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Young Female Chimps Outlearn Their Brothers
Young female chimps are faster and better learners than young male chimps, suggests a new study1, echoing learning differences seen in human girls and boys2.
While young male chimps pass their time playing. Young female chimps carefully study their mothers. As a result, they learn how to fish for3 tasty termite snacks over two years before the boys.
Elizabeth Lonsdorf, now at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, US, and colleagues at the University of Minnesota, Saint Paul spent four years watching how young chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania4 learned “cultural behavior”.
The sex differences in learning behavior were “consistent and strikingly apparent”, says the team. The researchers point out that similar differences are seen in human children with regard to5 skills such as writing. “A sex-based learning differences may therefore date back6 at least to the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans.” they write in the journal Nature.
Chimps make flexible tools from vegetation and then insert them into termite mounds, extract them and then munch the termites clinging onto the tool. The researchers used video cameras to record this feeding behavior and found that each chimp mother had her own technique, such as how she used tools of different lengths.
Analysis of the six infants whose ages were known showed that girl chimps were an average of 31 months old when they succeeded in fishing out their termites, where the boy chimps were aged 58 months on average. Females were also more skillful at getting out more termites with every dip7 and used techniques similar to their mothers while males did not.
Instead of studying their mothers, the boy chimps spent a significantly greater amount of time frolicking around the termite mound. Behaviors such as playing or swinging might help the male infants later in life when typically male activities like hunting or fighting for dominance become important, suggest the researchers.
Lonsdorf adds that there just two main sources of animal protein for chimps — the termites or colobus monkeys. “Mature males often hunt monkeys up trees, but females are almost always either pregnant or burdened with a clinging infant8. This makes hunting difficult,” she says .“Adult females spend more time fishing for termites than males.” So becoming proficient at termite fishing9 could mean adult females eat better, “They can watch their offspring at the same time. The young of both sexes seen to pursue activities related to their adult sex roles10 at a very young age.”
词汇：
chimp /tʃɪmp /v.黑猩猩
outlearn / aʊt"lɜ:n /v.在学习上胜过
munch / mʌntʃ /v.用力嚼；津津有味地吃
frolic / "frɒlɪk /n.嬉戏；v.(-icked;-icking)
termite/ "tɜ:maɪt /n白蚁
offspring/ "ɒfsprɪŋ /n 子孙，后代
colobus/ "kɒləbəs /n疣猴
注释：
1.suggest a new study：倒装句，正常语序是a new study suggests（一项新的研究表明）。
2.echoing learning differences seen in human girls and boys：与人类女孩男孩之间的学习差异相仿。
3.fish for：捕获。fish：to catch or pull as if fishing捕鱼似地捞
4.Tanzania：坦桑尼亚，非洲中东部国家，位于印度洋沿岸
5.with regard to：关于，在……方面
6.date back to：回溯至
7.with every dip：猩猩是用植物作为工具来捕食白蚁，因此这里的意思是，每次将植物插入蚁穴。
8.burdened with a clinging infant：身上吊着小猩猩
9.becoming proficient at termite fishing：分词短语在句中充当主语，意为：学会有效地捕获白蚁。
10.pursue activities related to their adult sex roles：进行与它们成年后的性别角色有关的活动。
Which of the Following is true about chimps fishing for termites according to paragraph 6?
A:Males often compete with females in fishing for termites. B:Males could get out more termites with every dip. C:Females could get out more termites with every dip. D:Males are good at mastering technique for fishing for termites.
Robert Moody, 52, is an experienced police officer. Much of his work involves dealing with (16) and gang (团伙)problems in the schools of his community. Knowing that many kids often (17) trouble, he decided to do something about it. So in 1991 he began to invite small groups of kids to go fishing with him on his day (18) .
Those fun trips had a(n) (19) impact. A chance encounter in 2000 proved that. One day, (20) working security at a school basketball game, Moody noticed two young guys (21) . He sensed trouble between them. (22) one of them headed toward Moody and gave him a hug. "I (23) you. You took me (24) when I was in fifth grade. That was one of the (25) days of my life. "
Deeply touched by the boy’ s word, Moody decided to create a foundation (基金会)that (26) teenagers to the basics of fishing in camping programs. "As a policeman, I saw (27) there was violence, drugs were always behind it. They have a damaging (28) on the kids," says Moody.
By turning kids on to fishing, he (29) to present an alternative way of life, "When you’ re sitting there waiting for a (30) ," he says, "you can’t help but talk to each other, and such (31) can be pretty deep. "
"Talking about drugs helped prepare me for the peer(同龄人)pressures in high school," says Michelle, 17, who (32) the first program. "And I was able to help my little brother (33) drugs. "
Moody faces (34) in three years, when he hopes to run the foundation full-time. "I’ m living a happy life and I have a responsibility to my (35) to give back," Moody says. "If I teach a kid to
fish today, he can teach his brother to fish tomorrow. /
A:fishing B:sailing C:boating D:swimming.
ADDICTED TO COMPUTER GAMES
WHY DON’T YOU TRY FISHING
HERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY!
ALAN SIMPSON
Our special correspondent
According to health and exercise specialists, computers are becoming a serious threat to the health and general well-being of a large portion of our society. Dr. Alan Parsons, of the University of Technology, claims that a kind of "nerd syndrome" is sweeping through our society, and it’s having serious effects on people’s physical and psychological health plus carry-over effects on society itself.
Computer game fanatics easily become absorbed in games, lose track of their responsibilities, and suffer from aches and pains associated with long periods of sitting, not to mention eye-strain.
And the solution In a light-hearted weblog entry Dr. Parsons suggested that everything can be solved by...fishing! As a countermeasure to computer games, fishing, apparently, has everything to recommend. Here’s why:
1. Computer screens are two-dimensional and don’t move. Staring at a computer screen is an unnatural fixation that guarantees sore eyes. Fish. on the other hand, move in three dimensions.
2. At best, computer games provide only a simulation of the real world. It is therefore impossible to get a genuine sense of accomplishment no matter how well you play or how many points you score. In fact, your need for accomplishment will be continually frustrated.
3. Fish never suffer from bugs, glitches, or gremlins. When you go fishing, you can never be ebombed, stalked, or spammed. You’ll never have to reset or reconfigure a fish.
4. No matter how exciting a computer game is, you still know pretty much what’s going to happen. But with fishing, you never can tell!
5. No matter how complicated a game is, it is never as complex as reality. Computer games can be mastered, but you’ll never be an absolute master in the real world. That’s where the real challenges are!
A:Fishing brings less strain to the eyes B:A real sense of achievement cannot be attained by computer games C:Fishing is unpredictable D:Computer games cannot be played outdoors
ADDICTED TO COMPUTER GAMES
WHY DON’T YOU TRY FISHING
HERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY!
ALAN SIMPSON
Our special correspondent
According to health and exercise specialists, computers are becoming a serious threat to the health and general well-being of a large portion of our society. Dr. Alan Parsons, of the University of Technology, claims that a kind of "nerd syndrome" is sweeping through our society, and it’s having serious effects on people’s physical and psychological health plus carry-over effects on society itself.
Computer game fanatics easily become absorbed in games, lose track of their responsibilities, and suffer from aches and pains associated with long periods of sitting, not to mention eye-strain.
And the solution In a light-hearted weblog entry Dr. Parsons suggested that everything can be solved by...fishing! As a countermeasure to computer games, fishing, apparently, has everything to recommend. Here’s why:
1. Computer screens are two-dimensional and don’t move. Staring at a computer screen is an unnatural fixation that guarantees sore eyes. Fish. on the other hand, move in three dimensions.
2. At best, computer games provide only a simulation of the real world. It is therefore impossible to get a genuine sense of accomplishment no matter how well you play or how many points you score. In fact, your need for accomplishment will be continually frustrated.
3. Fish never suffer from bugs, glitches, or gremlins. When you go fishing, you can never be ebombed, stalked, or spammed. You’ll never have to reset or reconfigure a fish.
4. No matter how exciting a computer game is, you still know pretty much what’s going to happen. But with fishing, you never can tell!
5. No matter how complicated a game is, it is never as complex as reality. Computer games can be mastered, but you’ll never be an absolute master in the real world. That’s where the real challenges are!
A:Fishing brings less strain to the eyes B:A real sense of achievement cannot be attained by computer games C:Fishing is unpredictable D:Computer games cannot be played outdoors
Robert Moody, 52, is an experienced police officer. Much of his work involves dealing with (16) and gang (团伙)problems in the schools of his community. Knowing that many kids often (17) trouble, he decided to do something about it. So in 1991 he began to invite small groups of kids to go fishing with him on his day (18) .
Those fun trips had a(n) (19) impact. A chance encounter in 2000 proved that. One day, (20) working security at a school basketball game, Moody noticed two young guys (21) . He sensed trouble between them. (22) one of them headed toward Moody and gave him a hug. "I (23) you. You took me (24) when I was in fifth grade. That was one of the (25) days of my life. "
Deeply touched by the boy’ s word, Moody decided to create a foundation (基金会)that (26) teenagers to the basics of fishing in camping programs. "As a policeman, I saw (27) there was violence, drugs were always behind it. They have a damaging (28) on the kids," says Moody.
By turning kids on to fishing, he (29) to present an alternative way of life, "When you’ re sitting there waiting for a (30) ," he says, "you can’t help but talk to each other, and such (31) can be pretty deep. "
"Talking about drugs helped prepare me for the peer(同龄人)pressures in high school," says Michelle, 17, who (32) the first program. "And I was able to help my little brother (33) drugs. "
Moody faces (34) in three years, when he hopes to run the foundation full-time. "I’ m living a happy life and I have a responsibility to my (35) to give back," Moody says. "If I teach a kid to
fish today, he can teach his brother to fish tomorrow. /
A:fishing B:sailing C:boating D:swimming.
ADDICTED TO COMPUTER GAMES
WHY DON’T YOU TRY FISHING
HERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY!
ALAN SIMPSON
Our special correspondent
According to health and exercise specialists, computers are becoming a serious threat to the health and general well-being of a large portion of our society. Dr. Alan Parsons, of the University of Technology, claims that a kind of "nerd syndrome" is sweeping through our society, and it’s having serious effects on people’s physical and psychological health plus carry-over effects on society itself.
Computer game fanatics easily become absorbed in games, lose track of their responsibilities, and suffer from aches and pains associated with long periods of sitting, not to mention eye-strain.
And the solution In a light-hearted weblog entry Dr. Parsons suggested that everything can be solved by...fishing! As a countermeasure to computer games, fishing, apparently, has everything to recommend. Here’s why:
1. Computer screens are two-dimensional and don’t move. Staring at a computer screen is an unnatural fixation that guarantees sore eyes. Fish. on the other hand, move in three dimensions.
2. At best, computer games provide only a simulation of the real world. It is therefore impossible to get a genuine sense of accomplishment no matter how well you play or how many points you score. In fact, your need for accomplishment will be continually frustrated.
3. Fish never suffer from bugs, glitches, or gremlins. When you go fishing, you can never be ebombed, stalked, or spammed. You’ll never have to reset or reconfigure a fish.
4. No matter how exciting a computer game is, you still know pretty much what’s going to happen. But with fishing, you never can tell!
5. No matter how complicated a game is, it is never as complex as reality. Computer games can be mastered, but you’ll never be an absolute master in the real world. That’s where the real challenges are!
A:Fishing brings less strain to the eyes B:A real sense of achievement cannot be attained by computer games C:Fishing is unpredictable D:Computer games cannot be played outdoors
