1 . As Frans de Waal, a primatologist (灵长动物学家), recognizes, a better way to think about other creatures would be to ask ourselves how different species have developed different kinds of minds to solve different adaptive problems. Surely the important question is not whether animals can do the same things humans can, but how those animals solve the cognitive (认知的) problems they face, like how to imitate the sea floor. Children and some animals are so interesting not because they are smart like us, but because they are smart in ways we haven’t even considered.
Sometimes studying children’s ways of knowing can cast light on adult-human cognition. Children’s pretend play may help us understand our adult taste for fiction. De Waal’s research provides another interesting example. We human beings tend to think that our social relationships are rooted in our perceptions, beliefs, and desires, and our understanding of the perceptions, beliefs, and desires of others — what psychologists call our “theory of mind.” In the 80s and 90s, developmental psychologists showed that pre-schoolers and even infants understand minds apart from their own. But it was hard to show that other animals did the same. “Theory of mind” became a candidate for the special, uniquely human trick.
Yet de Waal’s studies show that chimps (黑猩猩) possess a remarkably developed political intelligence — they are much interested in figuring out social relationships. It turns out, as de Waal describes, that chimps do infer something about what other chimps see. But experimental studies also suggest that this happens only in a competitive political context. The evolutionary anthropologist (人类学家) Brain Hare and his colleagues gave a junior chimp a choice between pieces of food that a dominant chimp had seen hidden and other pieces it had not seen hidden. The junior chimp, who watched all the hiding, stayed away from the food the dominant chimp had seen, but took the food it hadn’t seen.
Anyone who has gone to an academic conference will recognize that we may be in the same situation. We may say that we sign up because we’re eager to find out what other human beings think, but we’re just as interested in who’s on top. Many of the political judgments we make there don’t have much to do with our theory of mind. We may show our respect to a famous professor even if we have no respect for his ideas.
Until recently, however, there wasn’t much research into how humans develop and employ this kind of political knowledge. It may be that we understand the social world in terms of dominance, like chimps, but we’re just not usually as politically motivated as they are. Instead of asking whether we have a better everyday theory of mind, we might wonder whether they have a better everyday theory of politics.
1. According to the first paragraph, which of the following shows that an animal is smart?A.It can behave like a human kid. |
B.It can imitate what human beings do. |
C.It can find a solution to its own problem. |
D.It can figure out those adaptive problems. |
A.We talk with infants in a way that they can fully understand. |
B.We make guesses at what others think while interacting with them. |
C.We hide our emotions when we try establishing contact with a stranger. |
D.We try to understand how kids’ pretend play affects our taste for fiction. |
A.Neither human nor animals display their preference for dominance. |
B.Animals living in a competitive political context are smarter. |
C.Both humans and some animals have political intelligence. |
D.Humans are more interested in who’s on top than animals. |
A.we know little about how chimps are politically motivated |
B.our political knowledge doesn’t always determine how we behave |
C.our theory of mind might enable us to understand our theory of politics |
D.more research should be conducted to understand animals’ social world |
A.Because it’s hard to get away from digital clocks. |
B.Because we all have our own internal clocks. |
C.Because lost time cannot be gotten back. |
D.Because we are all running around. |
A.By looking up at the sky and doing the math. |
B.By observing the varying position of heavenly bodies. |
C.By inventing timekeeping machines. |
D.By estimating the temperatures in different times of a day. |
A.To avoid the seasonal disaster. | B.To know when to rain. |
C.To help improve farming. | D.To figure out when to harvest crops. |
A.Limiting what we do strictly. | B.Damaging what we do. |
C.Affecting our outlook on life. | D.Influencing our work slightly. |
A.At home. | B.In a studio. | C.In office. | D.At school. |
A.An English programme. | B.Something annoying. |
C.An expression. | D.A goat, called Fred. |
A.Neil’s goat is really a mad goat, a trouble maker. |
B.Neil really makes Feifei mad. |
C.Neil’s goat was really annoying to everyone. |
D.Neil’s goat annoys Feifei due to its smell. |
A.Your best friend told you that he’s past the driving test. |
B.Some cars are blowing their horns when you are doing a test inside. |
C.You are riding a bicycle with your classmates in the street. |
D.Your neighbour brings you a cake because it is her daughter’s birthday. |
4 . The secrets of long life
A long healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good
Sardinians
Why do they live so long?
These Sardinians also benefit from their
Adventists
The study found that the Adventists’ habit of consuming beans, soy milk, tomatoes, and other fruits
Okinawans
The first thing you notice about Ushi Okushima is her
With an average life expectancy of 78 years for men and 86 years for women, Okinawans are among the world’s longest lived people. This is undoubtedly due in part to Okinawans warm and
A lean diet of food grown on the island and a philosophy of
A.habits | B.parents | C.efforts | D.secrets |
A.Companion | B.Lifestyle | C.Environment | D.Birthplace |
A.unique | B.fantastic | C.genetic | D.religious |
A.curious about | B.connected with | C.fond of | D.senior to |
A.Inheritance | B.Gene | C.Nutrition | D.Peace |
A.accepted | B.evaluated | C.increased | D.lowered |
A.surprisingly | B.originally | C.unexpectedly | D.miserably |
A.dressing | B.identification | C.laugh | D.expression |
A.proposes | B.assumes | C.jokes | D.denies |
A.Aggressive | B.Violent | C.Disorderly | D.Predictable |
A.changing | B.inviting | C.extreme | D.tropical |
A.suffering from | B.overcoming | C.free from | D.recovering |
A.moderation | B.feasibility | C.evolution | D.identification |
A.wealth | B.hardship | C.orphan | D.harmony |
A.died of | B.satisfied | C.experienced | D.kept off |
The world’s
Now 66 years old, professor Yacoub still retains his energy and extraordinary enthusiasm for his career. For 43 years, he has dealt with desperate patients whose combination of poor diet, inactive lifestyle and stress overload have caused them to ask for his help.
Professor Yacoub’s life is always hectic (狂热的).
For relaxation, professor Yacoub enjoys
A.Because the manager asked him to do so. |
B.Because the elderly were respected in his hometown culture. |
C.Because the couple wanted him to do so. |
D.Because he wanted more pay. |
A.He lost his job in the restaurant. |
B.He made friends with the couple. |
C.He no longer respected the elderly. |
D.He changed his way with older people. |
A.The more the speaker explained, the angrier the couple got. |
B.The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple. |
C.From this experience, the speaker learned more about American culture. |
D.The speaker wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience. |
A.The U.S. is not one of the happiest countries in the world. |
B.The U. S experienced a decline in happiness only from 2005 to 2007. |
C.The U. S. is not included in the top 10 happiest countries. |
D.The U. S. is among the 47 countries experiencing a decline in happiness. |
A.Greece. | B.Burundi. | C.Denmark. | D.Australia. |
A.Quality education. | B.Safety from crime. |
C.Good health. | D.Wealth. |
8 . The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”
“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders---“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one---including you ---would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”
Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”
“If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”
Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.
“Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”
He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”
“It’s our clients---people who trusted us---who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock.
1. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means____.A.He filled his name on the Jax report quickly. |
B.Alex signed his name to the Jax report quickly. |
C.He offered the FMA president the Jax report smartly. |
D.He prepared the Jax report for Patterton to sign smartly. |
A.SuNatCo would bring the stock market down if it sold all the Supranational stock they held. |
B.The president was stubborn and would never listen to others. |
C.Alex will take the place of Patterton in the future. |
D.the clients would take a bigger beating than the bank |
A.the old stock can be bought and sold |
B.shares can be bought and sold |
C.paper stock can be bought and sold |
D.some of the stock can be taken without being paid for |
A.free from danger | B.short of wood |
C.running out of wood | D.set free |
A. faith B. support C. instantly D. establishments E. available F. thoroughly G. entitled H. reflect I. arise J. represent K. unrealistic |
Zoos were originally created as places of entertainment, and their suggested involvement with conservation didn’t seriously
The WZCS estimates that there are about 10000 zoos in the world, of which around 1000
The second flaw in the reasoning of the WZCS document is its naive
10 . There are still many things that Peter Cooke would like to try his hand at--paper-making and feather-work are on his list. For the moment though, he will stick to the skill that he has been delighted to perfect over the past ten years: making delicate and unusual objects out of shells.
“Tell me if I am boring you,” he says, as he leads me round his apartment showing me his work. There is a fine line between being a bore and being an enthusiast, but Cooke need not worry: he fits into the latter category, helped both by his charm and by the beauty of the things he makes.
He points to a pair of shell-covered ornaments (装饰品) above a fireplace. “I shan’t be at all bothered if people don’t buy them because I have got so used to them, and to me they’re adorable. I never meant to sell my work commercially. Some friends came to see me about five years ago and said, ‘You must have an exhibition--people ought to see these. We’ll talk to a man who owns an art gallery’”. The result was an exhibition in London, at which 70 per cent of the objects were sold. His second exhibition opened at the gallery yesterday. Considering the enormous prices that the pieces command—around $2,000 for the ornament—an empty space above the fireplace would seem a small sacrifice for Cooke to make.
There are 86 pieces in the exhibition, with prices starting at £225 for a shell--flower in a crystal vase. Cooke insists that he has nothing to do with the prices and is cheerily open about their level: he claims there is nobody else in the world who produces work like his, and, as the gallery-owner told him, “Well, you’re going to stop one day and everybody will want your pieces because there won’t be any more.”
Cooke has created his own method and uses materials as and when he finds them. He uses the cardboard sent back with laundered shirts for his flower bases, a nameless glue bought from a sail-maker (‘If it runs out, I don’t know what I will do!’) and washing-up liquid to wash the shells. “I have an idea of what I want to do and it just does itself,” he says of his working method, yet the attention to detail, colour gradations and symmetry (对称) he achieves look far from accidental.
1. What can be learned about Peter Cooke from the first paragraph?A.He has produced objects with different materials. |
B.He was praised for his shell objects many years ago. |
C.He hopes to work with other materials in the future. |
D.He has written about his love for shell objects. |
A.is attracted by Cooke’s personality |
B.realizes he finds Cooke’s work boring |
C.feels uncertain about giving Cooke his opinion |
D.senses that Cooke wants his products to be admired |
A.the loss of Cooke’s ornaments |
B.the display of Cooke’s ornaments |
C.the cost of keeping Cooke’s ornaments |
D.the space required to store Cooke’s ornaments |
A.is unaware of the unique quality his work has |
B.accepts that he sometimes makes mistakes |
C.undervalues the materials that he uses |
D.underrates his creative contribution |