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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

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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.
As is mentioned in Paragraph 1, "tricks" played by animals may be______.
选项 A、a sign of intelligence
B、a sign of instinct
C、learned through training
D、programmed in their brain at birth
答案C
解析 此题是一道词语含义题，考查考生根据文章上下文内容推断词汇含义的能力和词汇量。问题问第一段中提到的动物们玩的“tricks”可能是指什么。第一段相关信息指出：解释动物的智力之前，科学家们先解释了什么不是智力。本能不是智力。本能是动物脑中预调的一种才能。机械记忆的条件作用也不是智力。把戏可以通过重复来学会，但是并不涉及真正的思考过程。科学家们认为顿悟、使用工具的能力和用人类语言沟通交流都是动物智力的有效测量方法。由此我们可以总推断出tricks不是本能，也不是顿悟、使用工具的能力、利用人类语言沟通的能力，而是机械记忆的条件作用，可以通过重复来学会，但是不涉及真正的思考过程。因此，本题的正确答案应该是C，通过训练学会的。选项A：智力的信号；B：本能的信号；D：天生的预设。这三个选项的意思都不符合文章内容，均为干扰项。
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