17．From the moment that an animal is born it has to make decisions．It has to decide which of the things around it are for eating，and which are to be avoided； when to attack and when to run away．The animal is，in fact，playing a complicated and potentially dangerous game with its environment，discomfort or destruction．
This is a difficult and unpleasant business and few animals would survive if they had to start from the beginning and learn about the world wholly by trial and error，for there are too many possible decisions which would prove fatal．So we find，in practice，that the game is always arranged in favor of the young animal in one way or another．Either the animal is protected during the early stages of its learning about the world around it，or the knowledge of which way to respond is built into its nervous system from the start．
The fact that animals behave sensibly can be attributed partly to what we might call genetic learning，to distinguish it from individual learning that an animal does in the cause of its own life time．Genetic learning is learning by a species as a whole，and it is achieved by selection of those members of each generation that happen to behave in the right way．However，genetic learning depends upon a prediction that the future will more or less exactly resemble the past．The more variable individual experience is likely to be，the less efficient is genetic learning as a means os getting over the problems of the survival game．It is not surprising to find that very few species indeed depend wholly upon genetic learning．In the great majority of animals，behavior is a compound of individual experience and genetic learning to behave in particular ways
25．The survival game is considered complicated and potentially very dangerous becauseA．
A decisions made by animals may prove fatal
B animals are often in danger of being attacked
C．animals make decisions entirely by trial
D．environment is not fit for animals to survive
26．Most animals survive because they can make right decisions byD．
A．a series of trials and errors
B．knowledge obtained in their life time
C．the nervous system
D．genetic learning and individual experience
27．Concerning the relationship between genetic learning and individual experience，which of the following is right？C
A．They develop side by side
B．They are contradictory，but individual experience is the dominant
C．Genetic learning is likely to function more if individual experience doesn't vary much
D．Genetic learning is more efficient than individual experience
28．"Genetic learning"refers toB．
A．learning after an animal is born
B．learning obtained by some members of each generation who happen to behave properly
C．learning gained by all the members in a species
D learning gained by young animals from their experience
29．What cannot be inferred from the article？B
A The majority of animals depend thoroughly upon genetic learning
B Animal behave in particular ways as a result of both individual experience and genetic learning
C If animal depended wholly upon individual experience，its chance of survival would be little
D．Genetic learning depends on the assumption of resemblance between the future and the past．
分析 本文属于说明文阅读，作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了个体经验和遗传学习，在大多数性的动物，行为是一个复合的个体经验和遗传学习行为的特殊方式．
解答 25．A．细节理解题．根据第二段：This is a difficult and unpleasant business and few animals would survive if they had to start from the beginning and learn about the world wholly by trial and error可知生存游戏被认为是复杂的，潜在的危险是动物作出的决定可能是致命的；故选A．
26．D．节理解题．根据第二段：This is a difficult and unpleasant business and few animals would survive if they had to start from the beginning and learn about the world wholly by trial and error可知大多数动物存活下来是因为它们能做出正确的决定通过学习和个人经验；故选D．
27．C．推理判断题．根据第三段：The fact that animals behave sensibly can be attributed partly to what we might call genetic learning，to distinguish it from individual learning that an animal does in the cause of its own life time可知遗传学习可能会发挥更多的作用，如果个人经验没有太大的变化；故选C．
28．B．推理判断题．根据第三段：The fact that animals behave sensibly can be attributed partly to what we might call genetic learning，to distinguish it from individual learning that an animal does in the cause of its own life time可知遗传学习是学习一些成员每个人发生正确的行为；故选B．
29．B．细节理解题．根据最后一段behavior is a compound of individual experience and genetic learning to behave in particular ways可知由于个体经验和遗传学习，动物表现出特殊的行为方式；故选B．
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力，做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确的选择．在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
