Question

    The latest discovery in cat research reveals that the lovely animal seems to have a basic grasp on both the laws of physics and the ins and outs of cause and effect.

According to a newly published study, cats seem to be able to predict the location of hiding prey (猎物) using both their ears and an inborn understanding of how the physical world works.

In a recent experiment, Japanese researchers taped 30 domestic cats reacting to a container that a team member shook. Some containers rattled; others did not. When the container was tipped over, sometimes an object fell out and sometimes it didn’t.

It turns out that the cats were remarkably smart about what would happen when a container was tipped over. When an object did not drop out of the bottom of a rattling container, they looked at it for a longer time than they did when the container behaved as expected.

“Cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of invisible objects,” lead researcher Saho Takagi says in a press release. The researchers conclude that cats’ hunting style may have developed based on their common-sense abilities to infer where prey is, using their hearing.

Scientists have explored this idea with other endearing creatures: babies. Like cats, babies appear to engage in what’s called “preferential looking”—looking longer at things that are interesting or unusual than things they perceive (认知) as normal.

When babies’ expectations are violated in experiments like the ones performed with the cats, they react much like their animal friends. Psychologists have shown that babies apparently expect their world to obey the laws of physics and cause and effect as early as two months of age.

Does the study mean that cats will soon grasp the ins and outs of cause and effect? Maybe, Okay, so cats may not be the next physics faculty members at America’s most important research universities. But by demonstrating their common sense, they’ve shown that the divide between cats and humans may not be that great after all.

1.What do we learn from a newly published study about cats?

A.They can be trained to understand the physical world.

B.They have a natural ability to locate animals they hunt.

C.They know what kind of prey might be easier to hunt.

D.They are capable of telling which way their prey flees.

2.What may account for the cats’ response to the noise from the containers?

A.Their command of cause and effect. B.Their unusual sense of direction.

C.Their special ability to perceive. D.Their inborn sensitivity to noise.

3.What can we conclude about cats from the passage?

A.They have higher intelligence than the majority of animals.

B.They display outstanding abilities in hunting and hearing.

C.They can aid physics professors in their research work.

D.They interact with the physical world much like humans.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文，介绍了对猫的最新研究成果，它们似乎对物理定律和因果关系的来龙去脉有基本的把握。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第二段According to a newly published study, cats seem to be able to predict the location of hiding prey (猎物) using both their ears and an inborn understanding of how the physical world works.可知，根据一项新发表的研究，猫似乎能够通过自己的耳朵以及一种天生的对于外界如何运转的理解力来预测出隐藏的猎物的位置。inborn和选项B中的natural意思相同，location是选项B中的locate的名词，故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第五段Cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of invisible objects,可知，猫利用对于噪音或声音的一种因果逻辑理解来预测看不见的物体的出现。casual-logical和选项A中的cause and effect意思相同，故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据文章第五段But by demonstrating their common sense, they’ve shown that the divide between cats and humans may not be that great after all.可知，猫通过展示它们的常识，证明了它们和人类之间的区别也许并没有那么大。文章主要内容是在讨论猫和人类在对物理学的规律以及起因和结果的来龙去迈的理解上区别也许没有那么大。结合文章内容，故选D。