Question

Working with a group of baboons (狒狒) in the Namibian desert, Dr. Alecia Carter of the Department of Zoology, Cambridge University set baboons learning tasks involving a novel food and a familiar food hidden in a box. Some baboons were given the chance to watch another baboon who already knew how to solve the task, while others had to learn for themselves. To work out how brave or anxious the baboons were, Dr. Carter presented them either with a novel food or a threat in the form of a model of a poisonous snake.

She found that personality had a major impact on learning. The braver baboons learnt, but the shy ones did not learn the task although they watched the baboon perform the task of finding the novel food just as long as the brave ones did. In effect, despite being made aware of what to do, they were still too shy to do what the experienced baboon did.

The same held true for anxious baboons compared with calm ones. The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.

This mismatch between collecting social information and using it shows that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something that has previously been ignored in studies on how animals learn to do things. The findings are significant because they suggest that animals may perform poorly in cognitive (认 知的)tasks not because they aren’t clever enough to solve them，but because they are too shy or nervous to use the social information.

The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning. If some individuals are unable to get information from others because they don’t associate with the knowledgeable individuals, or they are too shy to use the information once they have it, information may not travel between all group members, preventing the formation of a culture based on social learning.

1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A.The design of Dr. Carter’s research.

B.The results of Dr. Carter’s research.

C.The purpose of Dr. Carter’s research.

D.The significance of Dr. Carter’s research.

2.According to the research, which baboons are more likely to complete a new learning task?

A.Those that have more experience.

B.Those that can avoid potential risks.

C.Those that like to work independently.

D.Those that feel anxious about learning.

3.Which best illustrates the “mismatch” mentioned in Paragraph 4?

A.Some baboons are intelligent but slow in learning.

B.Some baboons are shy but active in social activities.

C.Some baboons observe others but don’t follow them.

D.Some baboons perform new tasks but don’t concentrate.

4.Dr. Carter’s findings indicate that our culture might be formed through ______.

A.storing information

B.learning from each other

C.understanding different people

D.travelling between social groups

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲述了Alecia Carter教授和一群狒狒工作在一起，根据Cambridge University设置的一项狒狒学习任务，关于藏在一个盒子里的新鲜的和熟食品。一些狒狒可以看其他的狒狒怎么做，而另外的一些只能自己去学。研究发现，个性会影响学习。勇敢的狒狒会学，而害羞的狒狒尽管看见其他狒狒像勇敢的狒狒那样发现新鲜的食物，自己也学不会，而这个事实也隐藏在焦虑的狒狒和冷静的狒狒之间。

1. Carter是怎样设计这项研究的，故选A。

2. anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.意思是：这些焦虑的狒狒通过观察他人，当这些感到轻松的狒狒却没有（观察他人），尽管他们花费更多的时间去观察。可知更适合完成新任务的是这些焦虑的狒狒。故选D。

3. mismatch”指的是第三段中的 “…while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching”，根据这句话可知，有些狒狒只看着别的狒狒做而自己并不按它们的做法去做，故选C。

4. findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning”可知，我们的文化可能是通过相互之间的学习而形成的，故选B。

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