2024年4月3日发(作者：)

四、文章出处或读者对象题

(2019·全国Ⅲ，D)

Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.

A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols

consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0－25 drops of water or juice as a

researchers then tested how the monkeys combined—or added—the symbols to get the reward.

Here’s how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone，who led the team，

described the experiment：In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch one part

of the screen，a symbol would appear，and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were

example，the number 7 would flash on one side of the screen and the other end would

have 9 and the monkeys touched the left side of the screen they would be rewarded with seven

drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle，they would be rewarded with the sum of the

numbers—17 in this example.

After running hundreds of tests，the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the

higher values more than half the time，indicating that they were performing a calculation，not just

memorizing the value of each combination.

When the team examined the results of the experiment more closely，they noticed that the

monkeys tended to underestimate(低估)a sum compared with a single symbol when the two were

close in value—sometimes choosing，for example，a 13 over the sum of 8 and

underestimation was systematic：When adding two numbers，the monkeys always paid attention to

the larger of the two，and then added only a fraction(小部分) of the smaller number to it.

“This indicates that there is a certain way quantity is represented in their brains，” Dr

Livingstone says.“But in this experiment what they’re doing is paying more attention to the big

number than the little one.”

语篇解读 本文是一篇说明文。哈佛医学院科学家Margaret Livingstone带领他的团队通过反

复实验得出结论：猴子能算算术，且它们对大数值的关注胜过小数值。

32．What did the researchers do to the monkeys before testing them?

A．They fed them.

B．They named them.

C．They trained them.

D．They measured them.

答案 C

解析 细节理解题。根据第二段首句“A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to

associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0－25 drops

of water or juice as a reward.”可知答案为C。

33．How did the monkeys get their reward in the experiment?

A．By drawing a circle.

B．By touching a screen.

C．By watching videos.

D．By mixing two drinks.

答案 B

解析 细节理解题。根据第三段末句“If the monkeys touched the left side of the screen they

would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle，they would be

rewarded with the sum of the numbers—17 in this example.”可知答案为B。

34．What did Livingstone’s team find about the monkeys?

A．They could perform basic addition.

B．They could understand simple words.

C．They could memorize numbers easily.

D．They could hold their attention for long.

答案 A

解析 细节理解题。根据第四段可知，研究人员在进行了数百次测试后发现，猴子多半时候

会选择更高的值，这表明它们是在进行计算，而不仅仅是记忆每个组合的值。故选A。

35．In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.

C．Education.

答案 D

解析 文章出处题。根据全文可知，本文讲述了科学家们通过科学实验得出猴子能够算算术

的结论。由此可知，该文章可能出现在报纸的科学版上。故选D。

B．Health.

D．Science.

一、题型解读