Washoe Learned American Sign Language

    1　An animal that influenced scientific thought has died. A chimpanzee named Washoe and born in Africa died of natural causes late last month at the age of 42 at a research center in the American state of Washington. Washoe had become known in the scientific community¹ and around the world for her ability to use American Sign Language². She was said to be the first non-human to lean a human language. Her skills also led to debate³ about primates and their ability to understand language.

    2　Research scientists Allen and Beatrix Gardner began teaching Washoe sign language in 1966. In 1969, the Gardners described Washoe’s progress in a scientific report. The people who experimented with Washoe said she grew to understand4 about 250 words⁴. For example, Washoe made signs to communicate when it was time to eat. She could request foods like apples and bananas. She also asked questions like, “Who is coming to play?” Once⁵ the news about Washoe spread, many language scientists began studies of their own⁶ into this new and exciting area of research. The whole direction of primate research changed.

    3　However, critics argued Washoe only learned to repeat sign language movements from watching her teachers. They said she had never developed true language skills. Even now, there are some researchers who suggest that primates learn sign language only by memory, and perform the signs only for prizes. Yet Washoe’s keepers disagree. Roger Fouts is a former student of the Gardners⁷. He took Washoe to a research center inEllensburg,Washington. There, Washoe taught sign language to three younger chimpanzees, which are still alive.

    4　Scientists like private researcher Jane Goodall believe⁸ Washoe provided new information about the mental workings of chimpanzees. Today, there are not as many scientists studying language skills with chimps. Part of the reason is that this kind of research takes a very long time.

    5　Debate continues about chimps’ understanding of human communication. Yet, one thing is sure — Washoe changed popular ideas about the possibilities of animal intelligence.

 

词汇：

chimpanzee /,tʃɪmpæn’zi:/ n．黑猩猩

community / kə’mju:nɪtɪ/ n．社区，圈子

primate / ’praɪmeɪt / n．灵长类动物

critic / ’krɪtɪk / n．评论家，批评家

workingsn．活动，运行

chimp /tʃɪmp/ n．= chimpanzee 黑猩猩

 

注释：

1．in the scientific community：在科学界，在科学家的圈子里

2．American Sign Language（ASL）：美国手语。利用手、脸部表情、身诔姿势表达思想的美国聋哑人语言。在加拿大、墨西哥等地也使用ASL。ASL与British Sign Language（BSL英国手语）不同，两者不能相互理解。

3．led to debate：引起辩论。lead to意为“导致”，to为介词，debate为名词。

4．she grew to understand about 250 words：她渐渐掌握约250个单词。grow to是“渐渐”的意思。

5．Once：—旦。Once是连接词。例：Children like to cycle once they have learned how.小孩一旦学会了如何骑自行车，就会喜欢上它。

6．of their own：属于自己的。of their own的含义与on their own不同，on their own是“独自”的意思。

7．the Gardners：Gardner夫妇

8．Scientists like private researcher Jane Goodall believe ... ：像个体研究者Jane Goodall这样的科学家相信…like（像，跟……一样）是介词，本句的谓语是believe。句子中的private researcher意为“不受雇于任何单位，自己独立工作的科研人员。”

A if the Gardeners’ argument was sound

B because she was cleverer than other chimps

C when she wanted to eat

D while she was at a research center in Ellensburg

E because she could use sign language to ask for fruits

F while Washoe was learning sign language

Washoe taught three younger chimps sign language _____.

A:A B:B C:C D:D E:E F:F

Text 1
As summer approaches, there is good news and bad in our latest Insider Advantage poll. With terrorism in the back of our minds and a terrible economy in the front of it, only 17 % of American adults say they plan to travel less this summer than in the past, 24% say they will travel more and the rest say nothing has changed this vacation season from past ones. That’s the good news but the poll portends some bad news, too, indicating what might be a deep-seated problem in the United States today, harder to fathom than terrorist killers or empty wallets. The only age group that has more ambitious travel plans than ever is the 18- 29 age group showing a 44 % jump in vacation plans over last year. That’s hardly great news for the travel and hospitality industry, which desperately need bigger spenders on the road.
Beyond that, the wide disparity in travel plans among the younger and older says something about the just-out-of-college generation. Without impugning the work ethic of the many exceptions to the role, I think it’s safe to say that anyone with experience with the younger end of the work force must have been taken aback by the unrealistic expectations of the young and the restless as they set out to make their fortunes. They all seem to expect a salary based on their personal needs, not on their company’s professional ones. They want not only luxuries but also plenty of time to enjoy them.
Old people like me are all the same in our bitter grousing and of course there are loads of hard-working young doctors; lawyers, business-people and others who contribute to their own individual and our collective economic well-being but there seems to be many more who don’t. The blame for their absurd sense of entitlement without personal sacrifice can most fairly be put on the shoulders of the generations that immediately precede them. This nation has changed its way of thinking about work and relaxation. What used to be a day’ s holiday has morphed into a long weekend that starts on Thursday and ends next Tuesday
I find it unsurprising that young adults plan to travel more than ever this year, in spite of the hard times. They look to be following the road of less productivity in America, a road first mapped by their preceding elders, and now being paved by their offspring. It’ s good to see young people venturing forth to see the world they live in, after all, youth is a fleeting thing but let’ s just hope that when they finally return from their travels, they still have a job to pay for it.

According to the author, there is a trend（）

A:for people to travel more during hard times B:for younger people to delay working by traveling first C:for travelers to spend less D:for younger travelers to be unrealistic as they travel

Passage Four
During the twentieth century there has been a great change in the lives of women. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the Youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which chance and health made it unusual for them to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’ s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and she can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until sixty.
This important change in women’ s life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school and took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life.

According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to （）

A:stay at home after leaving school B:marry men younger than themselves C:start working again later in life D:marry while still at school

A new study by the Development of Health in Taiwan shows that more than half of the adult population in Taiwan lacks an understanding of health problems.
More than 2,000 adults took part in the survey to find out about their knowledge of diet, health-care, disease control and medicine. Surprisingly, only 51% of the people surveyed understand that common cold has no cure, and taking medicine is absolutely no use at all. The problem is mad worse by doctors who give their patients large doses of useless drugs. More than two-thirds believe that it is only the nicotine in cigarettes rather than the other chemicals that causes cancer. These people believe that if they smoke “light” cigarettes with less nicotine, they will lead to more illness, suffering and early death.
But the outlook for health education in Taiwan is not all negative. The survey concludes that younger Taiwanese have a better understanding of health concerns than their parents, while senior citizens have the least understanding among the three age groups.
The survey shows that ______ have the best understanding of health concerns.

A:senior citizens B:middle-aged citizens C:younger Taiwanese D:Taiwanese smokers

Do you think sitting and studying all the time will improve your grades Think again. Getting some exercise may help, too.
New research with older people suggests that taking regular walks helps them pay attention better than if they didn’t exercise.
Previous research had shown that mice learn, remember, and pay attention better after a few weeks of working out on a running wheel. Mice that exercise have greater blood flow to the brain than those who don’t. Their brain cells also make more connections.
Neuroscientists from the University at Urbana-Champaign wanted to find out if the same thing is true for people. First, they measured the physical fitness of 41 adults, ages 58 to 77, after each person walked 1 mile. Then, participants looked at arrows on a computer screen and had to use computer keys to show which way one particular arrow was pointing.
Adults who were physically fit were faster at the arrow task, and their answers were just as accurate as their less fit peers, the researchers found. The fitter participants also had more blood flow to a part of their brain responsible for paying attention and making decisions.
In a second study, 15 elderly people who completed a 6-month aerobic-training course were faster at attention tasks compared with 14 seniors who just did stretching and toning exercises for the same amount of time.
So, even going for a walk every 2 or 3 days for just 10 to 45 minutes can help. That should be good news for your grandparents.
The effects of exercising on the brains of younger people haven’t been studied yet. Still, it can’t hurt to take occasional study breaks and go for a walk or run around with your friends. You might even do better in school.
Whatever you do, though, don’t try to read and walk at the same time. You could end up hurting yourself!
Walking regularly helps elderly people______.

A:lose weight B:become happier C:concentrate better D:look younger

 

Nearly three in 10 men have experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetimes, according to one of the few studies to look (1) domestic violence and health among men.
"Many men actually do experience domestic violence, although we don’t hear about it (2) , " Dr. Robert J. Reid of the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the study’s authors, told Reuters Health. "They often don’t tell (3) we don’t ask. We want to get the message out to men who (4) experience domestic violence that they are not alone and there are resources available to (5) . "
The researchers asked study participants about physical abuse and non-physical (6) , such as threats that made them (7) for their safety, controlling behavior (for example, being told who they could associate with and where they could go), and constant name-calling.
Among men 18 to 54 years old, 14.2 percent said they had experienced intimate partner (8) in the past five years, while 6.1 percent reported domestic violence in the previous year.
Rates were lower for men 55 and (9) , with 5.3 percent reporting violence in the past five years and 2.4 percent having experienced it in the past 12 months.
Overall, 30.5 percent of men younger than 55 and 26.5 percent of older men said they had been victims of (10) violence at some point in their lives. About half of the violence the men (11) was physical.
However, the physical violence men reported wasn’t as harsh as (12) suffered by women in a previous study; 20 percent to 40 percent of the men rated it as severe, compared to 61 percent of (13) .
Men who reported experiencing domestic violence had more emotional and mental health problems (14) those who had not, especially older men, the (15) found.

9（）

A:younger B:junior C:senior D:older

下面的短文有15外空白，请根据短文的内容为每处空白处确定一个最佳选项。

A:younger B:junior C:senior D:older

? ?阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。

A:younger B:junior C:senior D:older

? ?阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。

A:younger B:junior C:senior D:older