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  3. Human beings do not like to think of themselves as animals. It is thus with decidedly mixed feelings that we regard the frequent

Human beings do not like to think of themselves as animals. It is thus with decidedly mixed feelings that we regard the frequent

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问题     Human beings do not like to think of themselves as animals. It is thus with decidedly mixed feelings that we regard the frequent reports that activities once thought to be uniquely human are also performed by other species: chimpanzees who make and use tools, parrots who use language, ants who teach. Is there anything left?
    You might think that human beings at least enjoy the advantage of being more generally intelligent. To test this idea, my colleagues and I recently administered an array of cognitive tests—the equivalent of nonverbal I. Q. tests—to adult chimpanzees and orangutans and to 2-year-old human children. As it turned out, the children were not more skillful overall. They performed about the same as the apes on the tests that measured how well they understood the physical world of space, quantities and causality. The children performed better only on tests that measured social skills: social learning, communicating and reading the intentions of others.
    But such social gifts make all the difference. Imagine a child born alone on a desert island and somehow magically kept alive. What would this child’s cognitive skills look like as an adult—with no one to teach her, no one to imitate, no pre-existing tools, no spoken or written language? She would certainly possess basic skills for dealing with the physical world, but they would not be particularly impressive. She would not invent for herself English, or Arabic numerals, or metal knives, or money. These are the products of collective cognition; they were created by human beings, in effect, putting their heads together.
    Another subtle but crucial difference can be seen in communication. The great apes chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans—communicate almost exclusively for the purpose of getting others to do what they want. Human infants, in addition, gesture and talk in order to share information with others—they want to be helpful. They also share their emotions and attitudes freely—as when an infant points to a passing bird for its mother and squeals with glee. This unprompted sharing of information and attitudes can be seen as a forerunner of adult gossip, which ensures that members of a group can pool their knowledge and know who is or is not behaving cooperatively. The free sharing of information also creates the possibility of pedagogy—in which adults impart information by telling and showing, and children trust and use this information with confidence. Our nearest primate relatives do not teach and learn in this manner.
Which of the following is not true according to the text?
选项 A、Human beings couldn’t create numerals, tools and language alone.
B、Animals could conduct activities once thought to be uniquely human in some way.
C、Adults convey information to children by telling and showing.
D、Gorillas communicate in order to get others to do what they want.
答案D
解析 根据本文内容，下列哪一项的说法是不正确的?[A]人类不能单独创造数字、工具和语言。[B]动物可以进行之前被认为是人类独有的活动。[C]成人通过告知和展示向儿童传达信息。[D]大猩猩交流的目的是让其他猩猩按照自己的意思去做。根据第三段最后一句可知[A]正确；根据第一段第二句可知[B]正确；根据最后一段第六句可判断[C]正确。根据最后一段第二句判断[D]的表述太绝对，故为答案。
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