2. 考研
  3. A Darwinian understanding of culture begins with the observation that the arts appear in every human society and yield intense d

A Darwinian understanding of culture begins with the observation that the arts appear in every human society and yield intense d

admin2015-06-24  106
问题     A Darwinian understanding of culture begins with the observation that the arts appear in every human society and yield intense delight. When evolutionary psychologists detect those qualities, bells start ringing. Universal appearance of a behavior, for example, walking upright, sometimes leads scientists to infer that it evolved before our ancestors’ diaspora from Africa 60,000 years ago. Andintense pleasure is often how our genes encourage some advantageous behavior.【F1】But where an upright manner of walking and a varied diet had obvious survival advantages for our forefathers, it’s far from clear that the same went for something as energy-consuming and apparently useless as the arts.
    Denis Dutton, the author of a new book about creativity and evolution, sees evolution generating an art instinct in two ways. First, creative capacities would have helped our ancestors to survive in the hostile conditions of the Pleistocene, the epoch beginning 1.8 million years ago, during which Homo sapiens evolved in Africa【F2】An ability to invent and absorb stories, for instance, would have helped early humans work out "what if" situations without risking their lives, pass along survival tips and build capacities for understanding other people around the campfire.The best storytellers and best listeners would have had slightly greater odds of survival, giving future generations a higher percentage of good storytellers and listeners, and so on.
   【F3】Second, on those long, dull nights after the day’s hunting and/or gathering was done, a big vocabulary and a creative characteristic would have improved a man’s chances of pursuing a lover—just as an amusing woman would have been more likely to entice the guy to stay. According to this view, which Dutton derives from the psychologist Geoffrey Miller, evolution turns the brain into "a gaudy, overpowered Pleistocene home-entertainment system" for winning and keeping lovers.
   【F4】Over the thousands of generations of our prehistory, then, the pressure from these two processes would have led to what Dutton calls the survival "not just of the physically strongest but of the cleverest, wittiest and wisest." By the dawn of civilization 10,000 years ago, our ancestors’ brains would have been hard-wired to collaborate and use tools, as well as to create and enjoy art. Thus our tastes are not blank slates filled in entirely by our societies:【F5】they are shaped in part by the distant ancestors whom we unknowingly take with us every time we go to the museum, the playhouse and the concert hall. All in all, it’s a lovely vision. I just wish somebody could convince me that it’s true.
【F2】
选项
答案例如，作为创造力之一的编故事和听故事的能力让早期的人类受益匪浅。他们不用再冒着生命危险去找出危险状况下的应对策略，他们将生存秘诀口口相传，同时，他们对围坐在篝火旁其他人的理解能力也得到了强化。
解析 这个句子的前面一句讲的是创造力对早期人类的生存有帮助，这一句是举例，以for instance为标志，考生在翻译时最好添加上“作为创造力之一”以实现前后句之间的连贯。此句采用分译法，将helped前的内容译为单独一句“编故事和听故事的能力曾有助于早期人类的生存”；然后以“人类”为主语(也可用“他们”指代前一句的“早期人类”)将后面的三个动宾词组译为一句“他们找出应对策略而无需冒生命危险。传递生存秘诀，理解能力得到强化”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/0874777K
0

考研英语一

相关试题推荐
随机试题
最新回复(0)