Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking, you might even be outraged. Such behaviour is regarded as “all too human”， with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance. But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well，考研英語真題閱讀理解試題及名師解析(23)。
The researchers studied the behaviour of female brown capuchin monkeys. They look cute. They are good-natured, co-cooperative creatures, and they share their food readily. Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “good and services” than males。
Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan’s and Dr. de Waal’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for slices of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate but adjoining chambers, so that each could observe what the other was getting in return for its rock, their behaviour became markedly different。
In the world of capuchins, grapes are luxury goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to induce resentment in a female capuchin。
The researchers suggest that capuchin monkeys, like humans, are guided by social emotions. In the wild, they are a co-operative, group-living species. Such co-operation is likely to be stable only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of righteous indignation, it seems, are not the preserve of people alone. Refusing a lesser reward completely makes these feelings abundantly clear to other members of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question。
21. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by
[A] posing a contrast。
[B] justifying an assumption。
[C]making a comparison。
[D]explaining a phenomenon。
22. The statement “it is all too monkey” (Paragraph 1) implies that
[A] monkeys are also outraged by slack rivals。
[B] resenting unfairness is also monkeys’ nature。
[C]monkeys, like humans, tend to be jealous of each other。
[D] no animals other than monkeys can develop such emotions。
23. Female capuchin monkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are
[A]more inclined to weigh what they get。
[B]attentive to researchers’ instructions。
[C]nice in both appearance and temperament。
[D]more generous than their male companions。
24. Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal have eventually found in their study that the monkeys
[A]prefer grapes to cucumbers。
[B]can be taught to exchange things。
[C]will not be co-operative if feeling cheated。
[D]are unhappy when separated from others。
25. When can we infer from the last paragraph?
[A]Monkeys can be trained to develop social emotions。
[B]Human indignation evolved from an uncertain source。
[C]Animals usually show their feelings openly as human do。
[D]Cooperation among monkeys remains stable only in the wild。
名師解析
21. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by 第一段，作者引入主題是通過
[A] posing a contrast. 提出一個對照，考研英語《考研英語真題閱讀理解試題及名師解析(23)》。
[B] justifying an assumption. 證明假定是正確的。
[C] making a comparison. 作出一個比較。
[D] explaining a phenomenon 解釋一個現象。
【答案】 C
【考點】 寫作手法題。
【分析】 從題目入手可以節約時間，增強閱讀目的性，有的放矢。第一題的題目告訴我們需要先確定主題。如前所述，一段文章的主題同樣可能就隱藏在一句關鍵的話中。從文章第一段講人會因爲不公平而憤怒，推導動物會不會呢？有人認爲不會，但是科學研究表明猴子同樣會。這就是關鍵句，這就是作者要討論的主題。[A]選項表示對比，相反或不同，可是文章說的是猴與人類似，所以不選。[B]選項原文提出的假定原本是人與猴不一樣，所以這個答案不對。[D]選項解釋現象，這個說法不能夠將開頭和主題的`內在聯繫結合起來。
22. The statement“it is all too monkey”(Last line, Paragraph l) implies that
“太猴子化”(第一段最後一行)這一說法的言下之意是
[A] monkeys are also outraged by slack rivals。
猴子也會被懶散的競爭對手激怒。
[B] resenting unfairness is also monkeys’ nature。
痛恨不公平也是猴子的本性。
[C] monkeys, like humans, tend to be jealous of each other。
猴子和人一樣，也會彼此嫉妒。
[D] no animals other than monkeys can develop such emotions。
除了猴子以外，沒有動物能夠產生出這樣的感情。
【答案】 B
【考點】 推斷題。
【分析】 由於題目表面看上去是問一個詞組的意思，所以很多人糾纏在字面意義上。實際上，考生只有先理解“all too human”然後才能夠理解“all too monkey”。[A]選項談到“猴子也會被懶散的競爭對手激怒。”文章中開篇的時候只是說人會被懶散的競爭對手激怒，沒有說動物也會被懶散的競爭對手激怒，所以不選。[C]選項說“猴子和人一樣，也會彼此嫉妒。”這個選項是最大的干擾項。在對文章經過仔細的閱讀後，考生可以發現，作者的主題就是要告訴大家“對不公平的痛恨猴子也會”。這個選項在程度上超過了我們的需要。[D]“除了猴子沒有動物能夠培養出這樣的感情。”這個說法如果斷章取義也有可能會被錯選，但是隻有結合上文的邏輯順序就能夠去除這個干擾項。
23. Female capuchin monkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are
母捲尾猴最有可能被選爲研究對象的原因是它們
[A] more inclined to weigh what they get. 更加傾向於權衡它們之所得。
[B] attentive to researchers’ instructions. 關注研究人員的指導。
[C] nice in both appearance and temperament. 有好的外表和脾氣。
[D] more generous than their male companions. 比公猴更加慷慨。
【答案】 A
【考點】 事實細節題。
【分析】 第三段第一句“Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan’s and Dr. de waal’s study。”正好回答了這個問題。考生應該立即意識到“such characteristics”指的是第二段中“They look cute(可愛). They are good-natured(脾氣好)， co-operative(合作)creatures, and they share their food readily(共享食物). Above all(最重要的是)， like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of ‘goods and services’than males。”如果考生對最後一句話仔細研究一下，就會發現這句話中的“密切關注它們獲得的東西”其實就是“權衡它們獲得的東西”的意思。而且這是首要的，有“above all”爲證明。這裏有一個閱讀技巧，即注意“such”一詞。當“such”出現在某段某句中作定語時，表示的意思是“如此的，這樣的”。請考生務必到前文去尋找該詞的實際指代內容。切記！[B]這個意思也不錯，因爲文中有“cooperative”，可惜這不是最重要的。[C]文中也提到了，但是仍然不是最重要的。[D]選項是出題人自己編的。
24. Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal have eventually found in their study that the monkeys
Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal最終在他們的研究中發現猴子
[A] prefer grapes to cucumbers. 喜歡葡萄勝過黃瓜。
[B] can be taught to exchange things. 可以被訓練來交換東西。
[C] will not be co-operative if feeling cheated. 如果感覺被欺騙，就不會合作。
[D] are unha
