2014年職稱英語(理工類)教材閱讀理解文章及譯文10

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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 study, echoing learning differences seen in human girls and boys.

　　While young male chimps pass their time playing. Young female chimps carefully study their mothers. As a result, they learn how to fish for 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 Tanzania 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 to skills such as writing. “A sex-based learning differences may therefore date back 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 dip 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 infant. This makes hunting difficult,” she says .“Adult females spend more time fishing for termites than males.” So becoming proficient at termite fishing 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 roles{10} at a very young age.”

　　詞匯：

　　chimp 黑猩猩 outlearn 在學習上勝過

　　munch 用力嚼;津津有味地吃 frolic 嬉戲

　　termite 白蟻 offspring 子孫，后代 colobus 疣猴

　　注釋：

　　1.suggest a new study：倒裝句，正常語序是a new study suggests(一項新的研究表明)。

　　2.echoing learning differences seen in human girls and boys：與人類女孩男孩之間的學習差異相仿。

　　3.fish for：捕獲。fish：to catch or pull as if fishing捕魚似地撈

　　4.Tanzania：坦桑尼亞，非洲中東部國家，位于印度洋沿岸

　　5.with regard to：關于，在……方面

　　6.date back to：回溯至

　　7.with every dip：猩猩是用植物作為工具來捕食白蟻，因此這里的意思是，每次將植物插入蟻穴。

　　8.burdened with a clinging infant：身上吊著小猩猩

　　9.becoming proficient at termite fishing：分詞短語在句中充當主語，意為：學會有效地捕獲白蟻。

　　10.pursue activities related to their adult sex roles：進行與它們成年后的性別角色有關的活動。

　　練習:

　　1. Why do young female chimps learn faster than young male chimps at fishing for termites?

　　A Because young female chimps don’t play with their brothers.

　　B Because young female chimps begin to study their mothers earlier.

　　C Because young male chimps never learn to fish for termites.

　　D Because young male chimps are not interested in termites.

　　2. What are the tools with which chimps fish for termites?

　　A Tree branches.

　　B Vegetation.

　　C Fruits.

　　D Grass.

　　3. 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.

　　4. How did the researchers explain the fact that boy chimps spent more time on playing?

　　A They like hunting.

　　B They enjoy fighting.

　　C It helps them to stay fit.

　　D It will make them good fighters and hunters in the future.

　　5. According to the last paragrnph, which of the following is NOT true?

　　A Adult chimps hunt monkeys while young chimps fish for termites.

　　B The main source of animal protein for male chimps is colobus monkeys.

　　C The main source of animal protein for female chimps is termites.

　　D Female chimps fish for termites while watching their children.

　　答案與題解 :

　　1. B 根據第二段的內容，雄性小猩猩將時間用來玩要，而雌性小猩猩則研究她們母親的行為，因此，她們比雄性小猩猩早兩年學會捕食白蟻。 A、D文中沒有提到， C與問題沒有關系。

　　2. B第五段的第一個句子告訴我們，猩猩用植物作成方便的工具，用來捕食白蟻。 A、C和 D均是錯誤的。

　　3. C 該段告訴我們，對六只小猩猩的分析表明，雌性小猩狠不但較早學會捕食白蟻 .而且能比雄性小猩猩更為熟練地捕食到更多的白蟻。所以， B和 D都不是正確選項。 A項內容文中沒有提到。

　　4. D A、B和 C都是錯誤的，因為文中沒有捉到雄性小猩猩喜歡獵食和打斗，也沒有提及玩耍能使他們更健康。D是正確答案。第七段昀后一句說，他們喜歡玩耍的行為有助于他們長大后的生活，因為，到那時，他們要獵食和爭權奪位。

　　5. A 根據昀后一段的內容，成年雄猩猩主要獵食生活在樹上的一種叫做 colobus(疣猴)的猴子，而雌性猩猩捕食白蟻。所以 A是正確選項。 B、C和 D的內容均可在該段中找到。

　　譯文：年輕雌猩猩學習優(yōu)于她們的弟兄

　　一項新的研究顯示，與年輕雄性相比，年輕雌黑猩猩是更快更好的學習者，這與人類的兩性學習差異相仿。

　　在小雄猩猩玩樂嬉鬧時候，雌猩猩卻在悉心向母親學習。結果她們比“男孩們”提早兩年學會捕獲美味小吃――白蟻。

　　美國芝加哥林肯公司動物園的Elizabeth Lonsdorf 和她在圣保羅市明尼蘇達大學的同事們用了4年時間觀察坦桑尼亞Gombe 自然公園的年輕黑猩猩學習它們的“文化行為”。

　　學習行為的性別差異是“一貫和驚人顯著的”，觀察小組報告說。研究人員指出，類似的差別也存在于人類兒童寫作等技巧的學習過程。他們在《自然》雜志中寫道，“基于性別的學習差異因而可以上溯到人類和黑猩猩最近的共同始祖。”

　　黑猩猩用植物制造靈巧的工具，將它們插入蟻丘把白蟻驅趕出來，再津津有味地享用粘在工具上的白蟻。研究人員用攝像機記錄下這種捕食行為，發(fā)現每位猩猩母親在諸如怎樣使用不同長度的工具等方面都有她們自己的訣竅。

　　分析研究六只已知年齡的幼猩猩顯示，雌猩猩在平均31個月大時就能成功捕獲白蟻，而雄猩猩則需要到58個月時才能學會。雌性每次都能熟練地收獲更多的白蟻，并能采用與母親相似的技巧，而雄性卻做不到。

　　“男孩們”不向母親學習，卻花費大量時間在蟻丘周圍嬉戲。研究人員認為玩耍、搖蕩等活動或許對公幼獸后來的諸如捕獵、爭奪領導權等典型的雄性活動大有裨益。

　　Lonsdorf 補充說，黑猩猩食物中動物蛋白的主要來源有兩個――白蟻和疣猴?！俺墒煨坌猿Ｔ跇溟g抓捕疣猴，而雌性則總是因為懷孕或身上吊著小猩猩而難以捕獵，”她說，“成年雌性比雄性花更多的時間捕食白蟻?！币虼藡故斓夭东@白蟻意味著雌性比雄性吃得更好，“并且可以同時看護后代。雌雄兩性似乎都是在十分年幼的時候就開始了與成年后性別角色有關的活動?！?/P>

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