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 phrase "While all of these attributes sound reasonable enough" implies that the author believes that______.
选项
A、human beings would be helpless without them
B、these adaptations are useful but not unique
C、such qualities are useless luxuries with no survival value
D、no single trait distinguishes human beings from animals
答案
B
解析
语义题。“第四段第二句提到big brains、opposable thumbs、tool-using capabilities都是人类与其他哺乳动物和灵长类动物共享的特征,并不为人所特有,因此不能用来与动物进行区别。B“这些特征有用但不是独一无二的”符合作者上述观点,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/O8FO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Duringthesummerholidayseasonitisdifficulttofinda(n)_____roominthehotelshere.
Themultinationalcorporationwasmakingatake-over_____forapropertycompany.
Writeanessayofabout250-300wordsonthetopic"SportSpiritsandVirtuesofOurNation"accordingtotheChineseexplanatio
Thegreatchariotofsociety,whichforsolonghadrundownthegentleslopeoftradition,nowfounditselfpoweredbyaninterna
democracyimaginationdifferentflexibilityovercomeonlineoffertraditionalmodern
ResalePriceMaintenanceisthenameusedwhenaretaileriscompelledtosellatapricefixedbythemanufacturerinsteadofc
Thecaseforcollegehasbeenacceptedwithoutquestionformorethanageneration.Allhighschoolgraduatesoughttogo,says
IntheopinionofmanyAmericansandEuropeans,weonlybegantoreallyexploreourworldinthesixteenthcentury.Accordingto
AlthoughChopinlaterattendedtheLyceumwherehisfathertaught,hisearlytrainingbeganathome.Thisincludedreceivingpia
Smugglingisa______activitywhichmightbringdestructiontooureconomy,therefore,itmustbebanned.(2004年中国科学院考博试题)
随机试题
公民王某在一次抓捕逃犯行动中给予民警协助和支持,王某也因此受伤住院。根据《人民警察法》的规定,下列说法正确的是()
经营杠杆系数等于1,说明()
腰椎的侧隐窝前后径的正常范围是大于
预防医院感染的关键措施不包括
大黄的性味是
关于静脉注射用脂肪乳剂叙述错误的是处方大豆油(注射用)150g大豆磷脂(精制品)15g甘油(注射用)25g注射用水加至1000m1
药品监督管理不得侵害有关药事组织和公众的合法权益属于
导致新生儿化脓性脑膜炎常见病原因是()。
关于民事强制执行中的参与分配制度,说法错误的是:()
《中华人民共和国教师法》中规定的教师待遇主要包括()。(2015.广东)
最新回复
(
0
)