Question

    Being able to tell human faces apart is a skill that almost every person has,although some are far better at it than others.But a new study says that this is not just a skill that humans have. Even fish can do it.

Following up on research studying different species’(物种)abilities to recognize human laces(sheep,dogs,cows,horses,and birds have all been tried),the researchers from the University of Oxford decided to pick an animal that does not have an evolved neocortext,the part of the brain that processes sight and sounds,and doesn’t have a close relationship with humans.That way,there would be no reason why these test subjects(实验对象)would have a past history of identifying human faces.

So they picked the archerfish,a reef fish variety that shoots water into the air to knock its prey(猎物)out of the sky.They used this adaptation to have the fish spray water at a face on a monitor hanging over their tanks for a reward.Most of the fish were able to pick apart their learned face,even when colors were taken away.

This study gives more support to the assumption that distinguishing between faces is not just a skill that big-brained organisms are born with.It is possible that a good percentage of recognizing faces is learned over time.The development of neocortext may contribute only to quickly processing a large number of faces in varying situations.

But more work needs to be conducted to find a deeper link to this possible learned behavior. The sample size of this study was very small-only eight fish were used altogether.Also,the faces displayed were only white,female faces from a German database,shown in a front view, with no expressions.Other animal trials have shown that some species,like pigeons,respond more to different angles and varied expressions.

1.The archerfish were picked as test subjects because they

A.have no evolved neocortext

B.have close relationship with human

C.have a skill of spraying water for a reward

D.have a past history of recognizing human faces

2.What is the finding of the research?

A.Some animals possess the ability to tell human faces apart.

B.Some animals gain the ability to recognize faces by learning.

C.The fish’s ability to tell human faces apart is a natural skill.

D.The fish’s ability to recognize human faces is related to neocortext.

3.What is likely to be done for further research?

A.To show more faces in a front view.

B.To display more white,female faces.

C.To test more fish samples to gather more data.

D.To test pigeons’ response to varied expressions.

4.Where is this text most likely from?

A.A diary. B.A biography. C.A mystery. D.A magazine.

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。研究表明分辨人脸不仅仅是人类所特有的技能，一些动物也能做到。文章主要阐述了用鱼来进行实验的过程以及实验得出的结果。

1.

细节理解题。根据文章第二段the researchers from the University of Oxford decided to pick an animal that does not have an evolved neocortext（牛津大学的研究人员决定挑选一种没有进化新皮层的动物。）可知，射水鱼之所以被选为实验对象，是因为它们没有进化出的新大脑皮层。故选A。

2.

细节理解题。根据文章第四段This study gives more support to the assumption that distinguishing between faces is not just a skill that big-brained organisms are born with.It is possible that a good percentage of recognizing faces is learned over time.（这项研究更多地支持了这样一个假设，即区分面孔不仅仅是大脑发达的生物与生俱来的技能。很有可能很大一部分人脸识别是随着时间的推移而习得的。）可知，这项研究发现有些动物通过学习获得识别面孔的能力。故选B。

3.

推理判断题。根据文章最后一段But more work needs to be conducted to find a deeper link to this possible learned behavior. The sample size of this study was very small-only eight fish were used altogether.（但是还需要做更多的工作来找到这种可能的习得行为的更深层次的联系。这项研究的样本量非常小——总共只使用了8条鱼。）可推知，有可能测试更多的鱼样本以收集更多数据来进行进一步的研究。故选C。

4.

推理判断题。文章主要说明的是研究表明分辨人脸不仅仅是人类所特有的技能，一些动物也能做到。并且围绕这一观点做了一些研究，因此可以推断出，文章来自科学杂志。故选D。