Question

Working with a group of baboons (狒狒) in the Namibian desert, Dr. Alecia Carter of the Department of Zoology, Cambridge University set baboons learning tasks involving a novel food and a familiar food hidden in a box. Some baboons were given the chance to watch another baboon who already knew how to solve the task, while others had to learn for themselves. To work out how brave or anxious the baboons were, Dr. Carter presented them either with a novel food or a threat in the form of a model of a poisonous snake.

She found that personality had a major impact on learning. The braver baboons learnt, but the shy ones did not learn the task although they watched the baboon perform the task of finding the novel food just as long as the brave ones did. In effect, despite being made aware of what to do, they were still too shy to do what the experienced baboon did.

The same held true for anxious baboons compared with calm ones. The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.

This mismatch between collecting social information and using it shows that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something that has previously been ignored in studies on how animals learn to do things. The findings are significant because they suggest that animals may perform poorly in cognitive (認 知的)tasks not because they aren’t clever enough to solve them，but because they are too shy or nervous to use the social information.

The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning. If some individuals are unable to get information from others because they don’t associate with the knowledgeable individuals, or they are too shy to use the information once they have it, information may not travel between all group members, preventing the formation of a culture based on social learning.

1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A.The design of Dr. Carter’s research.

B.The results of Dr. Carter’s research.

C.The purpose of Dr. Carter’s research.

D.The significance of Dr. Carter’s research.

2.According to the research, which baboons are more likely to complete a new learning task?

A.Those that have more experience.

B.Those that can avoid potential risks.

C.Those that like to work independently.

D.Those that feel anxious about learning.

3.Which best illustrates the “mismatch” mentioned in Paragraph 4?

A.Some baboons are intelligent but slow in learning.

B.Some baboons are shy but active in social activities.

C.Some baboons observe others but don’t follow them.

D.Some baboons perform new tasks but don’t concentrate.

4.Dr. Carter’s findings indicate that our culture might be formed through ______.

A.storing information

B.learning from each other

C.understanding different people

D.travelling between social groups

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要講述了Alecia Carter教授和一群狒狒工作在一起，根據(jù)Cambridge University設置的一項狒狒學習任務，關(guān)于藏在一個盒子里的新鮮的和熟食品。一些狒狒可以看其他的狒狒怎么做，而另外的一些只能自己去學。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，個性會影響學習。勇敢的狒狒會學，而害羞的狒狒盡管看見其他狒狒像勇敢的狒狒那樣發(fā)現(xiàn)新鮮的食物，自己也學不會，而這個事實也隱藏在焦慮的狒狒和冷靜的狒狒之間。

1. Carter是怎樣設計這項研究的，故選A。

2. anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.意思是：這些焦慮的狒狒通過觀察他人，當這些感到輕松的狒狒卻沒有（觀察他人），盡管他們花費更多的時間去觀察�？芍�更適合完成新任務的是這些焦慮的狒狒。故選D。

3. mismatch”指的是第三段中的 “…while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching”，根據(jù)這句話可知，有些狒狒只看著別的狒狒做而自己并不按它們的做法去做，故選C。

4. findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning”可知，我們的文化可能是通過相互之間的學習而形成的，故選B。

考點：考查說明文閱讀