Question

    How do the world’s only flying mammals communicate? Researchers have observed young bats adopting new “dialects” simply by hearing them repeatedly, making them one of the few animals known to have a capacity for vocal (声音的) learning. “These bats may help us clarify the evolution of speech acquisition (习得) skills,” says Yosef Prat, a PhD at Tel Aviv University (TAU).

For one year, researchers raised 14 Egyptian fruit bat pups with their mothers in controlled area, exposing each young bat to two different vocalizations: the natural call of its mother and a separate recording that varied in pitch (音高) or frequency. They found that the pups in each group developed a dialect like the recording. “The general assumption in this field is that most animals develop their born vocalizations regardless of what they hear, and that human vocal learning abilities have developed during evolution,” says Mr Prat. “The finding that bats learn the common dialect in their rest place was unusual.”

Scientists know little about the origin of spoken language, which is believed to have appeared in humans within the past 500,000 years. Dozens of theories attempt to explain the complexity of this skill, but none have done so conclusively.

“Studying vocal communication and vocal learning in animal models is a very useful way to approach the problem,” says Olga Feher, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick in England.

But animal vocalizations and human speech are very different things, says Jamin Pelkey, a professor at Ryerson University. “All species communicate. Unlike other animals, though, human beings are able to use sound patterns for functions that are far stranger—functions that are imaginative, theoretical, and critical. When speech is involved in these stranger functions, that is what we mean by spoken ‘language’.”

1.How do young bats acquire their “language” according to the research?

A.Flying in the air slowly.

B.Hearing it again and again.

C.Communicating with partners.

D.Repeating it with their mothers.

2.What was the general view about animal vocalization?

A.Most animals are born with it

B.Its process was unusual.

C.It is easier than human speech.

D.What animals heard doesn’t affect their learning.

3.What does the underlined word “problem” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A.The difference between animals and humans.

B.The complexity of spoken language.

C.The origin of spoken language.

D.The study of animal models.

4.What does professor Pelkey think of researching young bats?

A.It is far from the fact

B.Its result is beyond doubt.

C.It is of great scientific value.

D.It doesn’t relate to human speech much.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.D

【解析】

本文是说明文。科学家尝试用幼蝙蝠在两种不同环境下的声音习得，揭开人类口头语言的起源之谜。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段“Researchers have observed young bats adopting new “dialects” simply by hearing them repeatedly”可知，研究人员观察到，幼年蝙蝠只需反复听到新的“同源语”就可以适应新的“同源语”。所以小蝙蝠是一遍又一遍的听习得它们的“语言”的。故选B项。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段The general assumption in this field is that most animals develop their born vocalizations regardless of what they hear可知，本领域的普遍看法是大多数动物不管听到什么都能养成与生俱来的发声能力。由此判断出，动物听到什么并不影响它们的学习。故选D项。

3.词句猜测题。根据第四段Scientists know little about the origin of spoken language, which is believed to have appeared in humans within the past 500,000 years. Dozens of theories attempt to explain the complexity of this skill, but none have done so conclusively.可知，科学家对口头语言的起源几近无知，且至今尚无结论，所 以 通过上下文的语境可以判断出“problem”指的是“口头语言的起源”。故选C项。

4.推理判断题。根据But animal vocalizations and human speech are very different things可知，动物发声与人类语言迥然不同。由此推断出，蝙蝠的实验结论与人类关系不大。故选D项。