Gorillas are born with an international sign language of gestures that they use to communicate,says a new study from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
From beating their chests to putting objects on their heads,shaking their arms,and even bouncing on all fours,the animals use more than 100 gestures to communicate with each other
Professor Richard Byrne,a psychiatrist involved in the research,says it was hard to figure out the meanings of the gestures.
“We don't really know what the animals are thinking. Often the gestures have more than one meaning,depending on the context,”says Byrne.
The study showed that the gorillas did not learn the gestures from each other,as had been expected,but performed them instinctively (本能地).
“Everyone had assumed different groups of gorillas would learn different gestures,”he says. “But that's not what we found. The more sites we went to ,the more we saw the same gestures being used. They seem to be naturally equipped with a pretty complex system of communication.”
The study also found that gestures were performed with close attention to the potential audience,so that silent signals,for example, were only given when other apes could see them. Other gestures,such as the "disco arm shake" were only ever seen directed towards humans.
Byrne believes that the findings may explain how the human language developed.
“There has always been speculation(猜测)that the origins of the human language might lie in gestures,”he says.
“Many researchers have therefore studied the gestural communication of the great apes for clues to the evolutionary origins of human gestures,”he adds.
Several studies have shown that great apes are capable of imitating gestures. However,the scientists found that what appeared to be copies of human actions were actually gestures the apes were already able to make themselves. They're “reusing” gestures from their own repertoire,not learning new ones.
64.According to the passage,Richard Byrne's research has found________.
A. different groups of gorillas would learn different gestures
B. gorillas know the sign language from birth
C. how gorillas learn from each other
D. gorillas develop a variety of languages when growing up
65.Why can't the researchers really know the meanings of gorilla gestures?
A. Because gorillas possess the ability of making many kinds of gestures.
B. Because they haven't made deep research into the animal.
C. Because a gorilla gesture may have different meanings.
D. Because gorillas can't exactly express their thoughts.
66.If a gorilla wants to make a silent gesture towards another gorilla,he________.
A. needs to know how many other gorillas are watching him
B. needs to make noise first in order to draw attention
C. will first make sure his gesture can be seen
D. will first consider whether he can carry out his gesture
67.According to the passage,many scientists study the sign language of great apes in order to.
A. find the origins of the human language
B. find ways for people to communicate with apes
C. learn how animals communicate
D. discover the meanings of animal gestures
高三英语阅读理解简单题
Gorillas are born with an international sign language of gestures that they use to communicate,says a new study from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
From beating their chests to putting objects on their heads,shaking their arms,and even bouncing on all fours,the animals use more than 100 gestures to communicate with each other
Professor Richard Byrne,a psychiatrist involved in the research,says it was hard to figure out the meanings of the gestures.
“We don't really know what the animals are thinking. Often the gestures have more than one meaning,depending on the context,”says Byrne.
The study showed that the gorillas did not learn the gestures from each other,as had been expected,but performed them instinctively (本能地).
“Everyone had assumed different groups of gorillas would learn different gestures,”he says. “But that's not what we found. The more sites we went to ,the more we saw the same gestures being used. They seem to be naturally equipped with a pretty complex system of communication.”
The study also found that gestures were performed with close attention to the potential audience,so that silent signals,for example, were only given when other apes could see them. Other gestures,such as the "disco arm shake" were only ever seen directed towards humans.
Byrne believes that the findings may explain how the human language developed.
“There has always been speculation(猜测)that the origins of the human language might lie in gestures,”he says.
“Many researchers have therefore studied the gestural communication of the great apes for clues to the evolutionary origins of human gestures,”he adds.
Several studies have shown that great apes are capable of imitating gestures. However,the scientists found that what appeared to be copies of human actions were actually gestures the apes were already able to make themselves. They're “reusing” gestures from their own repertoire,not learning new ones.
64.According to the passage,Richard Byrne's research has found________.
A. different groups of gorillas would learn different gestures
B. gorillas know the sign language from birth
C. how gorillas learn from each other
D. gorillas develop a variety of languages when growing up
65.Why can't the researchers really know the meanings of gorilla gestures?
A. Because gorillas possess the ability of making many kinds of gestures.
B. Because they haven't made deep research into the animal.
C. Because a gorilla gesture may have different meanings.
D. Because gorillas can't exactly express their thoughts.
66.If a gorilla wants to make a silent gesture towards another gorilla,he________.
A. needs to know how many other gorillas are watching him
B. needs to make noise first in order to draw attention
C. will first make sure his gesture can be seen
D. will first consider whether he can carry out his gesture
67.According to the passage,many scientists study the sign language of great apes in order to.
A. find the origins of the human language
B. find ways for people to communicate with apes
C. learn how animals communicate
D. discover the meanings of animal gestures
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Music is an international language. The songs that are sung or played by instruments are beautiful to all people everywhere.
Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the streets.
Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, politics, and activities of the American people. Most of the radio broadcast is music.
Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in every state. Once the popular singer is heard throughout the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.
There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.
Serious music for the concert halls is called classical music. Music for instruments is called orchestra music (管弦乐), such as the symphonies (交响乐) of Beethoven. There is opera (歌剧) for singers. There is ballet (芭蕾舞剧) for dancers like the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai in China?
67. What can we know about music and people in America?
A. Student drivers carry small radios with earphones when they drive on the streets.
B. Students always listen to music before class, after class and at lunch.
C. Adult drivers only listen to news except music when they drive to work.
D. Adult drivers never listen to music when they drive to work.
68. How many kinds of music are mentioned in the passage?
A. Six. B. Eight. C. Five. D. Seven.
69. Country music ______.
A. is a kind of music that is popular in America
B. has nothing to do with folk music
C. is only sung by cowboys
D. is not played in the concert halls
70. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. All people in America like popular music.
B. Pop singers can get all the money from the tapes.
C. Now, western or country music is a little different from its beginning.
D. Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is a kind of pop music.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
People born under the Chinese sign of the Tiger are attracted to________fast cars and have ________
strong need for________emotional independence.
A.the; a; X | B.X; a; the | C.X; the; the | D.X; a; X |
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Deaf people talk ________.
A.with signs | B.with sign language | C.by signs | D.by speaking sign language |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Language Engineer Wanted
Are you a linguist(语言学家)with technical skills? Or are you an engineer with a passion for(human)languages? Come work on Alexa! We're building the speech and language solutions behind Amazon Echo and other Amazon products and services. Our goal is to delight our customers by adding new features to Alexa. We also improve our existing speech recognition and natural language processing systems.
Specifically, you will:
●design the natural language processing components of new Alexa experiences and features;
●discover and solve production issues that are impacting the Alexa customer experience;
●work with other language engineers in creating the best solutions to improve customer satisfaction.
Basic qualifications:
●Bachelor's degree in a relevant field
●Experience in computational linguistics(计算语言学), language data processing, etc.
●Experience working with speech and text language data in several languages
●Experience in Python, Perl, or other programming languages
Primary qualifications:
●Advanced degree in a relevant field
●Familiarity with database queries(数据库查询)and data analysis processes
●Experience with statistical language modeling
●Fluency in a language other than English
Application instructions:
Please click "Apply Now" and follow our online application process
Deadline: September 30, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time(EDT). We highly recommend that candidates submit résumés up to two weeks in advance of the deadline. Submitting on the deadline day is NOT recommended, and applications received late will not be accepted.
You must submit the name of your résumé in this exact format: LastName_FirstName_CV_Language Engineer
1.What does a language engineer do?
A.Build speech and language solutions for Google
B.Work with linguists to improve customer satisfaction.
C.Add new features to Alexa to satisfy the customers' needs.
D.Invent speech recognition and natural language processing systems
2.What kind of person would probably apply for the position?
A.One with a bachelor's degree in literature
B.One familiar with data analysis processes
C.One fluent in spoken and written English.
D.One with years' of experience in customer service.
3.Where is the passage most likely to be found?
A.A webpage. B.A newspaper.
C.A textbook. D.A report.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Gorillas(大猩猩) are on the edge of extinction. They are calling on YOU to donate your phone today!
You can now help save gorillas in Africa simply by donating your mobile phone! Coltan is a metallic ore(金属矿石) that is mined both in and out of Africa and can be found within many electronic devices such as mobile phones. The mining of coltan within the Congo River Basin is contributing to forest loss there, and is speeding up the loss of mountain gorillas at a shockingly fast rate. While efforts are being made to deal with this issue, the mining of coltan within gorilla habitat continues. It is very difficult to know which phones contain coltan mined from Africa; however, every phone can help save gorillas when donated to They’re Calling on You.
By donating your phone through the They’re Calling You mobile phone recycling program you are:
●Preventing your phone from going to the landfill.
●Helping Melbourne Zoo raise money to support the Jane Good all Institutes monkey conservation work in Africa through the sale of refurbished(翻新)phones.
●Lessening the demand for coltan mining.
To support the They’re Calling You mobile phone recycling program you can:
1.Visit Melbourne Zoo to collect a postage paid recycling bag, and post your mobile phone to the Aussie Recycling Program. Your phone will be resold to poor community groups.
2.Register your support simply by emailing the registration form to zvfoundation@zoo.org.au or fax it to (03)9285-9377.
Schools can get involved too! Please contact Kate McCabe at Melbourne Zoo by email or phone(03)9285-9471 Discuss adding this program to your course while inspiring students to take action for wildlife.
For further information please contact: Rachel Lowry
Ph:(03)9285-9377
Mob: 0488-504-490
Fax:(03)9285-9340
Next time your mobile rings, let that be a reminder that “they’re calling on you”!
1.Why do you save gorillas by donating your phones?
A. Gorillas won’t be troubled by the ringing of cell phones.
B. Africans will protect gorillas easily by using phones.
C. Africans won’t kill gorillas to exchange for phones.
D. Gorillas’ habitat won’t be destroyed due to less coltan mining.
2.The phones you donate will ____.
A. be beautified and sold again B. be taken apart for their coltan
C. be given to the poor Africans D. be presented to poor community groups.
3.The underlined sentence in the passage probably means ___.
A. you are expected to donate phones for wildlife
B. you are reminded to call back immediately
C. you care called back by the recycling program
D. you should feel guilty about using the mobile phone
高三英语长对话或独白中等难度题查看答案及解析
With more than two million videos on YouTube, cats are one of the most searched things on the Internet. A new exhibition called “How Cats Took Over The Internet” opened at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. It looked at the history of how cats rose to Internet fame, and why people like them so much.
Almost half of all original YouTube videos are of people ’s pets, and around 26 billion views are just for cats, making them the single most popular category. Some cats have become famous and earned millions of pounds after their owners posted their pictures online.
So how did cats become so popular?
Since the Internet became widely used in the 1990s, people have been sharing pictures of their cats via email. In 2005 one of YouTube’s co-founders Steve Chen posted a video of his cat called Pyjamas playing with a rope, making him the first person to upload a cat video to YouTube.
In 2007 Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami started a website sharing funny pictures of cats, The site quickly became popular, and users were able to upload pictures of their cats with writing over the top. It now has over 100 million views a month and has created a whole new form of communication on the Internet.
Why cats? A scientific study has proved that looking at videos of cats can improve people's mood. Assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick from Indians University, America, asked 7,000 people how they felt before and after watching videos of cats. The results showed that people felt happier after watching videos of cats, and that they felt less anxious.
The Internet has also been responsible for creating a number of famous cats such as Grumpy Cat, Lil BUB and Maru. They have appeared on lots of TV shows, advertisements and film festivals, and even have their own brands. Lil BUB even has her own charity, and has raised around $130, 000 for pets with special needs.
1.What’s true about cats according to the text?
A.Their fame is related to the widespread of the Internet and a relative website.
B.Cat videos take up half of all the original YouTube videos.
C.They are the first to be filmed among all the animals throughout the world.
D.They earned millions with their videos in the 1990s.
2.Why did Jessica make the study?
A.To improve people's mood and reduce people's anxiety.
B.To ask about people's present feelings and living conditions.
C.To find the effect of watching cat videos on people's mood.
D.To help people live their life to the fullest.
3.What’s special about Lil BUB?
A.She has the most videos online. B.She is popular at home and abroad.
C.She has her own brands. D.She has her own charity.
4.What’s the best title for the text?
A.Cats become celebrities B.Cat videos rule the Internet
C.Watching cat videos counts D.Cats’ contributions to the world
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The world’s native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global “hot spots” where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. “Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction,” linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world’s 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. “Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it’s only in people’s heads,” he said. “We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base.”
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. “The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them,” he said. “When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it’.” Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.
1.What does this text mainly talk about?
A. A study on native languages endangered.
B. The knowledge of native languages.
C. People’s efforts in saving native languages.
D. Harrison and his study on languages.
2.The underlined word“vanishing”in the second paragraph can be best replaced by________.
A. developing B. changing C. increasing D. Disappearing
3.According to Harrison, language extinction________.
A. causes the researchers lots of worries
B. speeds up the pace of species extinction
C. threatens the existing of Spanish and English
D. brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment
4.Which of the following can be described as good news?
A. Native languages became less endangered in Australia.
B. A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language.
C. Researchers were well received by native people in Australia.
D. Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word "obey" is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But sincethese can't be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self-imitation leads on to deliberate (有意的) imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.
It is a problem we need to get out. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world.Thus the use at seven months of"mama" as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself, I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.
1.Before children start speaking, _____.
A. they need equal amount of listening
B. they need different amounts of listening
C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions
D. they can't understand and obey the adult's oral instructions
2.Children who start speaking late _____.
A. may have problems with their listening
B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them
C. usually pay close attention to what they hear
D. often take a long time in learning to listen properly
3.A baby's first noises are _____.
A. an expression of his moods and feelings
B. an early form of language
C. a sign that he means to tell you something
D. an imitation of the speech of adults
4.The problem of deciding at what point a baby's imitations can be considered as speech _____.
A. is important because words have different meanings for different people
B. is one that should be properly understood because the meaning of words changes with age
C. is not especially important because the changeover takes place gradually
D. is one that should be completely ignored (忽略) because children's use of words is often meaningless
5.The author implies _____.
A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds
B. even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitating
C. children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak
D. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.
It is a problem we need to get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use at seven months of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.
1.Before children start speaking .
A. they need equal amount of listening
B. they need different amounts of listening
C. they are all eager to cooperate with the adults by obeying spoken instructions
D. they can’t understand and obey the adult’s oral instructions
2.Children who start speaking late .
A. may have problems with their listening
B. probably do not hear enough language spoken around them
C. usually pay close attention to what they hear
D. often take a long time in learning to listen property
3.A baby’s first noises are .
A. an expression of his moods and feelings
B. an early form of language
C. a sign that he means to tell you something
D. an imitation of the speech of adults
4.The writer implies .
A. parents can never hope to teach their children new sounds
B. children no longer imitate people after they begin to speak
C. children who are good at imitating learn new words more quickly
D. even after they have learnt to speak, children still enjoy imitating
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析