Question

Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure of your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.

Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens (奖券) for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms so that each could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.

In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.

The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

1.The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that ____________.

A. monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows

B. feeling bitter at unfairness is also monkey’s nature

C. monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other

D. no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings

2.It can be learned from the passage that ____________.

A. only monkeys and humans can have the sense of fairness in the world

B. women will show more dissatisfaction than men when unfairly treated

C. in the wild, monkeys are unhappy to share their food with each other

D. monkeys can exchange cucumbers for grapes, for grapes are more attractive

3.Which of the following conclusions is true according to the passage?

A. Human beings’ feelings of anger developed from the monkeys.

B. In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others.

C. Co-operation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated.

D. The sense of fairness among monkeys probably dates back to 35 million years ago.

4.What do we know about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?

A. The monkeys can be trained to develop social senses.

B. They usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

C. The monkeys may show their satisfaction with equal treatment.

D. Co-operation among the monkeys remains more effective in the wild.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.C

【解析】

试题分析: 本文主要讲述了科学研究显示猴子和人类一样在面对不公平待遇的时候也会不高兴。

1.B句意猜测题。根据短文第一段Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure of your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one.Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, 可知不只是人，猴子也会有不公平的感觉，故选B。

2.B推理判断题。根据Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.可知在面对不公正待遇时，女性会比男性更加沮丧，故选B。

3.C事实细节题。根据短文 Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated.可知猴子们发现被骗之前，他们之间的合作是很坚实的，故选C。

4.

考点：考查科教类短文阅读