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  3. New research suggests that animals have a much higher level of brainpower than previously thought. If animals do have intelligen

New research suggests that animals have a much higher level of brainpower than previously thought. If animals do have intelligen

admin2014-01-20  31
问题     New research suggests that animals have a much higher level of brainpower than previously thought. If animals do have intelligence, how do scientists measure it? Before defining animals’ intelligence, scientists defined what is not intelligence. Instinct is not intelligence. It is a skill programmed into an animal’s brain. Rote(机械记忆)conditioning is also not intelligence. Tricks can be learned by repetition, but no real thinking is involved. Scientists believe that insight(顿悟), the ability to use tools, and communication using human language are all effective measures of the mental ability of animals.
    Scientists define insight as a flash of sudden understanding. When a young gorilla could not reach fruit from a tree, she noticed some boxes scattered about the lawn near the tree. She piled up the boxes, and then climbed on them to reach her reward. The gorilla’s insight allowed her to solve a new problem without trial and error.
    The ability to use tools is also an important sign of intelligence. Crows use sticks to get nuts out of cracks. The crow exhibits intelligence by showing it has learned what a stick can do. Likewise, seals use rocks to crack open shells in order to get at the meat.
    Many animals have learned to communicate using human language. One chimp can recognize and correctly use more than 250 abstract symbols on a keyboard. These symbols represent human words. An amazing parrot can distinguish five objects of two different types. He can understand the difference between the number, color, and kind of object. The ability to classify is a basic thinking skill. He seems to use language to express his needs and emotions. When ill and taken to the animal hospital for his first overnight stay, this parrot turned to go. "Come here!" he cried to a scientist who works with him. "I love you. I’m sorry. Wanna go back?"
    The research on animal intelligence raises important questions. If animals are smarter than once thought, would that change the way humans interact with them? Would humans stop hunting them for sport or survival? Would animals still be used for food, clothing, or medical experimentation? Finding the answer to these tough questions makes a difficult puzzle even for a large-brained, problem-solving species like our own.
The last paragraph implies that______.
选项 A、there is no way of measuring animal intelligence
B、animals are given opportunities to display their intelligence
C、the human-animal relationship needs to be reconsidered
D、some animal instincts are well beyond our knowledge
答案C
解析 此题是一道考查考生根据文章具体内容进行总结归纳和引申推断的能力。问题问最后一段暗示了什么。文章最后一段指出：关于动物智力的研究带来了重要问题。如果动物比从前我们认为的更聪明，这会改变人类与他们的交往方式吗?人类会停止为了娱乐或生存而猎杀动物吗?动物还会被用于做食物、衣服或者医学实验吗?找 到这些难题的答案甚至对我们自己这样的一个有丰富智力的、善于解决问题的物种来说也是一个难解的谜题。由此我们可以推断出最后一段暗示的内容是：我们需要重新考虑人类和动物之间的关系了。所以，本题的正确答案应该是C。选项A：没有办法来衡量动物的智力；B：要给动物展示其智力的机会；D：一些动物的本能远远超出了我们的认知；这三个选项均与文章的内容不符，为干扰项。
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