You will celebrate Spring Festival with your family in just one month.While preparing for the most important holiday of the year，you may come across an animal sign from the Chinese zodiac （生肖） on the paper cut decorations （裝飾）
   According to the Chinese lunar calendar，F(xiàn)eb 16 is the beginning of the Year of the Dog.Although they are seen as companions and part of the family today. （1）

B

B

   In Chinese，some words concerning dogs have bad meanings，such as "No ivory can come out of a dog's mouth （狗嘴里吐不出象牙）." （2）

D

D

People use "every dog has his day" to describe a period of good fortune and "work like a dog" to describe a hard worker.
   （3）

E

E

For example，Dutch artist Breughel's painting The Hunters in the Snow （1565）depicts a foreground （前景） detail of hunting dogs at the heels of hunters as they return from the hunt to their snow-covered homestead （農(nóng)場(chǎng)）.
   In fact，people were close to dogs in a way they weren't close to cows，pigs or even horses.Farmers worked closely with dogs.But even after science came to agriculture （農(nóng)業(yè)） and dogs lost their traditional roles，the relationship between man and dogs remained.
   Nowadays in the West，millions of people keep dogs as pets.They are at the heart of family life.People feed them，take them on holidays and look after them. （4）

A

A

This loyalty is the origin of the English saying， "A dog is man's best friend."

A.In return，dogs are royal in a way that friends sometimes aren't.
B.China and western countries have different cultural beliefs about dogs.
C.In ancient times，the friendship between humans and dogs were a common subject for artists.
D.In English，however，the situation is different
E.The dog-human relationship goes right back to the beginnings of Western civilization.