雅思阅读真题（Part 2）

animal minds: parrot Alex

Part 2 · 考频：中频 · 最近考试：2024.7.6/2022.2.27/2014.3.8

文章内容（节选）

A   

In 1977 Irene Pepperberg, a recent graduate of Harvard University, did something very bold. At a time when animals still were considered automatons, she set out to find what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. She brought a one-year-old African gray parrot she named Alex into her lab to teach him to reproduce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”

 

完整文章请进入机考练习查看。

题目与答案

  1. 14 Firstly, Alex has grasped quite a lot of vocabulary.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：NOT GIVEN

    原文定位：Under Pepperberg’s patient tutelage, Alex learned how to use his vocal tract to imitate almost one hundred English words, including the sounds for various foods, although he calls an apple a “beanery.

  2. 15 At the beginning of study, Alex felt frightened in the presence of humans.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：NOT GIVEN

    原文定位：Alex dominated his fellow parrots, acted huffy at times around Pepperberg, tolerated the other female humans, and fell to pieces over a male assistant who dropped by for a visit

  3. 16 Previously, many scientists realized that animals possess the ability of thinking.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：FALSE

    原文定位：When Pepperberg began her dialogue with Alex, who died last September at the age of 31, many scientists believed animals were incapable of any thought

  4. 17 It has taken a long time before people get to know cognition existing in animals.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：TRUE

    原文定位：Bit by bit, in ingenious experiments, researchers have documented these talents in other species, gradually chipping away at what we thought made human beings distinctive while offering a glimpse of where our own abilities came from

  5. 18 As Alex could approximately imitate the sounds of English words, he was capable of roughly answering Irene`s questions regarding the world.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：TRUE

    原文定位：because Alex was able to produce a close approximation of the sounds of some English words, Pepperberg could ask him questions about a bird’s basic understanding of the world. She couldn’t ask him what he was thinking about, but she could ask him about his knowledge of numbers, shapes, and colors

  6. 19 By breaking in other parrots as well as producing the incorrect answers, he tried to be focused.
    • TRUE
    • FALSE
    • NOT GIVEN

    答案：FALSE

    原文定位：he interrupts the others, or he gives the wrong answer just to be obstinate. At this stage, he’s like a teenager; he’s moody, and I’m never sure what he’ll do

  7. 20 After the training of Irene, Parrot Alex can use his vocal tract to pronounce more than _____,

    答案：100 English words

    原文定位：Under Pepperberg’s patient tutelage, Alex learned how to use his vocal tract to imitate almost one hundred English words, including the sounds for various foods

  8. 21 while other scientists believe that animals have no this advanced ability of thinking, they would rather teach _____ .

    答案：chimpanzees

    原文定位：Scientists thought that chimpanzees were better subjects, although, of course, chimps can’t speak

  9. 22 Pepperberg clarified that she wanted to conduct a study concerning _____ but not to teach him to talk.

    答案：avian cognition

    原文定位：I’m not trying to see if Alex can learn a human language,” she added. “That’s never been the point. My plan always was to use his imitative skills to get a better understanding of avian cognition

  10. 23 The store`s assistant picked out a bird at random for her for the sake of avoiding other scientists saying that the bird is _____ afterwards.

    答案：particularly chosen

    原文定位：Pepperberg bought Alex in a Chicago pet store where she let the store’s assistant pick him out because she didn’t want other scientists saying later that she’d particularly chosen an especially smart bird for her work

  11. 24 What did Alex reply regarding the similarity of the subjects showed to him?
    _____

    答案：color

    原文定位：What’s same?” she asked. Without hesitation, Alex’s beak opened: “Color

  12. 25 What is the problem of the young parrots except Alex?
    _____

    答案：wrong pronunciation

    原文定位：Talk clearly!” he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching talked with wrong pronunciation

  13. 26 To some extent, through the way he behaved what we can call him?
    _____

    答案：teenager

    原文定位：At this stage, he’s like a teenager; he’s moody, and I’m never sure what he’ll do

相关雅思阅读真题

去机考系统练习这篇真题 →