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Study says dogs can smell cancer
Dogs are known for their sense of smell. They can find missing people and things like bombs and illegal drugs. Now a study suggests that the animal known as man’s best friend can even find bladder cancer.
Cancer cells are thought to produce chemicals with unusual odors. Researchers think dogs have the ability to smell these odors, even in very small amounts, in urine. The sense of smell in dogs is thousands of times better than in humans.
The study follows reports of cases where, for example, a dog showed great interest in a growth on the leg of its owner. The mole was later found to be skin cancer.
Carolyn Willis led a team of researchers at Amersham Hospital in England. They trained different kinds of dogs for the experiment. The study involved urine collected from bladder cancer patients, from people with other diseases and from healthy people.
Each dog was tested eight times. In each test there were samples for the dogs to smell. The dog was supposed to signal the one from a bladder cancer patient by lying down next to it.
Two cocker spaniels were correct fifty-six percent of the time. But the scientists reported an average success rate of forty-one percent.
As a group, the study found that the dogs chose the correct sample twenty-two out of fifty-four times. That is almost three times more often than would be expected by chance alone.
The British Medical Journal published the research. In all, thirty-six bladder cancer patients and one hundred eight other people took part.
During training, all the dogs reportedly even identified a cancer in a person who had tested healthy before the study. Doctors found a growth on the person’s right kidney.
Baldder cancer is the ninth most common cancer worldwide. The International Agency for Research on Cancer says this disease kills more than one hundred thousand people each year. Doctors say cigarette smoking is the leading cause of bladder cancer.
1. Where was the experiment conducted?
A. In a private home
B. In a training school
C In a hospital
D In a police station
2. What was the dogs’ average success rate
A. 56% B. 41% C. 22% D. 54%
3. How many people took part in the experiment?
A. 36 bladder cancer patients.
B 144 cancer patients
C 108 healthy people
D. 144 sick and healthy people
4. What happened to a person who had tested healthy before the study?
A. He dropped out
B. B He died
C He was found to have cancer.
D He was found to have one kidney
5. Which is NOT true of bladder cancer?
A. It is the 9th most common cancer worldwide.
B It can be identified only by dogs
C It kills more than 100,000 people each year.
D. It is mainly caused by smoking
标准答案： C,B,D,C,B