阅读理解

　　The hands, the eyes and the brain work together to make human beings different from other animals. No other animals have all three parts to work together. No animals can do what human beings can do. Humans can do many things and feel many things with the hand. The hand can hold onto things and make things because the thumb(拇指) works with the other fingers. This fifth finger is strong. Most animals don't have thumbs. The thumb can press against the other fingers. Without the thumb to press against the fingers, it is difficult to hold onto anything. The thumb and fingers can also fit the flat surface of a box and the curved(不平的) surface of a pencil. We can feel that something is hot or cold, soft or hard, smooth or rough. The hand, with the thumb and fingers, is one of the best tools we have.

　　Most animals see a flat picture. Their eyes can only see how high and how wide something is. Some animals see different pictures with each eye. Some don't see in color. Humans see one picture with both eyes working together. We can see how high and how wide something is. We can also see how far in front of or in back of something a thing is. The brain tells other parts of the body how to work. Some of the things the body does are automatic; that is, we don't have to think about them. For example, we don't have to think to make our heart beat or our stomach work. The brain tells the eyes and hands how to make useful and beautiful things. That is how human beings become toolmakers and artists. That is how humans can have richer and better lives than other animals.

1．Human beings are different from other animals because ________.

[　　]

A．humans have the hands, the eyes, and the brain working all the time

B．other animal also have the brain, the eyes, but no hands

C．human. beings work together with animals

D．the hands, the eyes, and the brain of the human can work together

2．According to the passage when you say you hold onto something, you mean ________.

[　　]

A．you have it in your hand and keep it there by putting your fingers firmly round it

B．you have it in your arms and keep it there by putting your fingers firmly round it

C．you feel it with your hands

D．you press the fingers of your right hand against those of your left hand

3．The writer tells us that no animals can do what humans can do. He gives a few facts to support the idea. One of them is that ________.

[　　]

A．most animals don' t see in color

B．the humans see a thing with both eyes working together

C．only humans can see how high and how wide a thing is

D．some animals can see only one picture

4．Humans don't have to think when ________.

[　　]

5．People who make beautiful things are usually called ________.

[　　]

Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure at your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.

Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens(奖券)-some rocks, for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms, so that each other could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.

In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.

The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

1．Female monkeys of this kind are chosen for the research most probably because they are　 .

A．more serious about what they get

B．attentive to researchers’ instructions

C．nice in both appearance and behaviors

D．more ready to help others than their male companions

2．The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that_______.

A．monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows

B．feeling bitter at unfairness is also monkey’s nature

C．monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other

D．no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings

3．When one monkey received a grape for free, the other would　　　　 .

A．not be willing to hand over her token

B．shake her hands and get angry

C．have to exchange her token for the cucumber

D．refuse to accept the cucumber

4．Which of the following conclusions is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Human beings’ feelings of anger are developed from the monkeys.

B．In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others.

C．Co-operation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated.

D．Only monkeys and humans have the sense of fairness dating from 35 million years ago.

5．What can we learn about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?

A．They can be trained to develop social senses.

B．They usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

C．They may show their satisfaction with equal treatment.

D．They feel angry when they receive small rewards.

 

Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure at your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.

Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens(奖券)-some rocks, for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms, so that each other could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.

In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.

The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

1．Female monkeys of this kind are chosen for the research most probably because they are　 .

A．more serious about what they get

B．attentive to researchers’ instructions

C．nice in both appearance and behaviors

D．more ready to help others than their male companions

2．The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that_______.

A．monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows

B．feeling bitter at unfairness is also monkey’s nature

C．monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other

D．no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings

3．When one monkey received a grape for free, the other would　　　　 .

A．not be willing to hand over her token

B．shake her hands and get angry

C．have to exchange her token for the cucumber

D．refuse to accept the cucumber

4．Which of the following conclusions is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Human beings’ feelings of anger are developed from the monkeys.

B．In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others.

C．Co-operation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated.

D．Only monkeys and humans have the sense of fairness dating from 35 million years ago.

5．What can we learn about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?

A．They can be trained to develop social senses.

B．They usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

C．They may show their satisfaction with equal treatment.

D．They feel angry when they receive small rewards.

 

Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure at your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.

Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens(奖券)-some rocks, for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms, so that each other could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.

In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.

The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

1．Female monkeys of this kind are chosen for the research most probably because they are    .

       A．more serious about what they get

       B．attentive to researchers’ instructions

       C．nice in both appearance and behaviors

       D．more ready to help others than their male companions

2．The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that_______.

       A．monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows

       B．feeling bitter at unfairness is also monkey’s nature

       C．monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other

       D．no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings

3．When one monkey received a grape for free, the other would          .

       A．not be willing to hand over her token

       B．shake her hands and get angry

       C．have to exchange her token for the cucumber

       D．refuse to accept the cucumber

4．Which of the following conclusions is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．Human beings’ feelings of anger are developed from the monkeys.

       B．In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others.

       C．Co-operation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated.

       D．Only monkeys and humans have the sense of fairness dating from 35 million years ago.

5．What can we learn about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?

       A．They can be trained to develop social senses.

       B．They usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

       C．They may show their satisfaction with equal treatment.

       D．They feel angry when they receive small rewards.

After the “Big Bang(宇宙大爆炸)”,the earth was just a cloud of energetic dust. What it was to become was a mystery until the dust began to slowly combine into a ball moving around the sun. The problem was that the earth became violent because it was not clear whether the solid shape was to last or not. It exploded loudly with fire and rock, which were in time to produce the water vapor, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen and other gases, which were to make the earth’s atmosphere. As the earth cooled down, water began to appear on its surface. Nobody knew that it was going to be different from other planets going round the sun. Water had already disappeared from planets like Mars or satellites like the moon, but it stayed on the earth. This is how the earth began to show its special qualities. Many people think that this was important for the beginning of life. It allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases, which had become part of the earth’s atmosphere, into the oceans and seas. That made it possible for life to begin to develop. What scientists think is that the earth was different because of the arrival of small plants growing in the water on its surface. Nobody understood that these plants were the start of many changes. They multiplied and filled the first oceans and seas with oxygen .This encouraged the development of early shellfish and all sorts of fish. Many millions of years later the first green plants began to appear on land. Scientists believe that taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and filling the air with oxygen helped life to develop. Later land animals appeared. Some were insects. Others, called amphibians, were able to live on land as well as in the sea. When the plants grew into forests, reptiles appeared for the first time. They produced young generally by laying eggs. Later, some huge animals, called dinosaurs, developed, They laid eggs too. They became the most important animals on the earth for millions of years. But when they disappeared, mammals became more important. They were the last group of animals and they were different because they produced their young from within their bodies. Small clever animals, now with hands and feet, appeared and spread all over the earth. They developed new methods of growing food, hunting and moving around. As time went by they covered the earth and have become the most important animals on the planet. But they are not taking care of the earth very well. They are putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which prevents heat from escaping from the earth into space. The earth may become too hot for the lives on it. Whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come will depend on whether this problem can be solved. 1. Why was the earth different from other planets? A. It produced a lot of heat. B. The water remained. C. Water disappeared.　　　 D. It was the oldest planet. 2. Why was life able to develop on the earth but not on other planets? A. The earth had a solid shape. B. The earth did not have harmful gases in its atmosphere. C. The water stayed on the earth but not on other planets. D. The earth was not too hot and not too cold. 3. Why was it necessary for plants to grow before animals? A. Animals needed plants to protect them from the sun. B. Plants provided oxygen for animals to breathe. C. Animals could hide from hunters in forests. D. It was easier for plants to grow. 4. What problem is caused by human beings? A. They exist everywhere on the earth. B. They cause global warming. C. They find new methods of growing crops. D. They enjoy hunting and fishing.