15.Birds Can"Read"Human Gaze
We all know that people sometimes change their behavior when someone is looking their way.Now,a new study reported online on April 2nd in Current Biology shows that jackdaws-birds related to crows with eyes that appear similar to human eyes-can do the same.
"Jackdaws seem to recognize the eye's role in visual perception,or at the very least they are extremely sensitive to the way that human eyes are oriented(朝向),"said Auguste von Bayern,formerly of the University of Cambridge and now at the University of Oxford.
When presented with a preferred food,hand-raised jackdaws took significantly longer to get the reward when a person was directing his eyes towards the food than when he was looking away,according to the research team led by Nathan Emery of the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University of London.The birds hesitated only when the person was unfamiliar and thus potentially threatening.
In addition,the birds were able to interpret human communicative gestures,such as gaze alternation and pointing,to help them find hidden food,they found.The birds were unsuccessful in using unmoving cues,including eye gaze or head orientation.
Unlike most birds,jackdaws'eyes have a dark pupil surrounded by a silvery white iris.The researchers said they believe jackdaws are probably sensitive to human eyes because,as in humans,eyes are an important means of communication for them.The hand-raised birds examined in the study may be even better than wild jackdaws at attending to human gaze and responding to the gestures of the people who have raised them.
The findings are particularly notable given that most other species investigated so far,including our closest relatives the chimpanzee and"man's best friend,"the dog,are not particularly sensitive to eye orientation and eye gaze,von Bayern said.Rather,she continued,chimps and dogs seem to rely on other cues such as head or body orientation in determining the looking direction of others.The results suggest that birds may deserve more respect for their mental abilities.
"We may have understated the psychological world of birds,"von Bayern said."Jackdaws,among many other birds,form pair ties for life and need to have much in common and work together with their partner,which requires an efficient way of communicating and sensitivity to their partner's viewpoint."
67.A hand-raised jackdaw hesitates to take a preferred food when the feederD.
A.is looking away from the food
B.holds the food in his hand
C.is looking at the food
D.is unfamiliar to the bird
68.According to the researchers,jackdaws can notice human eye orientation probably becauseA.
A.like humans,they also use eyes to communicate
B.they are far more intelligent than other birds
C.they are mostly hand-raised by humans
D.their eyes also have a dark pupil
69.Why does the author refer to chimpanzees and dogs?B
A.To suggest that they are much better at interpreting gaze alternation.
B.To reflect how unique jackdaws are in being able to notice gaze orientation.
C.To show that they communicate more frequently with humans than jackdaws.
D.To make clear that they rely on other means in determining people's intention.
70.What does the research finding uggest?B
A.Not all jackdaws are good at attending to human gaze.
B.We may have understated jackdaws'mental abilities.
C.We know embarrassingly less about birds than we assume.
D.The closer we communicate with animals,the better we understand them.
分析 本文屬于說(shuō)明文閱讀,作者通過(guò)這篇文章主要向我們描述了實(shí)驗(yàn)發(fā)現(xiàn)鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)可以"閱讀"人類(lèi)的凝視,科學(xué)家們推測(cè)也許鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)也是用眼睛交流的,人類(lèi)一直以來(lái)都忽視了鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)的心理世界.
解答 67.D.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)文章第三段"The birds hesitated only when the person was unfamiliar and thus potentially threatening"可知當(dāng)喂食人是不熟悉的人是鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)在面對(duì)喜歡的食物是猶豫之后才吃;故選D.
68.A.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)文章第四段"The researchers said they believe jackdaws are probably sensitive to human eyes because,as in humans,eyes are an important means of communication for them"可知寒鴉可以看到人眼定位可能是因?yàn)橄袢祟?lèi)一眼他們也用眼睛交流;故選A.
69.B.推理判斷題.根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第二段"The results suggest that birds may deserve more respect for their mental abilities"可知作者提到黑猩猩和狗是為了反映了獨(dú)特的寒鴉是能夠注意注視方向;故選B.
70.B.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)文章最后一段"We may have understated the psychological world of birds,"von Bayern said"可知研究結(jié)果表明了我們可能低估了鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)的心理世界;故選B.
點(diǎn)評(píng) 選擇.在做推理判斷題不要以個(gè)人的主觀想象代替文章的事實(shí),要根據(jù)文章事實(shí)進(jìn)行合乎邏輯的推理判斷.考察學(xué)生的細(xì)節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力,做細(xì)節(jié)理解題時(shí)一定要找到文章中的原句,和題干進(jìn)行比較,再做出正確的