing one of her front paws, Patou ______.
A. became nearly twice its original size
B. had no trouble chewing large bones
C.
became too weak to jump into the air
D. was
still able to help the author upstairs
3. What can we learn from the article?
A. Patou died a natural death.
B. Patou
was almost abandoned by the author after being
diagnosed with cancer.
C. The author
eventually relearned to walk with the help of
Patou.
D. Patou lived cancer-free for nearly
four years after the amputation.
4. Which of
the following best completes the sentence in the
last paragraph?
A. All bodies change over
time.
B. These are signs of life’s
impermanence.
C. The other leg just got in the
way.
D. All creatures that persist are whole.
译文：
兽医在我的客厅里跪在我三腿的澳大利亚牧羊犬Patou上。她刚刚完成
了结束
Patou生命。第一次注射是为了放松她。我和我的丈夫抱着她，感觉到她的绷紧的背部
肌肉融化成了我们多年未曾知道的柔软感。第二枪把她送走了。
兽医说：“现在，她又恢复了健康，与另一只腿团聚了。”
我知道她对完整性的含义。帕图出生时只有
四只脚，而她的生命却只有三只脚，这
在某些人看来一定是残缺不全的。但是那一刻，我不得不质疑这个
想法。
当Patou进入我的生活时，我患有多发性硬化症已有近9年的时间，这导致我的左
侧无力期缩短，从而影响了我的出行能力。意识到突然可能随时发生意外，我教了年轻
的四脚Patou
帮助我上楼。
从那以后，许多MS爆发都来了又去，留下了其后遗症。正如我考虑让一只大狗帮
助我环游世界一样，帕图被诊断出患有骨癌。截肢后，她的身体重塑以适应自己的运动。
她的左前爪向
内倾斜，形成一个坚固的中央爪。它长到原来的两倍，最终在咀嚼时能够
将大骨头直立。她的弓背更加弯
曲，脖子更粗壮。她仍然跳到空中捕捉玩具，跑得比其
他狗快。
大约四年后，帕图剩下的前腿
又复发了同样的癌症。她开始跌倒。通过我自己的经
验，我想知道物理疗法是否可以帮助她，因为它可以
帮助我巩固腿部并重新学习走路。
兽医给我们提供了一套轮子。
Patou在
当地公园的慢跑道上开始使用它们。一天，我们发现一名男子坐在轮椅上
向我们走去。帕图直奔他，几乎
把狗绳从我手中拉了出来。该名男子大笑起来，笑道：
“比赛中不要丢脸。”我还没有完全理解的这一刻
的美好，那便是：所有顽强存在的生
物都是完整的。
单词：
1.
impair▲ v. to damage sth. or make it not as good
as it should be 损害，损伤（某物）
e.g. Loud noise can
impair your hearing.
答案：1.B 2.B 3.D
4.D