Researchonanimalintelligencealwaysmakesmewonderjusthowsmarthumansare.1thefruit-flyexperimentsdescribedinCarlZimmer’spieceintheScienceTimesonTuesday.Fruitflieswhoweretaughttobesmarterthantheaveragefruitfly2toliveshorterlives.Thissuggeststhat3bulbsburnlonger,thatthereisan4innotbeingtooterrificallybright.
Intelligence,it5out,isahigh-pricedoption.Ittakesmoreupkeep,burnsmorefuelandisslow6thestartinglinebecauseitd ependsonlearning—agradual7—insteadofinstinct.Plentyofotherspeciesareabletolearn,andoneofthethingsthey’veapparentlylearnediswhento8.
Isthereanadaptivevalueto9intelligence?That’sthequestionbehindthisnewresearch.Ilikeit.Insteadofcastingawistfulglance10atallthespecieswe’veleftinthedustI.Q.-wise,itimplicitlyaskswhatthereal11ofourownintelligencemightbe.Thisis12themindofeveryanimalI’veevermet.
Researchonanimalintelligencealsomakesmewonderwhatexperimentsanimalswould13onhumansiftheyhadthechance.Everycatwithanowner,14,isrunningasmall-scalestudyinoperantconditioning.webelievethat15animalsranthelabs,theywouldtestusto16thelimitsofourpatience,ourfaithfulness,ourmemoryforterrain.Theywouldtr ytodecidewhatintelligenceinhumansisreally17,notmerelyhowmuchofitthereis.18,theywouldhopetostudya19question:Arehumansactuallyawareoftheworldtheylivein?20theresultsareinconclusive.
1.______
[A]Suppose[B]Consider[C]Observe[D]Imagine
正确答案：B
