Urging bored friends to keep playing with you is not limited to humans. A gorilla (大猩猩) that wants to continue a game will also

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问题        Urging bored friends to keep playing with you is not limited to humans. A gorilla (大猩猩) that wants to continue a game will also try to do this, and will even deliberately lose if necessary. This hints that gorillas may have "theory of mind"--the capacity to attribute mental states to others.
Richard Byrne and Joanne Tanner of St. Andrews University in the UK videoed gorillas at San Francisco Zoo. As well as engaging with a toy and another gorilla, the animals seemed aware of how their playmate was interacting with the toy. "The gorillas could encourage their playmates when they were losing interest by losing the game, if necessarily," says Byrne.
      This is the first time animals have been observed following a playmate’s interaction with a third object a skill picked up by humans at 9 months old. If you thought your pet dog does this, you’re wrong. With dogs, cats, lions and bears the animal wants to win the game, rather than keep it going. Byrne says," This is different to throwing a stick for your pet dog."
      Because the gorillas seem to be taking account of the thoughts of others. They are showing some theory of mind competence, says Byrne, although they do not pass a theory-of-mind test called the false belief test, which looks at the ability to infer another’s perspective.
      In the false belief test, two individuals are shown playing with a toy, before placing it in a box. After one of them leaves the room, the other person moves the toy and places it in a bag. When the first person re-turns to the room, where will they look for the toy? Those with theory of mind--the ability to infer another’s perspective will know that the first person will look in the box. Children younger than 4 or 5 have yet to develop theory of mind and think the person will look in the bag in the false belief test. Similar false belief tests that don’t require language can be set up for animals.
      Felix Warneken at Harvard University agrees the study provides "promising evidence" for collaborative behaviour in gorillas. However, Josep Call, at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, says he has seen this behaviour in chimpanzees before.
      Iona Stewart at ZSL London Zoo, who has been looking after captive gorillas for 13 years, says there is "no question" that gorillas have theory of mind. "Anyone who spends time with gorillas will have known this for years," she says. "Not a day goes by when you don’t see some examples of this sort of behaviour." The typical gorilla’s sense of humour, Stewart says, is schadenfreud. One gorilla she knew would poke a stick at strangers then look the other way and laugh. "If they could whistle, they’d be whistling, but they’re not quite clever enough to get away with it."  
The study by Richard Byrne and Joanne Tanner of St. Andrews University in the UK implies that ______.

选项 A、gorillas could encourage their playmates to win the game
B、gorillas could be aware of others’ mental states
C、kids are observed following others’ interaction with a third object
D、theory of mind is shared between dogs, cats and gorillas

答案B

解析 推理判断题。由原文可知,在科学家的实验中,大猩猩可以意识到伙伴与玩具互动的情况,结合第一段最后一句,可以了解到大猩猩的这种能力与心理理论能力有关,而这种心理理论能力可以推测别人的心理状况。所以B)“大猩猩能够意识到别人的心理状况”为正确答案。避错 文中提到了大猩猩会鼓励自己的玩伴赢得比赛,但是这只是此项研究发现的事实,并不是经过推测后得到的判断,故排除A);Byrne的研究只是针对黑猩猩,并没有提到孩子,故排除C);第三段指明,大猩猩是第一种表现出这种能力的动物,而猫、狗等其他动物并没有心理理论能力,故排除D)。
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