题文
Working with a group of baboons (狒狒）in the Namibian desert, Dr. Alecia Carter of the Department of Zoology，Cambridge University set baboons learning tasks involving a novel food and a familiar food hidden in a box. Some baboons were given the chance to watch another baboon who already knew how to solve the task, while others had to learn for themselves. To work out how brave or anxious the baboons were, Dr. Carter presented them either with a novel food or a threat in the form of a model of a poisonous snake.She found that personality had a major impact on learning. The braver baboons learnt, but the shy ones did not learn the task although they watched the baboon perform the task of finding the novel food just as long as the brave ones did. In effect, despite being made aware of what to do, they were still too shy to do what the experienced baboon did.
The same held true for anxious baboons compared with calm ones. The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.
This mismatch between collecting social information and using it shows that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something that has previously been ignored in studies on how animals learn to do things. The findings are significant because they suggest that animals may perform poorly in cognitive (认 知的）tasks not because they aren’t clever enough to solve them，but because they are too shy or nervous to use the social information.
The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning. If some individuals are unable to get information from others because they don’t associate with the knowledgeable individuals，or they are too shy to use the information once they have it，information may not travel between all group members, preventing the formation of a culture based on social learning.
小题1:What is the first paragraph mainly about?A．The design of Dr. Carter’s research.B．The results of Dr. Carter’s research.C．The purpose of Dr. Carter’s research.D．The significance of Dr. Carter’s research.小题2:According to the research, which baboons are more likely to complete a new learning task?A．Those that have more experience.B．Those that can avoid potential risks.C．Those that like to work independently.D．Those that feel anxious about learning.小题3:Which best illustrates the “mismatch” mentioned in Paragraph 4?A．Some baboons are intelligent but slow in learning.B．Some baboons are shy but active in social activities.C．Some baboons observe others but don’t follow them.D．Some baboons perform new tasks but don’t concentrate.小题4:Dr. Carter’s findings indicate that our culture might be formed through .A．storing informationB．learning from each otherC．understanding different peopleD．travelling between social groups 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:C
小题4:B
解析
【文章大意】这是一篇夹叙夹议的议论文。文章通过阐述研究狒狒如何获得食物的信息来讲述社会生活中的文化是通过相互的学习来获取的。
小题1:A考查主旨要义。根据文章第一段其主要阐述的是研究项目的主要内容，对象与方法也就是这个研究的设计，故A正确。
小题2:D考查细节理解。 根据文章第三段“The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others”可知选D。
小题3:C考查判断推理。根据文章第三段最后 “while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.”可知划线部分的内容指的是“光看不做的”，故C正确。
小题4:B考查细节理解。 根据文章最后一段第一句“The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning”回归文章的研究主题上即文化的获取是通过相互的学习，故B正确。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Working with a group.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
