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Unit 6
Animal Intelligence
Part I Pre-reading Task
Listen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. What do you know about Michael Jackson?
2. How does he feel about Ben? Why?
3. Do you think the song Ben reveals something about the relationship between man and animals? If so, what is it?
4. Is the song related to the theme of the unit — animal intelligence? How?
Part II
Text A
Food, warmth, sleep? Their thoughts may be much deeper than that.
WHAT ANIMALS REALLY THINK
Euqene Linden
Over the years, I have written extensively about animal-intelligence experiments and the controversy that surrounds them. Do animals really have thoughts, what we call consciousness? Wondering whether there might be better ways to explore animal intelligence than experiments designed to teach human signs, I realized what now seems obvious: if animals can think, they will probably do their best thinking when it serves their own purposes, not when scientists ask them to.
And so I started talking to vets, animal researchers, zoo keepers. Most do not study animal intelligence, but they encounter it, and the lack of it, every day. The stories they tell us reveal what I'm convinced is a new window on animal intelligence: the kind of mental feats animals perform when dealing with captivity and the dominant species on the planet — humans.
Let's Make a Deal
Consider the time Charlene Jendry, a conservationist at the Columbus Zoo, learned that a female gorilla named Colo was handling a suspicious object. Arriving on the scene, Jendry offered Colo some peanuts, only to be met with a blank stare. Realizing they were negotiating, Jendry raised the stakes and offered a piece of pineapple. At this point, while maintaining eye contact, Colo opened her hand and revealed a key chain.
Relieved it was not anything dangerous or valuable, Jendry gave Colo the pineapple. Careful bargainer that she was, Colo then broke the key chain and gave Jendry a link, perhaps figuring. Why give her the whole thing if I can get a bit of pineapple for each piece?
If an animal can show skill in trading one thing for another, why not in handling money? One orangutan named Chantek did just that in a sign-language study undertaken by anthropologist Lyn Miles at the University of Tennessee. Chantek figured out that if he did tasks like cleaning his room, he'd earn coins to spend on treats and rides in Miles's car. But the orangutan's understanding of money seemed to extend far beyond simple dealings. Miles first used plastic chips as coins, but Chantek decided he could expand the money supply by breaking chips in two. When Miles switched to metal chips, Chantek found pieces of tin foil and tried to make copies.
Miles also tried to teach Chantek more virtuous habits such as saving and sharing. Indeed, when I caught up with the orangutan at Zoo Atlanta, where he now lives, I saw an example of sharing that anyone might envy. When Miles gave Chantek some grapes and asked him to share them, Chantek promptly ate all the fruit. Then, as if he'd just remembered he'd been asked to share, he handed Miles the stem.
Tale of a Whale
Why would an animal want to cooperate with a human? Behaviorists would say that animals cooperate when they learn it is in their interest to do so. This is true, but I don't think it goes far enough.
Gail Laule, a consultant on animal behavior, speaks of Orky, a killer whale, she knew. "Of all the animals I've worked with, he was the most intelligent," she says. "He would assess a situation and then do something based on the judgments he made."
Like the time he helped save a family member. When Orky's mate, Corky, gave birth, the baby did not thrive at first, and keepers took the little whale out of the tank by stretcher for emergency care. Things began to go wrong when they returned the baby whale to the tank. As the workers halted the stretcher a few meters above the water, the baby suddenly began throwing up through its mouth. The keepers feared it would choke, but they could not reach the baby to help it.
Apparently sizing up the problem, Orky swam under the stretcher and allowed one of the men to stand on his head, something he'd never been trained to do. Then, using his tail to keep steady, Orky let the keeper reach up and release the 420-pound baby so that it could slide into the water within reach of help.
Primate Shell Game
Sometimes evidence of intelligence can be seen in attempts to deceive. Zoo keeper Helen Shewman of Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo recalls that one day she dropped an orange through a feeding hole for Melati, an orangutan. Instead of moving away to get it, Melati looked Shewman in the eye and held out her hand. Thinking the orange must have rolled off somewhere inaccessible, Shewman gave her another one. But when Melati moved off, Shewman noticed the original orange was hidden in her other hand.
Towan, the colony's dominant male, watched this whole trick, and the next day he, too, looked Shewman in the eye and pretended that he had not yet received an orange. "Are you sure you don't have one?" Shewman asked. He continued to hold her gaze steadily and held out his hand. Giving in, she gave him another one, then saw that he had been hiding his orange underneath his foot.
What is intelligence anyway? If life is about survival of a species — and intelligence is meant to serve that survival — then we can't compare with pea-brained sea turtles, which were here long before us and survived the disaster that wiped out the dinosaurs. Still, it is comforting to realize that other species besides our own can stand back and assess the world around them, even if their horizons are more limited than ours.
(928 words)
New Words and Expressions
extensively
ad. to a large extent, or in a large amount 广泛地；大量地
intelligence
n. 智力
intelligent
a. 聪明的，有才智的
controversy
n. 争论，争议
surround
vt. be or go all around (sth. or sb.) 围绕；包围
consciousness
n. 意识
explore
vt. examine thoroughly, learn about 探究，探索
obvious
a. easy to see and understand; clear 明显的
vet
n. 兽医
encounter
vt. meet, esp. unexpectedly 遇到，遭遇
reveal
vt. make (sth.) known 展示；揭露
convince
vt. make (sb.) feel sure by the use of argument or evidence 使确信，使信服
feat▲
n. 技艺；业绩，功绩
captivity
n. 被俘；监禁；束缚
dominant
a. ruling; most important or strongest 统治的；占优势的
species
n. （单复同）物种
make a deal
reach an agreement or arrangement, esp. in business or politics 达成交易
conservationist
n. 自然资源保护论者
female
a. 雌的；女（性）的
n. 雌性的动物或植物；女人
gorilla
n. 大猩猩
suspicious▲
a. causing or showing a feeling that sth. is wrong 可疑的；猜疑的
peanut▲
n. 花生
blank
a. without expression; without writing, or other marks 没有表情的；空白
negotiate
vi. discuss in order to come to an agreement 谈判，协商
stake
n. (usu.pl) 奖品；奖金；赌注
pineapple
n. 凤梨，菠萝
maintain
vt. continue to do or have (sth.) 保持；继续
relieve
vt. free (sb.) from pain, anxiety, etc.; ease (pain, anxiety, etc.) 使减轻痛苦或焦虑等；减轻（痛苦或焦虑等）
link
n. 链环；环节；联系
v. join or connect 联系，连接
orangutan
n. 猩猩
undertake
vt. (undertook, undertaken) carry out; take upon oneself (a task, etc.) 从事；承担（任务等）
anthropologist
n. 人类学者
figure out
understand; reason out 理解；推断出
extend
v. (cause to) stretch or reach; make larger or longer 延伸，伸展；扩大；加长
dealing
n. (usu.pl) business relations 交易，买卖
plastic
a. 塑料的
chip
n. 薄片；碎片；集成电路片
expand
v. (cause to) grow larger 扩大，扩展
switch
v. change; shift 转换，变换
foil▲
n. 金属薄片，箔
virtuous
a. showing moral goodness 有道德的；善良的
envy
vt., n. 妒忌；羡慕
grape
n. 葡萄
promptly
ad. immediately 立即地
stem
n. 茎，（树）干，（叶）梗
whale
n. 鲸
cooperate
vi. act or work together 合作，协作
behaviorist
n. 行为主义者
in sb.'s interest(s)
to sb.'s advantage 为了某人的利益
go far
help very much; achieve much success 帮助很大；很有成效
consultant
n. 顾问
behavior
n. the way one acts or behaves 举止，行为
assess
vt. judge the quality, importance or worth of 评估，估量
judgment
n. 判断；意见，看法
mate
n. 配偶；伙伴，同事
thrive
vi. grow strong and healthy; develop well 茁壮成长；兴旺
at first
at the beginning 起先
stretcher
n. 担架
emergency
n. an unexpected and dangerous happening which must be dealt with at once 紧急情况；突然事件
go wrong
stop developing well 有毛病，出故障
halt
v. (cause to) stop 停住，停止
throw up
(infml) vomit 呕吐
apparently
ad. it is clear (that) 明显地
size up
carefully examine (a situation or person) in order to make a judgement 估量，判断
release
vt. set free 释放
slide
v. (cause to) move smoothly along a surface （使）滑动
primate
n. 灵长目动物
evidence
n. sth. that gives a reason for believing sth.; trace 证据；迹象
deceive
v. try to make(sb.) believe sth. that is false 欺骗
inaccessible
a. very difficult or impossible to reach 达不到的；难得到的
original
a. first or earliest 最初的；原始的
colony
n. （生长在同一地方的动物或植物）群，群体；殖民地
male
n. 雄性动物或植物；男子
a. 雄的；男（性）的
gaze
n., v. 凝视，注视
give in
让步；屈服；投降
underneath
prep., ad. under or below 在…下面，在…底下
pea-brained
a. 笨的
turtle
n. （海）龟
survive
v. remain alive in spite of; continue to live or exist after 幸免于；继续存在，幸存
survival n.
disaster
n. an event causing great suffering and damage 灾难
wipe out
get rid of or destroy 消灭，消除
dinosaur
n. 恐龙
horizon
n. 眼界，见识；地平线
Proper Names
Ugene Linden
尤金·林登
Charlene Jendry
查伦·延德里
Columbus Zoo
哥伦布动物园
Colo
科洛（文中指动物名）
Chantek
夏特克（文中指动物名）
Lyn Miles
琳·迈尔斯
University of Tennessee
田纳西大学
Zoo Atlanta
亚特兰大动物园
Gail Laule
盖尔·劳尔
Orky
奥基（文中指动物名）
Corky
科基（文中指动物名）
Helen Shewman
海伦·休曼
Seattle
西雅图（美国华盛顿州西部港市）
Woodland Park Zoo
伍德兰公园动物园
Melati
梅拉蒂（文中指动物名）
Towan
托温（文中指动物名） |