Unit 6 Animal Intelligence.doc

Unit 6 Animal IntelligencePart I Pre-reading TaskListen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:1. What do you know about Michael Jackson?2. How does he feel about Ben? Why?3. Do you think the song Ben reveals something about the relationship between man and animals? If so, what is it?4. Is the song related to the theme of the unit animal intelligence? How?Part IIText AFood, warmth, sleep? Their thoughts may be much deeper than that.WHAT ANIMALS REALLY THINKEuqene LindenOver the years, I have written extensively about animal-intelligence experiments and the controversy that surrounds them. Do animals really have thoughts, what we call consciousness? Wondering whether there might be better ways to explore animal intelligence than experiments designed to teach human signs, I realized what now seems obvious: if animals can think, they will probably do their best thinking when it serves their own purposes, not when scientists ask them to.And so I started talking to vets, animal researchers, zoo keepers. Most do not study animal intelligence, but they encounter it, and the lack of it, every day. The stories they tell us reveal what Im convinced is a new window on animal intelligence: the kind of mental feats animals perform when dealing with captivity and the dominant species on the planet humans.Lets Make a DealConsider the time Charlene Jendry, a conservationist at the Columbus Zoo, learned that a female gorilla named Colo was handling a suspicious object. Arriving on the scene, Jendry offered Colo some peanuts, only to be met with a blank stare. Realizing they were negotiating, Jendry raised the stakes and offered a piece of pineapple. At this point, while maintaining eye contact, Colo opened her hand and revealed a key chain.Relieved it was not anything dangerous or valuable, Jendry gave Colo the pineapple. Careful bargainer that she was, Colo then broke the key chain and gave Jendry a link, perhaps figuring. Why give her the whole thing if I can get a bit of pineapple for each piece?If an animal can show skill in trading one thing for another, why not in handling money? One orangutan named Chantek did just that in a sign-language study undertaken by anthropologist Lyn Miles at the University of Tennessee. Chantek figured out that if he did tasks like cleaning his room, hed earn coins to spend on treats and rides in Miless car. But the orangutans understanding of money seemed to extend far beyond simple dealings. Miles first used plastic chips as coins, but Chantek decided he could expand the money supply by breaking chips in two. When Miles switched to metal chips, Chantek found pieces of tin foil and tried to make copies.Miles also tried to teach Chantek more virtuous habits such as saving and sharing. Indeed, when I caught up with the orangutan at Zoo Atlanta, where he now lives, I saw an example of sharing that anyone might envy. When Miles gave Chantek some grapes and asked him to share them, Chantek promptly ate all the fruit. Then, as if hed just remembered hed been asked to share, he handed Miles the stem.Tale of a WhaleWhy would an animal want to cooperate with a human? Behaviorists would say that animals cooperate when they learn it is in their interest to do so. This is true, but I dont think it goes far enough.Gail Laule, a consultant on animal behavior, speaks of Orky, a killer whale, she knew. Of all the animals Ive worked with, he was the most intelligent, she says. He would assess a situation and then do something based on the judgments he made.Like the time he helped save a family member. When Orkys mate, Corky, gave birth, the baby did not thrive at first, and keepers took the little whale out of the tank by stretcher for emergency care. Things began to go wrong when they returned the baby whale to the tank. As the workers halted the stretcher a few meters above the water, the baby suddenly began throwing up through its mouth. The keepers feared it would choke, but they could not reach the baby to help it.Apparently sizing up the problem, Orky swam under the stretcher and allowed one of the men to stand on his head, something hed never been trained to do. Then, using his tail to keep steady, Orky let the keeper reach up and release the 420-pound baby so that it could slide into the water within reach of help.Primate Shell GameSometimes evidence of intelligence can be seen in attempts to deceive. Zoo keeper Helen Shewman of Seattles Woodland Park Zoo recalls that one day she dropped an orange through a feeding hole for Melati, an orangutan. Instead of moving away to get it, Melati looked Shewman in the eye and held out her hand. Thinking the orange must have rolled off somewhere inaccessible, Shewman gave her another one. But when Melati moved off, Shewman noticed the original orange was hidden in her other hand.Towan, the colonys dominant male, watched this whole trick, and the next day he, too, looked Shewman in the eye and pretended that he had not yet received an orange. Are you sure you dont have one? Shewman asked. He continued to hold her gaze steadily and held out his hand. Giving in, she gave him another one, then saw that he had been hiding his orange underneath his foot.What is intelligence anyway? If life is about survival of a species and intelligence is meant to serve that survival then we cant compare with pea-brained sea turtles, which were here long before us and survived the disaster that wiped out the dinosaurs. Still, it is comforting to realize that other species besides our own can stand back and assess the world around them, even if their horizons are more limited than ours.New Words and Expressionsextensivelyad. to a large extent, or in a large amount 广泛地;大量地intelligencen. 智力intelligenta. 聪明的，有才智的controversyn. 争论，争议surroundvt. be or go all around (sth. or sb.) 围绕;包围consciousnessn. 意识explorevt. examine thoroughly, learn about 探究，探索obviousa. easy to see and understand; clear 明显的vetn. 兽医encountervt. meet, esp. unexpectedly 遇到，遭遇revealvt. make (sth.) known 展示;揭露convincevt. make (sb.) feel sure by the use of argument or evidence 使确信，使信服featn. 技艺;业绩，功绩captivityn. 被俘;监禁;束缚dominanta. ruling; most important or strongest 统治的;占优势的speciesn. (单复同)物种make a dealreach an agreement or arrangement, esp. in business or politics 达成交易conservationistn. 自然资源保护论者femalea. 雌的;女(性)的n. 雌性的动物或植物;女人gorillan. 大猩猩suspiciousa. causing or showing a feeling that sth. is wrong 可疑的;猜疑的peanutn. 花生blanka. without expression; without writing, or other marks 没有表情的;空白negotiatevi. discuss in order to come to an agreement 谈判，协商staken. (usu.pl) 奖品;奖金;赌注pineapplen. 凤梨，菠萝maintainvt. continue to do or have (sth.) 保持;继续relievevt. free (sb.) from pain, anxiety, etc.; ease (pain, anxiety, etc.) 使减轻痛苦或焦虑等;减轻(痛苦或焦虑等)linkn. 链环;环节;联系v. join or connect 联系，连接orangutann. 猩猩undertakevt. (undertook, undertaken) carry out; take upon oneself (a task, etc.) 从事;承担(任务等)anthropologistn. 人类学者figure outunderstand; reason out 理解;推断出extendv. (cause to) stretch or reach; make larger or longer 延伸，伸展;扩大;加长dealingn. (usu.pl) business relations 交易，买卖plastica. 塑料的chipn. 薄片;碎片;集成电路片expandv. (cause to) grow larger 扩大，扩展switchv. change; shift 转换，变换foiln. 金属薄片，箔virtuousa. showing moral goodness 有道德的;善良的envyvt., n. 妒忌;羡慕grapen. 葡萄promptlyad. immediately 立即地stemn. 茎，(树)干，(叶)梗whalen. 鲸cooperatevi. act or work together 合作，协作behavioristn. 行为主义者in sb.s interest(s)to sb.s advantage 为了某人的利益go farhelp very much; achieve much success 帮助很大;很有成效consultantn. 顾问behaviorn. the way one acts or behaves 举止，行为assessvt. judge the quality, importance or worth of 评估，估量judgmentn. 判断;意见，看法maten. 配偶;伙伴，同事thrivevi. grow strong and healthy; develop well 茁壮成长;兴旺at firstat the beginning 起先stretchern. 担架emergencyn. an unexpected and dangerous happening which must be dealt with at once 紧急情况;突然事件go wrongstop developing well 有毛病，出故障haltv. (cause to) stop 停住，停止throw up(infml) vomit 呕吐apparentlyad. it is clear (that) 明显地size upcarefully examine (a situation or person) in order to make a judgement 估量，判断releasevt. set free 释放slidev. (cause to) move smoothly along a surface (使)滑动primaten.