15.Very mobile ears help many animals direct their attention to the rustle of a possible attacker.Researchers say these mobile ears have become a useful communication tool.Their studies of animal behaviour build up a picture of how communication and social skills developed.
"We're interested in how they communicate,"said lead researcher Jennifer Wathan."And being sensitive to what another individual is thinking is a fundamental skill from which other more complex skills develop."
Ms Wathan and her colleague Prof Karen McComb set up a behavioural experiment where 72individual horses had to use visual cues from another horse in order to choose where to feed.They led each horse to a point where it had to select one of two buckets.On a wall behind this decision-making spot was a life-sized photograph of a horse's head facing either to left or right.In some of the trials,the horses'ears or eyes were covered.
If the ears and eyes of the horse in the picture were visible,the horses being tested would choose the bucket towards which its gaze-and its ears-were directed.If the horse in the picture had either its eyes or its ears covered,the horse being tested would just choose a feed bucket at random.
Like many mammals that are hunted by predators(捕食者),horses can rotate(旋轉(zhuǎn))their ears through almost 180degrees-but Ms Wathan said that in our"human-centric"view of the world,we had overlooked the importance of these very mobile ears in animal communication.
"It seems there's something in the visual cues-from both the eyes and the ears-that are really important,"she told BBC News."Horses have quite rich social lives and relationships with other horses,so they're a good species to look at this in."And the more we look at communication across different species,the more we can consider what might have promoted the evolution of sophisticated communication and social skills."
32.Why does a horse rotate its ears?C
A.To tell each other where they can go for the buckets.
B.To be curious about what the other horse is thinking.
C.To warn the other horse when an attacker is coming closer.
D.To express its hope to build up social relations with others.
33.Why did the researchers use the life-sized photograph of a horse in the experiment?D
A.To help develop horses'complex skills.
B.To lead other horses to feed themselves.
C.To make the horses in the experiment excited.
D.To provide clues for the horses in the experiment.
34.Why are ears and eyes important to horses?C
A.They can find the feeding buckets more easily with ears and eyes.
B.With ears and eyes they can escape from dangers more easily.
C.With ears and eyes they can communicate with other horses.
D.Horses have quite rich social lives with ears and eyes.
35.What can be the best title of the passage?A
A.Rotary Ears Serve as Communication Tools.
B.Horses Have More Social Skills than Other Species.
C.Experiments with Horses'Ears.
D.Fundamental Skills of Horses.
分析 本文屬于說明文閱讀,作者通過這篇文章主要向我們描述了通過研究馬的交流方式,發(fā)現(xiàn)馬兒轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)耳朵可以與另外的馬兒交流;由此可見耳朵也是動(dòng)物的一種交流工具.
解答 32.C.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)文章第一段"Very mobile ears help many animals direct their attention to the rustle of a possible attacker"可推測,馬兒轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)耳朵的目的是警告另外的馬兒,有狩獵者正在靠近;故選C.
33.D.推理判斷題.根據(jù)文章第四段"If the ears and eyes of the horse in the picture were visible,the horses being tested would choose the bucket towards which its gaze-and its ears-were directed.If the horse in the picture had either its eyes or its ears covered,the horse being tested would just choose a feed bucket at random"可知研究結(jié)果是馬兒可以通過耳朵交流,因策利用馬的圖片是為其他的馬提供信息交流線索的;故選D.
34.C.推理判斷題.根據(jù)文章最后一段"It seems there's something in the visual cues-from both the eyes and the ears-that are really important"可推測出馬是一種善于交際的動(dòng)物,馬耳朵的轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)是一種重要的交際方式;故選C.
35.A.主旨大意題.通讀全文可知,本文主要介紹了一項(xiàng)研究,馬耳朵是馬的一種交流工具;因此可判斷最合適的標(biāo)題為作為通訊工具的旋轉(zhuǎn)式耳朵;故選A.
點(diǎn)評 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.