Question

    Joshua Plotnik and his colleagues carried out the tests on six 12-45-year-old Asian elephants living in the grounds of a hotel in northern Thailand. The buckets containing the seeds were not clear enough to see through and had a lid with small holes to let the smell out. In experiments, the elephants chose the greater quantity of seeds in each pair, regardless of the quantity of seeds presented. The accuracy of the prediction was better when the difference between each pair increased.

This is thought to be the first time that an animal is able to use its sense of smell to make a simple calculation of whether one of two quantities is more or less than another-the most basic form of math.

Many animal species have shown an ability to tell apart between more and less when presented with different amounts of food. But they have used vision to discriminate. Dogs have been unable to show they can perform the same trick in tests of their abilities to smell.

For an elephant this ability could be very important. Elephants often travel long distances to find better-quality food and water, which can differ according to seasonal availability, changes to their environment, and a risk they could be attacked by humans. The best performers were able to get it right more than 80 per cent of the time.

The scientists suggest that male elephants are better at the task because they need to eat more food, making it more important that their sense of smell is keener. Males also have to sniff out females in heat over long distances in order to reproduce.

They say that while elephants do use vision, particularly in close contexts where they react to each other’s body language, they use it mainly to match their more powerful senses-hearing, smell and touch.

That elephants have a powerful sense of smell is perhaps unsurprising. They have more genes related to smell than any other animal: 2,000 compared to around 800 for a dog.

1.What special ability do elephants have?

A.Use their trunks to find different smells.

B.Distinguish between more and less food.

C.Smell the differences of food quality.

D.Per form the basic math calculation.

2.What does the underlined word “discriminate” mean?

A.Choose. B.Indicate.

C.Measure. D.Distinguish.

3.Why do elephants often travel long distances?

A.To find where the better food is.

B.To find where humans wait to attack them.

C.To find where the environment has changed.

D.To find where they can adapt to the climate.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Elephants can do simple math puzzles

B.Elephants can “count” with their trunks

C.Elephants can smell the quality of food

D.Elephants can use vision to communicate

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。许多动物具有用视觉来区分数量多少的能力。但研究人员发现，大象能够利用它们的嗅觉判断数量的多少。对于大象来说，这种用嗅觉判断数量的能力非常重要，因为可以帮助大象找到质量更好的食物和水。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中In experiments, the elephants chose the greater quantity of seeds in each pair, regardless of the quantity of seeds presented. The accuracy of the prediction was better when the difference between each pair increased.可知在实验中，大象在每一对中选择了数量更多的种子，而不考虑种子的数量。当两组之间的差异增大时，预测的准确性较好。由此可推知，大象的特殊能力是能够区分食物的多与少。故选B。

2.词义猜测题。根据上文Many animal species have shown an ability to tell apart between more and less when presented with different amounts of food.可知许多动物在面对不同数量的食物时都表现出了分辨多与少的能力。由此可知，动物是用视觉来区分食物数量多少的。上文中出现的tell apart表示“区分”，故可知discriminate表示“区分”，指大象的这种区分数量的能力。故选D。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中Elephants often travel long distances to find better-quality food and water, which can differ according to seasonal availability, changes to their environment, and a risk they could be attacked by humans.可知大象经常长途跋涉去寻找质量更好的食物和水，而这些食物和水的质量会随着季节的变化、环境的变化以及被人类攻击的风险而变化。由此可知，大象经常要长途跋涉是为了找到更好的食物。故选A。

4.主旨大意题。许多动物具有用视觉来区分数量多少的能力。但研究人员发现，大象能够利用它们的嗅觉判断数量的多少。对于大象来说，这种用嗅觉判断数量的能力非常重要，因为可以帮助大象找到质量更好的食物和水。故B选项“大象能用象鼻‘算数’”最符合文章标题。故选B。