Question

    When you look in the mirror, you see yourself. That puts you in the company of animals like dolphins, elephants and chimpanzees. The mirror test is often used as a way of measuring whether animals have self-awareness. And an animal that is aware of itself has a high level of intelligence. Now, a species of fish - the cleaner wrasse - has also spotted its reflection.

Alex Jordan, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, is one of the researchers of the study on cleaner wrasse consciousness. He and his team conducted many tests that show the fish does seem to recognize its reflection - when the researchers added a colored mark to its body, the fish would even try to remove the mark upon catching sight of it in the mirror. It seems to indicate the clever fish species has some sense of self or individuality.

But Jordan said, “I’m the last to say that the cleaner wrasse is as smart as chimpanzees.” Instead, he believes that the measure scientists have used for nearly 50 years is imperfect.

One problem with the test, for example, is that it uses vision to measure self-awareness. Yet not all animals rely on sight to recognize themselves. It may well be that a bat, for example, which depends on sonar (声波定位) to get around, is self-conscious. Elephants, while able to pass the mirror test, rely more heavily on smell than on sight.

Consciousness in humans or animals is not easy to measure or understand. Philosophers and scientists have long wrestled with the questions of how a sense of self is assessed, and how it relates to physical processes. Jordan believes the cleaner wrasse is self-cognizant (自我知晓的), but not the same extent (程度) as a human. This means scientists need to reconsider whether some concepts centered on humans can be used in understanding animals.

1.The study on the cleaner wrasse made Alex Jordan    .

A.doubt whether the mirror test is reliable

B.discover the secret about the fish’s sight

C.develop a better method to replace the mirror test

D.believe the cleaner wrasse is as smart as chimpanzees

2.Which of the following can replace the underlined part “wrestled with” ?

A.Presented with. B.Ended with.

C.Agreed with. D.Struggled with.

3.What can we learn from the text?

A.It is relatively easy to test animals' consciousness.

B.Some concepts for humans can’t be applied to animals.

C.Animals rely on at least two senses to get to know themselves.

D.More mirror tests are needed to prove the cleaner wrasse is self-aware.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文，主要介绍了动物自我意识的相关科学实验和研究，以及尚未解决的若干问题。

1.

细节理解题。根据原文第三段整段内容：But Jordan said, “I’m the last to say that the cleaner wrasse is as smart as chimpanzees.” Instead, he believes that the measure scientists have used for nearly 50 years is imperfect.（他绝不可能说这种濑鱼和黑猩猩一样聪明，相反地，他相信科学家用了将近五十年的衡量动物自我意识的方法是不完美的），所以从这一研究中，他得出的是质疑，质疑镜子测试本身是否靠谱，故选A。

2.

词义猜测题。该词所在句子的上一句“Consciousness in humans or animals is not easy to measure or understand.”提到人类和动物的意识，这种东西要来测量或者理解并不容易。故本句中“Philosophers and scientists have long wrestled with the questions of how a sense of self is assessed, and how it relates to physical processes.”哲学家和科学家必定是被“自我意识或自我感知如何评估，它又怎样和身体上的物理感知过程等建立联系”这一问题久久困扰着，想要解开它，摆脱困扰。A. Presented with. 提出问题；B. Ended with. 以……结束；C. Agreed with. 同意；D. Struggled with. 与……作斗争，挣扎。只有D符合语境，故选D。

3.

细节理解题。根据原文最后一段“This means scientists need to reconsider whether some concepts centered on humans can be used in understanding animals.”可知，这意味着科学家们需要重新考虑，一些以人类为中心而设立的概念，是否可以用来理解动物。但结合上文对相关科学研究的解读，可知直接将这些概念套用到动物身上去，已经会出现很多无法自圆其说、无法逻辑自治、无法解释得通的问题，所以此处的“需要重新考虑是否可以”实际上是“这不可行”，B符合这一内容，故选B。