Analogical ability — the ability to see common relations between objects, events or ideas — is a key skill that underlies human intelligence and differentiates humans from other apes.
While there is considerable evidence that preschoolers can learn abstract relations, it remains an open question whether infants (婴儿) can as well. In a new Northwestern University study, researchers found that infants are capable of learning the abstract relations of sameness and difference after only a few examples.
“This suggests that a skill key to human intelligence is present very early in human development and that language skills are not necessary for learning abstract relations,” said lead author Alissa Ferry, who conducted the research at Northwestern.
To trace the origins of relational thinking in infants, the researchers tested whether seven- month-old infants could understand the simplest and most basic abstract relation — that of sameness and difference between two things. Infants were shown pairs of items that were either the same — two Elmo dolls — or different — an Elmo doll and a toy camel — until their looking time declined.
In the test process, the infants looked longer at pairs showing the novel (新奇的) relation, even when the test pairs were composed of new objects. In other words, infants who had learned the same relation looked longer at test pairs showing the different relation during the test. This suggests that the infants had noticed the abstract relation and found when the relation changed.
“We found that infants are capable of learning these relations,” said Ferry, now doing post-doctoral research at the International School for Advanced Studies in Italy. “Additionally, infants exhibit the same patterns of learning as older children and adults — relational learning benefits from seeing multiple examples of the relation and is blocked when attention is drawn to the individual objects composing the relation.”
Susan Hespos, a co-author of the study and associate professor of psychology at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, said, “We show that infants can form abstract relations before they learn the words that describe relations, meaning that relational learning in humans does not require language and is a fundamental human skill of its own.”
1.How do the infants show they recognize the sameness or difference between two things?
A. By looking at the difference longer.
B. By describing the difference happily.
C. By smiling at the difference.
D. By crying at the difference loudly.
2.What does the underlined word “fundamental” (in the last paragraph) mean?
A. Basic. B. Evident. C. Useful. D. Complicated.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Apes have analogical ability.
B. Infants have difficulty gaining analogical ability.
C. Scientists have done little research on analogical ability.
D. Infants learn words later than analogical ability.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Evidence on preschoolers’ abstract learning.
B. Infants born with analogical ability.
C. Human skills related to analogical ability.
D. A skill key to human intelligence.
高三英语阅读理解困难题
Analogical ability — the ability to see common relations between objects, events or ideas — is a key skill that underlies human intelligence and differentiates humans from other apes.
While there is considerable evidence that preschoolers can learn abstract relations, it remains an open question whether infants (婴儿) can as well. In a new Northwestern University study, researchers found that infants are capable of learning the abstract relations of sameness and difference after only a few examples.
“This suggests that a skill key to human intelligence is present very early in human development and that language skills are not necessary for learning abstract relations,” said lead author Alissa Ferry, who conducted the research at Northwestern.
To trace the origins of relational thinking in infants, the researchers tested whether seven- month-old infants could understand the simplest and most basic abstract relation — that of sameness and difference between two things. Infants were shown pairs of items that were either the same — two Elmo dolls — or different — an Elmo doll and a toy camel — until their looking time declined.
In the test process, the infants looked longer at pairs showing the novel (新奇的) relation, even when the test pairs were composed of new objects. In other words, infants who had learned the same relation looked longer at test pairs showing the different relation during the test. This suggests that the infants had noticed the abstract relation and found when the relation changed.
“We found that infants are capable of learning these relations,” said Ferry, now doing post-doctoral research at the International School for Advanced Studies in Italy. “Additionally, infants exhibit the same patterns of learning as older children and adults — relational learning benefits from seeing multiple examples of the relation and is blocked when attention is drawn to the individual objects composing the relation.”
Susan Hespos, a co-author of the study and associate professor of psychology at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, said, “We show that infants can form abstract relations before they learn the words that describe relations, meaning that relational learning in humans does not require language and is a fundamental human skill of its own.”
1.How do the infants show they recognize the sameness or difference between two things?
A. By looking at the difference longer.
B. By describing the difference happily.
C. By smiling at the difference.
D. By crying at the difference loudly.
2.What does the underlined word “fundamental” (in the last paragraph) mean?
A. Basic. B. Evident. C. Useful. D. Complicated.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Apes have analogical ability.
B. Infants have difficulty gaining analogical ability.
C. Scientists have done little research on analogical ability.
D. Infants learn words later than analogical ability.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Evidence on preschoolers’ abstract learning.
B. Infants born with analogical ability.
C. Human skills related to analogical ability.
D. A skill key to human intelligence.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The man had expected to see all his relatives when in hospital, but _________ came to see him while many of his friends offered him their help.
A. none B. no one C. someone D. anyone
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
The man had expected to see all his relatives when in hospital, but _________ came to see him while
many of his friends offered him their help.
A. none B. no one C. someone D. anyone
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The man had expected to see all his relatives when in hospital, but _________ came to see him while many of his friends offered him their help.
A. none B. no one C. someone D. anyone
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The man had expected to see all his relatives when in hospital, but ________came to see him while many of his friends offered him their help.
A．none B．no one C．someone D．anyone
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
The man had expected to see all his relatives when in hospital, but ________came to see him while many of his friends offered him their help.
A．none B．no one C．someone D．anyone
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Why did Tony go to London?
A.To enjoy the beautiful views. B.To visit a relative. C.To see a doctor.
高三英语短对话中等难度题查看答案及解析
Tiny as they are, bats have the ability to “see” in the dark by using a special skill called echolocation(回声定位法). They make noises and wait for sound waves, or an echo, to bounce(反弹) back off objects. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back off them. If no sound bounces back, they can then fly forward.
This special ability has been simulated in the human world for a long time, such as in submarines and planes, whose sonar(声呐) systems are somewhat similar to echolocation. But apart from helping vehicles “see” where they are, what if blind people could use echolocation for themselves? It turns out, some already are.
American Daniel Kish, who is blind, is known as “Batman”. This isn’t because he walks around in a cape and a mask, but because he has a bat-like ability to locate where he is through sharp clicks he makes by moving his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Kish is so skilled at echolocating that he can ride a bike and hike on his own.
Recently, research carried out at the University of Durham in England shed some light on the power of human echolocation.
Kish worked with a group of scientists who studied the way blind people listen to the echoes that they produce from clicks.
The team, which conducted experiments with other volunteers, found that people were capable of hearing even very faint echoes, ones far fainter than had been previously thought.
Speaking to The Independent, Lore Thaler, lead scientist of the group, said, “We found that in some conditions, they were really faint – about 95 percent softer than the actual clicks, but the echolocators were still able to sense this.”
Andrew Kolarik of the University of Cambridge is another expert in echolocation. Reacting to the Durham study, he told BBC News that echolocation “can be very useful at providing information at face or chest height” and could help people “avoid objects like low hanging branches that might not get detected by the cane or a guide dog”.
Although Kish’s skill is remarkable, there’s hope for other blind people who want to use echolocation. According to BBC News, echolocation is a skill blind people can acquire and develop, just like learning a language. As Kolarik said: “Teaching echolocation skills could provide blind people with the means of exploring new places.”
1.The underlined word “simulated” in Paragraph 2 probably means _______.
A. discovered B. copied
C. improved D. challenged
2.How does Kish locate where he is?
A. By using his great sense of hearing.
B. By listening to the echoes produced by his cane.
C. Via the echoes from the clicks he makes with his tongue.
D. Via the sonar system attached to his body.
3.What did Lore Thaler’s team find from their studies?
A. It is hard for echolocators to sense faint echoes.
B. Humans can echolocate better than we thought we could.
C. Echolocators can pick up all types of echoes.
D. Blind people are better echolocators than those who can see.
4.According to the article, teaching echolocation to blind people _______.
A. will enable them to get rid of their cane
B. will improve their ability to learn a new language
C. will open up new possibilities for them
D. is not easy to put into practice
5.What is the article mainly about?
A. Studies on blind people using echolocation.
B. Different types of human echolocation.
C. The importance of human echolocation.
D. Why bats’ echolocation could be used by humans.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The manager seemed to be doubtful about my ability, _______ I could see from the expression on his face.
A.this B. where C. that D. which
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The manager seemed to be doubtful about my ability, _______ I could see from the expression on his face.
A.this B. where C. that D. which
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析