Question

    Science is finally beginning to embrace animals who were, for a long time, considered second-class citizens.

Annie Potts of Canterbury University has noted that hens trained to pick colored buttons sometimes choose to give up an immediate food reward for a slightly later (and better) one.

Pigs respond meaningful to human symbols. When a research team carried wooden blocks marked with X and O symbols around pigs, only the O carriers offered food to the animals. The pigs soon ignored the X carriers in favor of the O's. Then the team switched from real-life objects to T-shirts printed with X or O symbols. Still, the pigs walked only toward the O-shirted people: they had transferred their knowledge to a two-dimensional format, a not inconsiderable feat of reasoning.

I’ve been guilty of prejudiced expectations, myself. At the start of my career, I was firmly convinced that monkeys and apes who are from our own mammalian(哺乳动物的) class out-think and out-feel other animals. Fairly soon, I came to see that whales too are masters of cultural learning, and elephants express profound joy and mourning with their social companions. Long-term studies helped to fuel a viewpoint shift in our society: the public no longer so easily accepts monkeys made to undergo painful procedure kin laboratories, elephants forced to perform in circuses, and dolphins kept in small tanks at theme parks.

Animal activists are already there, of course, committed to not eating these animals. But what about the rest of us? Can paying attention to the thinking and feeling of these animals lead us to make changes in who we eat?

1.According to Annie Potts, what ability do hens have?

A.interaction B.analysis C.creation D.abstraction

2.What does the research into pigs show?

A.That pigs learn letters quickly. B.That pigs have a good eyesight.

C.That pigs can build up a good relationship. D.That pigs can apply knowledge to new situations.

3.What does Paragraph 4 mainly suggest?

A.The similarities between mammals and humans.

B.The necessity of long-term studies on mammals.

C.A change in people's attitudes towards animals.

D.A discovery of how animals express themselves.

4.What might be the best title for the passage?

A.The Inner Lives of Food Animals B.The Lifestyles of Food Animals

C.Science Reports on Food Animals D.A Revolution in Food Animals

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章论述了我们原来当作食物的动物实际上也有情感有思想，文章通过科学研究来说明，母鸡和猪也具备情感，也具备分析推理能力。人类不应只将它们当作食物。

1.

推理判断题。根据第二段中When given problems to solve, they reason: hens trained to pick colored buttons choose some times to give up an immediate food reward for a slightly later (and better) one可知，当解决问题时，母鸡们会推理：例如，受过挑选彩色纽扣的训练的母鸡们有时会选择放弃即时的食物奖励，换取稍晚一些（而且更好）的食物奖励。由此可知，母鸡们具备分析能力。故选B。

2.

推理判断题。根据第三段中的“Pigs respond meaningful to human symbols. When a research team led by Candace Croney at Penn State University carried wooden blocks marked with X and O symbols around pigs, only the O carriers offered food to the animals. The pigs soon ignored the X carriers in favor of the O's. Then the team switched from real-life objects to T-shirts printed with X or O symbols. Still, the pigs walked only toward the O-shirted people: they had transferred their knowledge to a two-dimensional format, a not inconsiderable feat of reasoning.”可知猪会对人类的符号做出有意义的反应。宾夕法尼亚州立大学的Candace Croney领导的一个研究小组拿着带X标记的木板，一些研究者拿着带O标记的木板，只有拿带O标记木板的研究者给猪提供食物，猪很快就只理会这些研究者了。当木板换成带X和O标记的衬衫时，猪仍然只走向那些穿带O标记衬衫的研究者。这表明猪将把知识转移到了二维的形式，这是一种相当大的推理壮举。由此可知，对猪的研究表明了猪可以把知识应用到新的情况。故选D。

3.

主旨大意题。根据第四段I’ve been guilty of prejudiced expectations, myself. At the start of my career, I was firmly convinced that monkeys and apes who are from our own mammalian(哺乳动物的) class out-think and out-feel other animals. Fairly soon, I came to see that whales too are masters of cultural learning, and elephants express profound joy and mourning with their social companions. Long-term studies helped to fuel a viewpoint shift in our society: the public no longer so easily accepts monkeys made to undergo painful procedure kin laboratories, elephants forced to perform in circuses, and dolphins kept in small tanks at theme parks.可知我自己也对偏见的期望感到内疚。在我的职业生涯开始时，我坚信来自我们自己的哺乳动物阶级的猴子和猿类比其他动物思维和感觉都好。很快，我发现鲸鱼也是文化学习的大师，大象和它们的社交伙伴表达了深深的喜悦和哀悼。长期的研究帮助推动了我们社会的一种观点转变：公众不再那么容易接受让猴子在同类实验室经历痛苦的过程，大象被迫在马戏团表演，海豚被关在主题公园的小水箱里。由此可知，第四段介绍的是人们对动物看法的转变。故选C。

4.

主旨大意题。根据第一段Science is finally beginning to embrace animals who were, for a long time, considered second-class citizens.可知科学终于开始拥抱那些长期以来被认为是二等公民的动物了。文章第二和第三段以母鸡和猪为例告诉读者：通过科学研究，母鸡和猪也具备情感，也具备分析推理能力。第四段介绍了人们对动物看法的转变。第五和第六段呼吁读者：动物有自己的情感和思想，我们不要只将动物当成我们的食物。结合每段大意可知，该文主要是围绕动物也有情感有思想来展开的。故A选项“食用动物的内心生活”适合做该文标题。故选A。