◎魏國金 2011/08/24
Labrador Retrievers are known for their hunting skills and friendly dispositions, but Beau, a black Lab who lives in Montana, is winning acclaim for his math abilities.
拉布拉多以狩獵技巧與友善的性情聞名，不過住在蒙大拿的黑色拉拉寶兒則因牠的數學能力而贏得讚揚。
Owner David Madsen says if he tells Beau there are six dogs at the park and three dogs leave, and then asks him how many are left, the dog replies︰"Woof, woof, woof."
飼主戴維‧麥德森說，如果他告訴寶兒公園裡有6條狗，其中3條離開，然後問牠留下多少條狗，這隻狗會回答︰「嗚，嗚，嗚。」
"He counts, he adds and subtracts, he can do some division and has memorized square roots," Madsen said.
「牠會計算，牠會加減，牠會做一些除法並已記住開根號」，麥德森說。
Although a dog with math skills better than plenty of humans seems incredible, the local fire chief says he vouches for the dog’s talents.
雖然一隻狗擁有比許多人還要好的數學能力似乎不可思議，不過地方消防首長說，他能保證這隻狗的天資。
"Dave will say, ’What’s two and three?’ Then the dog will go, ’Bark, bark ... bark, bark, bark,’" said Chris Ricciardi, chief of the Finley Point-Yellow Bay, Montana Fire Department.
「戴維會說，『2加3多少？』然後這隻狗就『汪，汪…汪，汪，汪』」蒙大拿消防部芬利岬黃灣區的主管瑞奇亞迪說。
Madsen adopted the puppy a dozen years ago and began teaching him math basics when he showed signs of being intelligent.
麥德森十幾年前收養這隻幼犬，而當牠展現聰明跡象時，開始教牠基礎數學。
He taught Beau to count using dog biscuits, laying out a handful and rewarding the dog when the number of his barks corresponded to the number of treats. "He caught on that rewards were associated with the correct number of barks," Madsen said.
他利用狗餅乾教寶兒算數，他擺出一把餅乾，當牠的吠聲符合點心數時就嘉獎這隻狗。「牠理解到獎賞與吠叫的正確數有關」，麥德森說。
新聞辭典
vouch︰動詞，保證、擔保、作證。例句︰I can vouch for the correctness of the report.（我可以保證對這份報告的正確性。）
lay out︰片語，擺出、展示，也有安排之意。例句︰His father has a job laid out for him.（他的父親為他安排了一份工作。）
catch on︰片語，懂得、理解。例句︰I don’t quite catch on to what he is saying.（我還不太理解他在說什麼。）
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