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The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals—even competitors like wolves—spurred on human tool-making and language

admin2022-07-26  52
问题     The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals—even competitors like wolves—spurred on human tool-making and language, which have both driven humanity’s success, Pat Shipman says, paleoanthropologist of Perm State University. "Wherever you go in the world, whatever ecosystem (生态系统) , whatever culture, people live with animals," Shipman said.
    For early humans, taking in and caring for animals would seem like a poor strategy for survival. "On the face of it, you are wasting your resources. So this is a very weird behavior," Shipman said. But it’s not so weird in the context something else humans were doing about 2.6 million years ago: switching from a mostly vegetarian diet to one rich in meat. This happened because humans invented stone hunting tools that enabled them to compete with other top predators. Quite a rapid and bizarre switch for any animal. So we invented the equipment, learned how to track and kill, and eventually took in animals who also knew how to hunt—like wolves and other canines. Others, like goats, cows and horses, provided milk, hair and, finally, hides and meat.
    Managing all of these animals—or just tracking them—requires technology, knowledge and ways to preserve and convey information. So languages had to develop and evolve to meet the challenges. Tracking game has even been argued to be the origin of scientific inquiry, said Peter Richerson, professor emeritus (名誉退休的) in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis. One of the signs that this happened is in petroglyphs (史前岩画) and other rock art left by ancient peoples. At first they were abstract, geometric patterns that are impossible to decipher (破译) . Then they converge on one subject: animals.
    There have also been genetic changes in both humans and our animals. For the animals those changes developed because human bred them for specific traits, like a cow that gives more milk or a hen that lays more eggs. But this evolutionary influence works both ways. Dogs, for instance, might have been selectively taken in by humans who shared genes for more compassion. Those humans then prospered with the dogs’ help in hunting and securing their homes.
Why did languages have to develop and evolve to meet the challenges?
选项 A、Early humans should have communication in tracking game.
B、Language can enable humans to compete with other top predators.
C、Animals should understand the orders given by humans.
D、Language could cause a rapid and bizarre switch for any animal.
答案A
解析 根据题干中的信息词develop and evolve to meet the challenges，可以把答题线索定位到第三段的第二句话。第三段的第二句话是以so开头的，由此可知第三段的第一句话讲的就是原因。第三段的第一句提到“要管理好所有这些动物——或者只是追踪它们，都需要记载和传达信息的技术、知识以及方法”。选项A说早期的人类在追踪猎物时应当相互沟通，其中的communication与原文中的preserve and convey information属于同义替换，所以本题应该选A。文章第二段中提到了stone hunting tools that enabled them to compete with other top predators，但选项B把stone hunting tools替换成了language，属于偷换概念。选项C和D文中均未提及。
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