题目内容
阅读与回答问题。
When Dr, Karen McComb came to Amboseli Park her first task was to learn the names of the one hundred or so elephants most often seen.
Scientists working in the park have learned to study elephants by watching them up close. They have a list of almost one thousand elephants. There are records for all of the elephants born since 1972. Amboseli was a good place for Dr. McComb to study animal communications. Elephants were a great subject because their lifestyle depends on communication.
Dr. McComb and her team had learned a lot about elephant communication, but they kept on thinking about one puzzling (困惑的) watch. Some families were better at distinguishing (区别) calls of friends from those of strangers.
What made some families smarter than others? The scientists searched their records for an explanation. To their surprise, there was only one factor (因素) of importance: The "smartest" families always had the oldest grandmothers. A family, as it did in all other activities, waited for some signal (信号) from the grandmother when they heard a strange contact call. And older, more experienced grandmothers were better at telling whether other elephants were strangers or friends just by their calls.
That was an important discovery. It showed how an elephant family depends on the experience of the grandmother.
回答下面5个问题,每题答案不超过5个词。
1.How do scientists working in the park study elephants?
2.What did Dr. McComb study?
3.What did Dr. McComb and her team do for an explanation?
4.Who does everyone in elephant families listen to?
5.What does an elephant family depend on in all the activities?
A) 阅读下面短文, 根据所读内容, 在文章后的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
In our culture, the ability to make one’s own decision is important. John F. Kennedy’s quote “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” shows an unpleasant truth.
Much of what we know and believe has been taught to us by others, and we often accept this information without spending much time thinking it over for ourselves.
In today’s world, we are being presented with information, ideas and beliefs, but many of them are against each other. Psychology(心理学) tells us that if we hear an idea enough times, or it comes from someone we respect, it is probable that we believe that idea. In these cases, we base our opinions on the opinions of others. If each of us does not think about this information for ourselves and come to our own conclusions, we will become nothing more than parrots quoting the opinions of others.
Examples of spreading fake news without thought can be seen on the Internet. Some people believe anything that they read and then share the story without thinking about the facts. All it takes is one quick click of the “share” button, and the story travels on its way to affect even more unthinking readers. This can cause serious problems.
If we just stop for a moment to think about what we read and hear, and form our own opinions, we will be more thoughtful, more independent, and more creative people, but few take that time. Yet we need not lose heart over this bad habit. In fact, simply realizing it is the first step towards correcting it. Once we realize that we tend to hold opinions and beliefs without thinking them through, we can change that pattern of behavior. Hopefully, we can learn to think for ourselves and form our own opinions.
Title: Enjoy the discomfort of 1. | |
The fact | ◆ We often accept others’ opinions 2. of thinking for ourselves. |
Findings | ◆ Lots of information, ideas and beliefs are quite 3. from each other ◆ We4. believe an idea because we hear it a lot or we trust the person who says it. ◆ In these cases, we are like parrots with our opinions5.on others’ opinions. |
Examples | ◆ Some people believe 6. comes from the Internet without thought. ◆ People click the button and7. the fake news with others. ◆ The fake news has a bad 8. on more unthinking readers. ◆ Serious problems will be caused because of this behavior. |
Way out | ◆ 9. we can stop to think and become better thinkers, few people give it a try. ◆ Being 10. of the bad habit of thinking can help correct it. ◆ It is hoped that we can enjoy thinking for ourselves and have our own opinions. |