Question

If you saw another kid ride her bike too fast around a corner and fall down, you might ride your bike more slowly on that turn. Yes, we humans are very sensitive to others' mistakes. And the same is true for other animals. Animals mess up all the time. They might eat poisonous leaves, fall off a tree or let their prey (猎物) slip away. By watching others fail, an animal can avoid making the same mistakes, thus improving its chance of survival.

Scientists suspected that one part of the brain helps animals process information about others' errors. Cells in that part appear to become more active when a person sees someone else making a mistake. But researchers didn't know whether individual cells in this part of the brain play different roles in detecting errors.

To investigate the brain's response to errors in more detail, the researchers taught a game to two macaques, a type of monkey. One monkey could press a yellow or green button while the other watched. If the first monkey pressed the right button, the team gave both animals a treat. Every couple of rounds, the two monkeys switched roles. Meanwhile, the scientists monitored individual cells in the animal's brains.

When the first monkey messed up the game by pressing the wrong button, a group of cells in the second monkey's brain fired. But if the second monkey also made the wrong choice during its turn, some of the cells in that group didn't respond. Those unresponsive cells reacted specifically to mistakes made by others, not to the monkey's own mistakes.

Scientists believe other parts of the brain also might help people process information about another's errors. "You start to think about this other person and see things from his angle. " Ellen de Bruijn, told Science News. She studies the brain at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

1. According to Paragraph 1 , animals' ability to learn from others' mistakes ______.

A. used to be ignored by humans

B. ensures that they will never fail

C. is being lost because of humans

D. helps them to survive better

2.The underlined word "detecting" in Paragraph 2 probably means "______".

A. correcting B. making C. sensing D. drawing

3.In the experiment mentioned, those unresponsive cells are only sensitive to ______.

A. the same buttons B. others' mistakes

C. one's own mistakes D. the monkey's brain

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文告诉人们我们人类对其他人的错误是非常敏感的，动物也是一样的。科学家怀疑大脑的一部分帮助动物处理关于其他动物错误的信息。

1.1】D细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句By watching others fail, an animal can avoid making the same mistakes, thus improving its chance of survival.通过观察其他人的失败，动物能避开犯同样的错误，因此提高了它生存的可能。故选D。

2.2】C词义猜测题。根据第二段第一句Scientists suspected that one part of the brain helps animals process information about others' errors.科学家怀疑大脑的一部分帮助动物处理关于其他动物错误的信息。第二段最后一句But researchers didn't know whether individual cells in this part of the brain play different roles in detecting errors.研究者不知道是否在大脑的这一部分在检测单个细胞中扮演不同的角色。从这里可知选C。

3.3】B细节理解题。根据倒数第二段最后一句Those unresponsive cells reacted specifically to mistakes made by others, not to the monkey's own mistakes. 那些反应迟钝的细胞由别人的错误发生特异性反应，不是对猴子自己的错误。故选B。

考点：考查科教类阅读。