Before birth, babies can tell the difference between loud sounds and voices. They can even distinguish their mother’s voice from that of a female stranger. But when it comes to embryonic learning(胎教), birds could rule the roost. As recently reported in The Auk: Ornithological Adrances, some mother birds may teach their young to sing even before they hatch(孵化). New-born chicks can then imitate their mom’s call within a few days of entering the world.
This educational method was first observed in 2012 by Sonia Kieindorfer,a biologist at Flinders University in South Australia, and her colleagues. Femake Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and over again while hatching their errs, when the errs were hatched, the baby birds made the similar chirp to their mothers—around that served as their regular “feed me!” call.
To find out if the special quality was more widespread in birds, the researchers sought the red-backed fairy wren, another species of Australian songbird. First they collected sound data from 67 nests in four sites in Queensland before and after hatching. Then they identified begging calls by analyzing the order and number of notes. A computer analysis blindly compared calls produced by mothers and chicks, ranking them by similarity.
It turns out that baby red-backed fairy wrens also emerge chirping like their moms. And the more frequently mothers had called to their errs, the more similar were the babies’ begging calls. In addition, the team set up a separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mom’s voice were rewarded with the most food.
This observation hints that effective embryonic learning could signal neurological(神经系统的) strengths of children to parents. An evolutionary inference can then be drawn.” As a parent, do you invest in quality children, or do you invest in children that are in need?” Kleindorfer asks.” Our results suggest that they might be going for quality.”
58.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 means“ ”.
A. be the worst B. be the best C. be the as bad D. be just as good
59.What are Kleindorfer’s findings based on?
A. Similarities between the calls moms and chicks. B. The observation of fairy wrens across Australia.
C. The data collected from Queensland’s locals. D. Controlled experiments on wrens and other birds.
60.Embryonic learning helps mother birds to identify the baby birds which .
A. can receive quality signals B. are in need of training
C. fit the environment better D. make the loudest call
【答案】58.B 59.A 60.C
59. A细节理解题。根据第二段“Femake Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and over again while hatching their errs”可知,研究发现是对澳大利亚两种会鸟鸣的鸟儿进行了记录,根据第三段“the researchers sought the red-backed fairy wren, another species of Australian songbird.”可知,研究人员并未在全澳洲范围展开调查;未对其它鸟类进行记录研究,排除D项。根据倒数第三段“A computer analysis blindly compared calls produced by mothers and chicks, ranking them by similarity.”可知,A项正确。
60. C细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“the baby birds that most closely imitated their mom’s voice were rewarded with the most food”和最后一段“Our results suggest that they might be going for quality.”可知,模仿母鸟模仿得最好的雏鸟得到最多的食物,研究结果表明,母亲会选择质量好的雏鸟、孩子。
【名师点睛】
猜测词义题概况
词义猜测是应用英语的重要能力,也是高考必考的题型。它不但需要准确无误地理解上下文,而且要有较大的泛读量,掌握或认识较多的课外词汇。考生应学会通过构词、定义、同位、对比、因果、常识、同义、反义及上下文线索等确定词义。
一、题型特点与命题方式:
此类题型有逐渐增加的趋势,尤其是猜测词组、句义题。因为猜测词组、句义题涉及题材背景、句子结构、文章主旨、作者的观点态度等。联系主旨、整合上下文信息是解答这类题的关键。近几年阅读理解的生词率略有上升,加大了猜测难度。命题者着重考查考生利用同义或反义关系、构词法、语法和语篇文脉等理解生词的能力。
【命题趋势】
1.要求根据阅读材料所提供的信息,结合中学生应有的常识和经验,正确判断生词词组的含义或成熟词在特定语境中表达的具体含义以及一些句子的意思。
2.要求猜测词义的词一般为实词及其词组,通过构词、定义、对比、因果、联想、上下文等线索确定词义的具体内容。例如第65题。
3.代词复指理解题也是猜测词义的常考类型。用“逻辑关系梳理法”、“递向寻踪法”理清人物及事物之间的逻辑关系是关键所在。
【设问形式】
The underlined word “…” in the second(third…) paragraph refers to(means) ______.
By saying that “…” in the first(second…) paragraph, the author means that ______.
In paragraph …, “…” can be replaced by “______”.
The meaning of “…” in paragraph… is related to ______.
Which of the following has the closest meaning to…(paragraph…)?
The underlined sentence in the … paragraph probably means that _____.
解题思路
做这种类型的题目,要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境上下文来判断其意义。因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生,我们要特别注意熟词生义,切不可脱离语境主观臆断。
考点:考查科普说明文阅读