首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
At some point in your life, you have likely heard a character on TV or in a book say something along the lines of, "The thing th
At some point in your life, you have likely heard a character on TV or in a book say something along the lines of, "The thing th
admin
2017-06-11
58
问题
At some point in your life, you have likely heard a character on TV or in a book say something along the lines of, "The thing that separates humans from the animals is..." You may have even heard such a sentiment completed in more than one way—some say it is our large brains, others our opposable thumbs, and still others claim it is our ability to use tools. While all of these attributes sound reasonable enough, none of them is truly unique to the human species. There are plenty of large mammals that have bigger brains than human beings, and we share our opposable thumbs and tool-using capabilities with several of our fellow primates. No, I would argue instead that the true thing that makes humans qualitatively different from other animals is our ability to use language.
Though there are people who claim that various phenomena from dolphin sounds to bird songs are " language" these arguments are typically confusions in terminology at best. There is no doubt that these noises serve to communicate ideas from animal to animal, but to most linguists the idea of language involves a means of communicating that is more complex, rule-based, and extensible—able to capture complicated ideas even with a relatively limited vocabulary.
Now, it seems reasonable to suppose that if human beings are several times more intelligent than these other creatures, our communications would be correspondingly more complex.
However, I believe that the converse is actually the case that the appearance of great intelligence in human beings is partly a product of our natural affinity for language. Language acquisition is not merely a function of our general reasoning capabilities; it is accomplished by particular and unique regions of our brains during the first seven or so years of childhood. Anyone studying a second language knows how difficult it really is to achieve fluency in a foreign tongue using only our general cognitive abilities, after this "language acquisition device" has shut itself off.
As much as we’d like to believe it, language is not mankind’s ingenious invention; it is our genetic birthright, and its acquisition is as instinctive and unconscious as salmon swimming upriver to spawn or geese flying south for the winter. Knowing this leads me to wonder: If other primates or dolphins could speak as we do, enabling them to share ideas and pass on their accumulated knowledge rather than learning it anew with each successive generation, would they really be so different from us?
The author of the passage would most probably agree that language is______.
选项
A、the primary distinguishing factor of humanity
B、a tool for preserving cultural identity
C、a useful adaptation for survival
D、an important topic for serious academic study
答案
C
解析
推断题。A“人类最显著的特点”,A已经在文章中出现,不是推断出的内容,故A错误:B和D不符合文章,也是错误的。文章列举了大雁南飞的例子,说明语言学习也是一种本能的和下意识的行为;既然动物的这些行为是为了生存,人类语言作为一种行为同样可以帮助人类求得生存,故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/48FO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Developingapeaceful,understanding,andsupportiverelationshipbetweenparentsandchildrenisnotaneasytask.Failurescana
Inthecat-and-mousemaneuveringoveradmissiontoprestigiouscollegesanduniversities,【M1】thousandsofhighschoolshavesimp
Petroleumproducts,suchasgasoline,kerosine,homeheatingoil,residualfueloil,andlubricatingoils,comefromonesource-crude
AftertheviolentearthquakethatshookLosAngelesin1994,earthquakescientistshadgoodnewstoreport;Thedamageanddeath
Scientistsnowtendtoagreethatthenoiselevelforpotentialhearinglossbeginsatabout70decibels.Someofthemarevery
democracyimaginationdifferentflexibilityovercomeonlineoffertraditionalmodern
democracyimaginationdifferentflexibilityovercomeonlineoffertraditionalmodern
Theyweremakingenoughnoiseatthepartytowakethe____.
Inrecentyears,manyAmericansofbothsexesandvariousageshavebecomeinterestedinimprovingtheirbodies.Theyhavebecom
______isoftenthecasewithanewidea,muchpreliminaryactivityandoptimisticdiscussionproducednoconcreteproposals.(北京大
随机试题
具有理气,调中,燥湿,化痰功效的药物是
A.痿证B.痉证C.痹证D.厥证E.痫证以肢体筋脉迟缓,软弱无力,日久因不能随意运动而致肌肉萎缩为主要表现的病证是()
案情:甲(男23岁),乙(女19岁),为达到结婚目的,乙篡改了户口本并制作了假身份证,于民政部门领取了结婚证。结婚前甲的父母为甲购买了一套住房,供甲乙婚后居住,婚后乙的父母为乙买了一套住房供甲乙居住。三年后甲与乙的感情不和,乙要离婚甲不同意,于是乙诉至法院
某天16:10,某厂维修班开始检修连接污油池的输油管线,16:20钳工甲将带有底阀的输油管线放入污油池内,当时污油池内油的液面高度为50cm,上面浮有30cm厚的污油,在连接100cm高的法兰时,由于法兰无法对正而连接不上,班长乙去车间喊电焊工丙,17:1
申请人不服人民法院驳回破产申请裁定的,有权向上一级人民法院提起上诉,上诉期限为( )。
科学:逻辑
关于法律移植,以下说法错误的是()
我们党新世纪新阶段解决“三农”问题的重大战略部署和新的基本途径是
【B1】【B14】
A、Impolitebuthelpful.B、Kindandflexible.C、Politeanddisciplined.D、Flexibleandhelpful.C综合理解题。男士要求女士免费为他维修录音机,并认为十天的时间无关
最新回复
(
0
)