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UNIT 6
Text A
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, think about the questions.
1. What makes human beings different from animals?
A. The ability to use tools.
B. The learning and sharing of behavior.
c. The use of language.
2. Do you think animals have a culture? If yes, give an example.
Now read the passage and compare your answers with the author's.
Do Animals Have a Culture?
1. Lately social scientists have begun to ask if culture is found just in humans, or if some animals have culture too. When we speak of culture, we mean a way of life a group of people have in common. Culture includes the beliefs and attitudes we learn. It is the patterns of behaviour that help people to live together. It is also the patterns of behaviour that make one group of people different from another group.
2. Our culture lets us make up for having lost our strength, claws, long teeth, and other defenses. Instead, we use tools, cooperate with one another, and communicate in language. But these aspects of human behaviour, or "culture", can also be found in the lives of certain animals.
3. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals. Lately, however, we have found that this is not the case. Chimpanzees can not only use tools but actually make tools themselves. This is a major step up from simply picking up a handy object and using it. For example, chimps have been seen stripping the leaves and twigs off a branch, then putting it into a termite nest. When the termites bite at the stick, the chimp removes it and eats them off the end -- not unlike our use of a fork!
4. For some time we thought that although human beings learned their culture, animals could not be taught such behaviour. Or even if they could learn, they would not teach one another in the way people do. This too has proven to be untrue. A group of Japanese monkeys was studied at the Kyoto University Monkey Centre in Japan. They were given sweet potatoes by scientists who wanted to attract them to the shore of an island. One day a young female began to wash her sweet potato to get rid of the sand. This practice soon spread throughout the group. It became learned behaviour, not from humans but from other monkeys. Now almost all monkeys who have not come into contact with this group do not. Thus we have a "cultural" difference among animals.
5. We have ruled out tool use and invention as ways of telling animal behaviour from human behaviour. We have also ruled out learning and sharing of behaviour. Yet we still have held onto the last feature -- language. But even the use of language can no longer separate human culture from animal culture: Attempts to teach apes to speak have failed. However, this is because apes do not have the proper vocal organs. But teaching them language has been very successful if we are willing to accept other forms than just the spoken word. Two psychologists trained a chimpanzee named Washoe to use Standard American Sign Language. This is the same language used by deaf people. In this language, "talk" is made through gestures, and not by spelling out words with individual letters. By the time she was five years old, Washoe had a vocabulary of 130 signs. Also, she could put them together in new ways that had not been taught her originally. This means she could create language and not just copy it. She creates her own sentences that have real meaning. This has allowed two-way talk. It permits more than one-way command and response.
6. Of course, there are limits to the culture of animals. As far as we know, no ape has formed social institutions such as religion, law, or economics. Also, some chimps may be able to learn sign language; but this form of language is limited in its ability to communicate abstract ideas. Yet with a spoken language we can communicate our entire culture to anyone else who knows that language. Perhaps the most important thing we have learned from studies of other animals is that the line dividing us from them is not as clear as we used to think.
New Words
lately
ad. recently 近来，最近
attitude
n. a way of feeling, thinking or behaving 态度，看法
behaviour
n. the way of behaving; manners (good or bad) 行为，举止，品行
claw
n. （鸟、兽、昆虫等的）爪
defense/defence
n. 防御能力，防御（物）
cooperate
v. to work or act together with another or others 合作
handy
a. 1. not far away 手边的，近便的
2. convenient; useful 方便的，便利的
chimpn. [口语]黑猩猩(=chimpanzee)
strip
v. to take off (coverings, clothes, parts, etc.) 剥去，除去
twig
n. a small shoot on or at the end of a branch 小枝，嫩枝
nest
n. 窝，巢，穴
unlike
prep. not like; different from 不像，不同
female
n. 1.雌性动物
2.女子
a. 1.雌(性)的
2.女(性)的
rid
v. (rid, rid)to make free 使摆脱,从...清除
attempt
n. a try 试图,企图,尝试
v. to try (to do something) 尝试,试图
successful
a. having success 成功的
chimpanzee
n. 黑猩猩
vocabulary
n. a list or collection of words 词汇(量)
command
n. 1. an order 命令,指令
2. the ability to control and use 控制,运用能力
economics
n. 经济学
Phrases and Expressions
speak of
谈起，提到
in common
共同
different from
与...不同,不同于
make up for
补偿,弥补
cooperate with
与...合作/相配合
strip off
剥去
get rid of
除去
come into contact with
与...接触,接触到
rule out
排除在外
hold onto
保持,继续
tell...from
区别
separate...from
区分
be willing to
愿意,乐意
spell out
拼(写)出(词的字母)
Proper Names
the Kyoto University Monkey Center
京都大学猴子研究中心
Washoe
一黑猩猩名
Text B
PRE-READING TASK
Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, think about the questions.
1. Have you ever heard of I.P. Pavlov, a famous Russian scientist?
2. What was the important theory he developed?
Now read the passage to learn more about Pavlov.
Animal Learning: Pavlov and Beyond
1. Much of an animal's behaviour depends on what it inherits from its parents, that is, on instincts. These do not change according to circumstances. Behaviour which is learned, on the other hand, does vary and can adapt to different conditions.
2. All animals can learn, but learning is easier for some species than for others. Worms and octopuses, for example, learn much more slowly than mice. Some species (chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants, for instance) are famous for their ability to learn and to remember. And interestingly in all species, including man of course, learning is easier for some than for others.
3. I.P. Pavlov (1849-1936), a famous Russian scientist, found that dogs associated the sound of a bell with food if they always received food after hearing a bell. Of course, when they see food, most animals salivate. Pavlov discovered that, after a time, salivating occurred when the dogs heard the bell, even if there was no food. This was because conditioning had taken place. He called this kind of reaction a conditioned reflex.
4. However, Pavlov also found that the effect of conditioning disappeared gradually if there was no reward (that is, the dogs stopped salivating if on many occasions the bell rang but no food followed). This showed that reinforcing the animals' conditioned behaviour was very important.
5. Learning through conditioned reflexes is not the only kind of learning that animals are capable of. In laboratory experiments with rats, for instance, it has been proved that those which are brought up in a very "limited" (boring) environment find it more difficult to learn things later than those which are brought up in "stimulating" environments, with more things to do (like climbing ladders, exploring tunnels, etc.). It seems that, as Julian Huxley said, "Captivity cages minds as well as bodies".
6. Then there is the question of intelligence. Some species can recognise colours (bees, for example), some can recognise numbers, and some (such as chimpanzees) can do quite complicated tasks, while others (like the famous elephant that "never forgets") can distinguish and remember hundreds of different commands. Some animals, especially chimpanzees and gorillas, can solve problems which are new for them and, using different kinds of codes, can even "speak" to the scientists studying them, using sign language.
7. In fact, many animals can communicate, but they cannot really speak. They are physically incapable of doing so. Human beings have been able to speak for thousands of years, and speaking may be the most important element in learning. Certainly, it has helped man to distinguish himself from other species.
New Words
inherit
v. 1. to derive (qualities, etc.) from ancestors 由遗传而得(性格、特征等)
2. 继承(财产、爵位等)
adapt
v. to make suitable for a new use, need, situation, etc. 使适应,使配合
worm
n. 虫，蠕虫，蛆
mouse
n. (复数 mice) 鼠
gorilla
n. 大猩猩
conditioning
n. 条件作用，条件反射作用
conditioned
a. 在某种条件下的, 有条件的
reflex
n. 反射，反射作用
reinforce
v. 1.强化
2.to strengthen or support 增强，加强
laboratory
n. a room or building used for scientific experiments, research, testing, etc. 实验室
bore
v. to make someone tired or uninterested 使厌烦, 使厌倦
boring
a. dull 令人厌烦的,乏味的
stimulate
v. to excite 刺激,激励
stimulating
a. exciting 使人兴奋的, 激励的
tunnel
n. an underground passage 隧道,地道
captivity
n. 囚虏，监禁，束缚
cage
v. 控制住，把...囚禁起来
n. 笼子
distinguish
v. 1. to recognize clearly 辨别出,认出
2. to recognize the difference (between) 区分,辨别
incapable
a. not capable 无能力的,不能胜任的
element
n. 1. 要素,性质
2. 元素
Phrases and Expressions
adapt to
适应
associate with
联想, 使联合,使结合
capable of
1.有...能力的
2.能...的, 可以...的
bring up
养育
incapable of
不能...的
distinguish ... from
区别,区分
Proper Names
Pavlov
巴甫洛夫(1849-1936, 前苏联生理学家)
Julian Huxley
朱利安.赫胥黎(1887-1975, 英国生物学家,科学哲学家)
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