河南高考英语知识点：科普小品类阅读理解

(一)(2011·全国卷Ⅱ)

For those who study the development of intelligence (智力) in the animal world，self??awareness is an important measurement. An animal that is aware (意识) of itself has a high level of intelligence.

Awareness can be tested by studying whether the animal recognizes itself in the mirror， that is，its own reflected image (反射出的影像)。 Many animals fail this exercise bitterly， paying very little attention to the reflected image. Only humans， and some intelligent animals like apes and dolphins，have been shown to recognize that the image in the mirror is of themselves.

Now another animal has joined the club. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences， researchers report that an Asian elephant has passed the mirror self??reflection test.

“We thought that elephants were the next important animal.” said Diana Reiss of the Wildlife Conservation Society， an author of the study with Joshua M. Plotnik and Fans B. M. de Waal of Emory University. With their large brains， Reiss said， elephants “seemed like cousins to apes and dolphins”.

The researchers tested Happy， Maxine and Patty， three elephants at the Bronx Zoo. They put an 8??foot??square mirror on a wall of the animals‘ play area (out of the sight of zoo visitors) and recorded what happened with cameras， including one built in the mirror.

The elephants used their long noses to find what was behind it， and to examine parts of their bodies.

Of the three， Happy then passed the test， in which a clear mark was painted on one side of her face. She could tell the mark was there by looking in the mirror， and she used the mirror to touch the mark with her long nose.

Diana Reiss said， “We knew elephants were intelligent， but now we can talk about their intelligence in a better way.”

1.What can mirror tests tell us about animals?

A.Whether they have large brains.

B.Whether they have self??awareness.

C.Whether they enjoy outdoor exercises.

D.Whether they enjoy playing with mirrors.

2.Why does the author mention apes and dolphins in the text?

A.They are most familiar to readers.

B.They are big favorites with zoo visitors.

C.They are included in the study by Reiss.

D.They are already known to be intelligent.

3.What made Happy different from Maxine and Patty?

A.She used her nose to search behind the mirror.

B.She recognized her own image in the mirror.

C.She painted a mark on her own face.

D.She found the hidden camera.

答案与解析

1.B　细节理解题。根据第二段第一句可知，通过研究动物是否在镜子中识别自己可以测试它们的自我意识。

2.D　推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句可知，作者提到猿和海豚是因为它们和人一样可以识别镜中自己的形象，是人们已知的有智力的动物;再根据第三段，一个亚洲象也通过了该测试，也加入到有智力的行列里，故选D项。

3.B　细节理解题。根据倒数第二段，三个大象中只有Happy通过了镜子测试，也就是说只有她能识别镜中自己的形象，因此这是她有别于其他大象的地方，故选B项。

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