When it comes to intelligence, human beings are the top dogs of the animal kingdom. But in recent years, scientists have been documenting surprising intelligence and emotional depth in animals ranging from honeybees to elephants. Here are some amazing examples.
Artistic Monkey Business
Jannet Schmid, director of the Little River Zoo in Norman, Oklahoma, learned a lot about the intelligence of capuchin monkeys. She and her busband adopted a young male, named Bailey. The capuchin particularly liked taking car rides, insisting that he insert the key and ride in the front passenger’s seat.
Now Bailey has become a devoted painter. He uses brushes to create colorful, abstract paintings, and prefers not to be disturbed.
Prairie Dog Sound
Through a variety of birdlike sounds, prairie dogs warn each other of approaching creatures. They demonstrated a surprisingly complex communication system. In his 25 years of study, Slobodchikoff, a professor of biology, has recorded them pronouncing ten nouns including hawk, deer and coyote, a number of adjectives to identify color, size and shape, and even some verbs to indicate speed.
In an ongoing study, Slobodchikoff learns that their brain contains a very extensive vocabulary. He once used his best prairie dog sound to say coyote, and they just looked at him in anger as if he had said a bad word.
Ivy League Parrot
One African grey parrot Alex is said to have the cognitive abilities of a five-year-old child. Alex can identify 50 different objects, seven colors, five shapes, quantities up to six, and the concepts of bigger, smaller, same and different.
Also Alex is considered to make reasoned decisions. During an experiment, researchers gave Alex different-colored blocks in sets of two, three and six. When asked which color group had five blocks, Alex replied, “None.” And he answered the same in repeated tests. Obviously, he interpreted the concept of “none” as an absence of quantity all on his own. That’s a lot like a high school student answering questions on a quiz show.
56.Which of the following is true?
A. Bailey is as clever as a child of five.
B. The prairie dog loves taking car rides.
C. The capuchin monkey is fond of painting.
D. Alex develops a communication system.
57.The underlined word “coyote” in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.
A. a verb B. an animal C. a warning D. an adjective
58.The African grey parrot Alex can ________.
A. answer questions on a quiz show
B. understand the figure “7”
C. identify five colors and seven shapes
D. apply the concept of “none” correctly
59.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Animal communication B. Animal research
C. Animal intelligence D. Animal information
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media web site has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for him to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I'm pretty sure we won’t ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That's normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day, the masterminds of Web 2. 0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However, convenience can be a crutch. Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts.
According to Paragraph l, the web site is famous because _______.
A. it has an interesting name of “Facebook”
B. it helps people get in touch with old friends
C. it can send people a greeting of some kind
D. it reminds people of events in the past
From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer _______.
A. would write to the friend quite often
B. asked the friend to e-mail him
C. did get some information about the friend
D. would keep in touch with the friend forever
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now.
B. The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e-mails.
C. The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old e-mail addresses.
D. It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.
What does the author think of the convenience of communicating on line?
A. The technology could not keep true friendship forever.
B. The social web site of Facebook means nothing at all.
C. There will be no ways of making real friends on line.
D. People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook.
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源:贵州省清华实验学校09-10学年度高一下学期4月月考 题型:完型填空
III、完形填空(共20分)
It’s a question anyone might ask in the future: Should your household robot be cool? Or practical?
For Sony Corporation, robots ought to be entertaining. The company’s 41 robot, SDR—4 X, can sing and dance.
But for automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd, such 42 should perform useful tasks for their 43 masters.
“It is in the end a machine, a 44 ,” said Masato Hirose, Honda’s chief engineer.
Sony’s chief researcher Toshi Doi said robots performing such tasks as 45for ill or disabled people would not necessarily need a human 46 .
“The attractiveness of the SDR—4 X is its 47”, he said.
“It has feelings. It has instincts(直觉).”
Drawing from its 48of 60,000 words, an SDR—4 X robot 49 last week that it can ask a 50 in a high voice: “Please 51still for a minute while I memorize your face.”
It also 52 off its ability to walk on uneven(不平的)floors, and come to its owner when it’s 53.
While Honda’s robot is 54 used mainly for entertainment, it is 55 that one day it will be a useful companion.
So its robot have been 56to be 120cm tall – more than twice the height of the SDR—4 X. Hirose said 120cm is the 57a robot that moves around a home should be.
“If you are going to have something that can move with 58 in a human surroundings(环境), then it is better to 59 the robot like a human,” he said.
Hirose said that he hopes the robot will be 60 enough so that he can buy one for himself and let it get him a beer.
41. A. earliest B. latest C. coolest D. smallest
42. A. matters B. people C. machines D. inventions
43. A. human B. own C. creative D. all
44. A. tool B. robot C. toy D. slave
45. A. looking B. working C. leaving D. caring
46. A. form B. character C. job D. ability
47. A. appearance B. purpose C. personality D. material
48. A. storage B. use C. making creation
49. A. said B. announced C. showed D. imaged
50. A. friend B. partner C. servant D. guest
51. A. hold B. lie C. take D. make
52. A. left B. showed C. put D. dropped
53.A. tired B. called C. controlled D. made
54.A. also B. still C. again D. even
55. A. sure B. hoped C. reported D. described
56. A. expected B. raised C. proved D. designed
57 A. cheapest B. dearest C. smallest D. biggest
58. A. ease B. care C. difficulty D. foot
59. A. buy B. use C. invest D. design
60. A. useful B. smart C. cheap D. small
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年重庆市高三上学期第三次月考英语试卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
Gallows humor(黑色幽默) may seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress.“Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it’s not,”says James M.Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.
Psychologists say that just because you’re laughing doesn’t mean you’re wasting time. Occasional tease among colleagues, particularly if it is associated with the job, can inspire creativity, departmental cohesiveness(凝聚力) and performance.
“There are a lot of stresses out there,”says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist in Chicago.“Gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”
This is as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people—not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale(士气) in terms of the company would be good humor,”says Thierry Guedj, a professor.
You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr. Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance or faith. If you have any doubt about its appropriateness, don’t go through with it.
Or you can take aim at the person that you know won’t be offended(冒犯): yourself. “If there’s going to be a joke or story, it should be you,”Mr Dunkelblau says.
“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves, too,”Mr Jones says.“And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”
1.According to the passage, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT .
A.leading to a big mistake |
B.reducing pressure |
C.making people more creative |
D.improving performance |
2.What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?
A.Negative. |
B.Positive. |
C.Neutral.(中立的) |
D.Uncertain. |
3.When people use gallows humor, they should .
A.observe who is aggressive |
B.show a sense of belonging |
C.doubt about the result of humor |
D.try to avoid involving private things |
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves. |
B.Laughing at yourself can make others free from stress. |
C.People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor. |
D.People who laugh at themselves are easy to gain others’ permission. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年甘肃省高三第二次检测考试英语试卷(解析版) 题型:阅读理解
Most people feel lonely sometimes,but it usually only lasts between a few minutes and a few hours,This kind of loneliness is not serious.In fact,it is quite normal.For some people,though,loneliness can last for years.Now researchers say loneliness comes in three different types.
The first kind of loneliness is temporary.This is the most common type.It usually disappears quickly and does not require any special attention.The second kind is situation,for example,family problem,the death of a loved one,or moving to a new place.Although this kind of loneliness can cause physical problems,such as headaches and sleeplessness,it usually does not last for more than a year.The third kind of loneliness is the most serious.Unlike the second type, chronic (the opposite of‘temporary’) usually lasts more than two years and has no specific cause.People who experience habitual loneliness have problems socializing and becoming close to others.Unfortunately,many chronically lonely people think there is little or nothing they can do to improve their condition.
Psychologists(心理学家) agree that one important factor in loneliness is a person’s social contacts,for example,friends,family members,co-workers,etc.We depend on various people for different reasons.For instance.our family give us emotional support,our parents and teachers give us guidance, and our fiends share similar interests and activities.
However,psychologists have found that, though lonely people may have many social contacts,they sometimes feel they should have more.They question their popularity.
Psychologists are trying to find ways to help habitually lonely people for two reasons:they are unhappy and unable to socialize arid there is a connection between chronic loneliness and serious illness such as heart disease,while temporary and situational loneliness can be a sad,and sometimes dangerous condition.
1.How would you treat temporary loneliness according to the passage?
A.Talk to friends. |
B.Go to see a doctor. |
C.Just ignore it. |
D.Ask your teacher for guidance. |
2.Why do psychologists want to help chronically lonely people?
A.Chronic loneliness can cause family problems. |
B.Chronic loneliness is incurable. |
C.Chronic loneliness can not be overcome. |
D.Chronic loneliness call cause serious illness. |
3.Loneliness is divided according to ________.
A.the time it lasts |
B.the places where it appears |
C.different people it happen to |
D.different seasons when it appears |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源:安徽省2009-2010学年度高一下学期期中考试试卷(英语) 题型:阅读理解
Eat your vegetables. Wash your hands. Always say “please" and“thank you". We are full of advice for our children, but when it comes to money, we often have little to say. As a result, our children may grow up with clean hands and good manners, but without any idea how to manage their money.
Here are some basics that will help guide them their entire lives:
Show them the future. If your 13-year-old girl were to save$1,000,invest(投资)it at 8%and add$100 every month,by the time she's 65,she would have$980,983!
Be careful of credit(信用).Credit cards can help you buy necessary things and build a credit history,but they must be used responsibly, which means paying off your debt in time. Explain to your children that when you buy something using a credit card,you can easily end up paying two or three times what you would have paid if you used cash.
Teach patience. Suppose your child wants a new bicycle that costs $150. Rather than paying the cash,give him some regular pocket money and explain that by putting aside,say $15 each week,he will be able to buy it for himself in only ten weeks.
Provide incentive. Tell your children the importance of saving.“For every dollar he or she agrees to save and invest rather than spend, you agree to add another dollar to the pot,”says Cathy Pareto, expert in money planning.
Explain your values. Values and money are deeply intertwined, says Eilleen Gallo, co-author of The Financially Intelligent Parent. When your child demands that you buy something, explain why you really don’t want to buy it.“You might say,‘I'd rather save that money for your education,”,advises Gallo. Every time you spend or don't spend money,you have a chance to share your values.
64. The underlined word“incentive" in paragraph 6 means _____.
A. honor B. praise C. excitement D. encouragement
65. What leads the writer to write this article?
A. Parents want to know how to educate their children.
B. He wants to share his good ideas about money matters.
C. He thinks money management the most important for children.
D. Parents care little about their children's management of money.
66. The writer gives some basics to help __________ in a proper way.
A. parents teach their children how to deal with money
B. children follow their parents' instructions
C. children manage their money
D. parents save their money
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互联网违法和不良信息举报平台 | 网上有害信息举报专区 | 电信诈骗举报专区 | 涉历史虚无主义有害信息举报专区 | 涉企侵权举报专区
违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com