Question

Like toolmaking,teaching was once thought to be an exclusive（独有的）capacity of the human mind.It is not actually.

“Teaching”requires this:one individual must take time from their own task to demonstrate and instruct with effort and the student must learn a new  skill.That’s a tall order.

When a young chimpanzee watches a skilled adult and then imitates（模仿）,that’s learning.But the adult has not taken time specifically to instruct,so it is not teaching.In the honeybees’ amazing dance,the dancer takes time to indicate information about a source of food,but observers learn no new skill.They do take time to show,but they do not pass on new skills to learners.

Dolphins teach.Atlantic spotted dolphin mothers sometimes free a caught fish in the presence of their youngsters and let their youngsters chase it,catching it again if it’s getting away.Dolphin youngsters also position themselves alongside mothers who are scanning sandy bottoms for hidden fish,and the mother spends extra time demonstrating.

Other teachers include:housecats who bring back live prey and let their young learn to catch it,and meerkats（猫鼬）who first bring to their growing young dead scorpions（蝎子）,then disabled ones,to demonstrate how to remove the poisonous part on their tails.

Like toolmaking and teaching,imitation is also considered to reflect high intelligence.In South Africa lived a baby dolphin named Dolly.One day while she was just six months old,Dolly was watching a trainer standing at the window smoking a cigarette,blowing puffs of smoke.Dolly swam to her mother,got a mouthful of milk,then returned to the window and released a cloud of milk that surrounded her head.The trainer was“absolutely astonished”.Somehow Dolly came up with the idea of using milk to represent smoke.Using one thing to represent something else isn’t just imitation.It is art.

1.What does the underlined phrase“a tall order”probably mean in paragraph 2?

A. A clear instruction.    B. A high risk.

C. A difficult requirement.    D. A useful purpose.

2.What do we know about honeybees’ dance?

A. Presenting.    B. Learning.

C. Imitating.    D. Teaching.

3.What can we infer about animals that can teach?

A. Bees show their dance to younger generations.

B. Housecats teach in a way similar to dolphins.

C. Young dolphins must learn how to free a fish.

D. Meerkats have poisonous parts on the tails.

4.Why does the author use Dolly’s example?

A. To prove smoking can affect other animals.

B. To explain dolphins are capable of making art.

C. To show animals can be surprisingly intelligent.

D. To stress milk is to dolphins what smoking is to men.

Answer

1. C

2. A

3. B

4. C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了教学并不是人类独有的能力，动物的聪明程度远超我们的想象，它们也具有教学的能力。

1.词义猜测题。根据画线词前的“'Teaching' requires this: one individual must take time from their own task to demonstrate and instruct with effort and the student must learn a new skill.”可知，教学需要一个人必须从他的任务中抽出时间来努力演示和指导，这是一个会很高的要求，由此可知画线词词义为“一个很高的要求”，故C项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第三段中的“In the honeybees’ amazing dance, the dancer takes time to indicate information about a source of food, but observers learn no new skill. They do take time to show, but they do not pass on new skills to learners.”可知，在蜜蜂的神奇之舞中，舞者花时间指出食物来源的信息，但观察者并没有学到新的技能，它们确实花时间来演示，但不会把新技能传授给学习者，因此蜜蜂的舞蹈不是在教学和学习，只是在演示，故A项正确。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中的“Atlantic spotted dolphin mothers sometimes free a caught fish in the presence of their youngsters and let their youngsters chase it, catching it again if it’s getting away.”可知，海豚妈妈会在宝宝面前放一条捉回来的鱼让它们追赶，根据第五段中的“housecats who bring back live prey and let their young learn to catch it”可知，家猫妈妈带回活着的猎物让宝宝们捕捉，由此可知海豚和家猫的教学方法相似，故B项正确。

4.作者意图题。根据最后一段中的“Like toolmaking and teaching, imitation is also considered to reflect high intelligence.”可知，模仿也是高智商的体现，而作者举Dolly用牛奶代烟雾的例子就是为了证明动物出乎意料地聪明，故C项正确。