Passage Three
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Birds may not be so bird-brained after all. A study of Japanese tits has shown they can“speakin phrases", an ability previously thought to be unique to humans.
Displaying talents that may force us to change our traditional concepts of human superiority,Japanese tits could produce a "scan the surroundings for danger"call and then add a “come here”sound onto the end and, in effect creating the phrase "come here and scan for danger".
Dr. David Wheatcraft, one of the co-authors of the study, said this was the first known exampleof untrained wild animals using "compositional syntax" when two calls with independent meaningsare combined to create something with a new meaning.
The study published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications raises further questionsabout just how superior human language abilities really are.
Homo sapiens(智人)has long been regarded as the only species capable of language, with itspotential of conveying endless variations of meaning, such as fixed alarm calls or a particular learnedsong.
However, Dr. Wheatcraft said that scientists were now finding more and more examples of howother animals shared what were once considered unique human language abilities.
We need to think that "referential communication"where words mean certain things tohumans. Then in the 1980s we found monkeys have different kinds of alarm calls for different predators.
Now it's been shown in a wide range of species including chickens, which use different soundsto distinguish between air and ground predators, and in Japanese tits, which have different calls for"crow"and"snake". Parrots and dolphins had all been trained to respond to combined phrases, hesaid, but the wild Japanese great tits were the first to have been shown to "use these building blocksof language on their own".
Which is the best title of the passage?
通读全文可知，第一至三段介绍了日本山雀能创造短语并使用短语交流；第四至六段指出智人不是唯一能使用语言的物种，科学家发现其他动物也有语言能力；最后两段介绍了不同动物的不同语言交流方式，以及日本山雀是第一个被证明独立使用语言组成部分的物种。由此可推知，A项(鸟能创造短语)最适合作本文的标题。B项(说话是人类特有的)和C项(动物能被训练使用短语)与文章内容不符；D项(只有鸟类能查看危险)太过绝对。故选A。
Which species was first known to produce phrases untrained according to Dr. Wheatcraft?
根据第一段最后一句"A study of Japanese tits..”和第三段“Dr. DavidWheatcraft…said this was the first known example of untrained wild animals ...to createsomething with a new meaning.”可知，一项关于日本山雀的研究表明它们可以“使用短语说话”,这是第一个已知的未经训练的野生动物使用“组合句法”将两个具有独立意义的叫声组合起来创造具有新含义的话语的例子。由此可推知，山雀是第一个已知的不经训练就能创造短语的物种。故选D。
Which is closest in meaning to the underlined word"predators"in Para.7?
根据第七段最后一句“Then in the 1980s we found monkeys have differentkinds of alarm calls for different predators."可推知，猴子发出不同的告警声应该是碰到了不同的捕食性动物(predator)。follower:拥护者，追随者；attacker:攻击者，袭击者；victim:受害者，受骗者；survivor:幸存者，生还者。B项与画线词的意思最为接近。故选B。
Which of the following is true of Homo sapiens?
根据第五段"Homo sapiens...with its potential of conveying endlessvariations of meaning, such as fixed alarm calls or a particular learned song.”可知，智人能够传达固定的告警声或者一首特别的学过的歌。A、C、D三项均与文章内容不符。故选B。
In what aspect are monkeys, chickens and the Japanese tits similar?
根据第七段最后一句"Then in the 1980s we found monkeys have differentkinds of alarm calls for different predators.”和最后一段第一句"Now it's been shown ina wide range of species including chickens, which use different sounds to distinguishbetween air and ground predators, and in Japanese tits, which have different calls for‘crow'and‘snake'.”可知，20世纪80年代我们发现猴子遇到不同的捕食性动物会发出不同的告警声，现在证明各种各样的物种都可以发出不同的告警声，如鸡和日本山雀。由此可推知，猴子、鸡和日本山雀的相似之处是它们都能在遇到不同的捕食性动物时发出不同的告警声。故选C。