首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
In 1977 Irene Pepperberg did something very bold. At a time when animals still were considered automatic in behavior, she set ou
In 1977 Irene Pepperberg did something very bold. At a time when animals still were considered automatic in behavior, she set ou
admin
2013-12-04
48
问题
In 1977 Irene Pepperberg did something very bold. At a time when animals still were considered automatic in behavior, she set out to find out what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it.
At that time, many scientists believed animals were incapable of any thought. They were simply machines, robots programmed to react to stimuli but lacking the ability to think or feel. "That’s why I started my studies with Alex," Pepperberg said. Alex was a one-year-old African gray parrot Pepperberg bought in a Chicago pet store. She let the store’s assistant pick him out because she didn’t want other scientists saying later that she’d intentionally chosen an especially smart bird for her work. Given that Alex’s brain was the size of a shelled walnut, most researchers thought Pepperberg’s interspecies communication study would fail.
Under Pepperberg’s patient instruction, Alex learned how to use his vocal tract to imitate almost one hundred English words. They were clearly a team— and because of their work, the notion that animals can think is no longer so fanciful. Since Alex was able to produce a close approximation of the sounds of some English words, Pepperberg could ask him questions about a bird’s basic understanding of the world. Of course she couldn’t ask him what he was thinking about, but she could ask him about his knowledge of numbers, shapes, and colors. To demonstrate, Pepperberg took a green key and a small green cup from a basket on a shelf. She held up the two items to Alex’s eye.
"What’s same?" she asked.
Without hesitation, Alex’s said. "Co-lor."
"What’s different?" Pepperberg asked.
"Shape," Alex said. His voice had the digitized sound of a cartoon character. But the words—and what can only be called the thoughts—were entirely his.
And, then, as if to offer final proof of the mind inside his bird’s brain, Alex spoke up. "Talk clearly!" he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching mispronounced the word green. "Talk clearly!" "They need to be able to distinguish colors to know when a fruit is ripe or unripe," Pepperberg noted. "They need to know the shapes of their enemies. And it helps to have a concept of numbers if you need to keep track of your flock. For a long-lived bird, you can’t do all of this with instinct;
cognition
must be involved."
How did other scientists view Pepperberg’s study at first?
选项
A、It would be a long-term project.
B、It would probably be a fruitless effort.
C、It would be hard to judge its value.
D、It would be an interesting attempt.
答案
B
解析
第二段最后一句说,鉴于Alex的大脑只有桃仁大小,多数研究人员都认为Irene Pepperberg的研究会失败,最后无功而返。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/dOSYFFFM
0
研究生英语学位课统考(GET)
相关试题推荐
Adolescentsaretakinglongertobecomefullyproductivemembersofsociety,ReedLarson,professorofhumandevelopment,Univer
Althoughspeechandwritingarethespecialmeansofcommunicatingofhumans,theinterchangealsotakesplaceinmanyotherway
Thelong-termfortunesofthemoderneconomydependinpartonthestrengthandsustainabilityofthefamily,bothinrelationt
Agreatdealofattentionisbeingpaidtodaytotheso-calleddigitaldivide—thedivisionoftheworldintotheinfo(informatio
Beingamanhasalwaysbeendangerous.Thereareabout105malesbornforevery100females,butthisratiodropstonearbalanc
I’msurprisedatthere______anindex.
"Whatcoursesareyougoingtodonextsemester?"(北京大学2008年试题)"Idon’tknow.Butit’sabouttime______onsomething."
Surveysshowthat______lesssleepthanwethink,______toomuchsleepcouldevenharmourhealth.(北京大学2005年试题)
TheymovedtoPortlandin1998andlivedinabighouse,______tothesouth.(北京大学2006年试题)
Readthefollowingpassagecarefullyandthenparaphrasethenumberedandunderlinedparts.(’’Paraphrase"means"toexplainthe
随机试题
概述20世纪以来国际关系格局以及这一格局下的历史影响。(江西师范大学2014年世界通史真题)
确定尘肺及其分期的主要方法是()。
弗谢,入闺。(《管晏列传》)谢:闺:
关于局域网的叙述不正确的是_____。
成年人脑电图α波在
A.沉淀反应B.凝集反应C.补体参与的反应D.中和反应E.溶血反应凝胶电泳技术的反应类型
早在西周就形成了居当时世界先进水平的“礼、乐、射、御、书、数”的六艺教育。其中_______和_______是当时的军事技能。
关于罪过,下列说法正确的是()。
成语是习用的固定词组,在汉语中多数由四个字组成。“四字格”是汉语成语的常见形式,也是汉语使用者最喜欢的形式之一。吕叔湘先生曾这样指出:“四音节好像一直都是汉语使用者非常爱好的语音段落。最早的诗集《诗经》里的诗以四音为主。启蒙课本的《千字文》、《百
A、Deathsofsomediseasesdroppedgreatly.B、40-year-oldshavelesslikelihoodtohavehighbloodpressure.C、40-year-oldsarem
最新回复
(
0
)