Chimpanzee Communication
Do animals communicate deliberately, meaning do they communicate with a goal in mind? It would help if we could ask them what they intended to communicate and they could reply using communication signals that we could understand. To achieve such two-way communication, humans must either learn to use the communication signals of the species we wish to study or teach an animal to use some form of human language. Since we have not yet been successful in understanding more than rudimentary aspects of animal communication signals, the latter has presented itself as the best option. Apes have been taught to communicate with humans using American Sign Language or by pointing to symbols that represent words. They have not been taught verbal communication using spoken language because the vocal apparatus of apes is very different from that of humans and does not allow them to make the same vocalizations that we do.
Allen and Beatrix Gardner trained several chimpanzees to communicate with humans using American Sign Language, beginning in 1966 with a chimpanzee called Washoe. The chimpanzees learned to use signs to refer to objects and individuals, and all of them acquired vocabularies that allowed them to express requests, such as “Ice cream hurry give me.” By the chimpanzees’ frustrated behavior when these requests were not honored, compared with when they were, it was clear that these were deliberate forms of communication. The chimpanzees also announced when the next activity in the daily routine should occur. This announcement of a pending event is an aspect of awareness of the future that indicates deliberate communication. Emotion entered into the signing-more emotive events evoked more signing-but cognition was obviously a major aspect of their communication.
To convince critics that the chimpanzees were expressing genuine requests and were coming up with answers to questions by use of their own powers of cognition, it was necessary for the Gardners to prove that the chimpanzees were not using subtle cues given inadvertently by the humans caring for them. By responding to cues produced by the humans in their presence, the apes could appear to be communicating intelligently and deliberately but would merely be performing some sort of clever mimicry. In other words, they might be similar to Clever Hans, the horse that was once thought to be able to read numbers written on a board and to count them out by tapping his foot on the ground. Later it was found that the horse used subtle cues that his owner supplied unknowingly, such as the blink of an eyelid when the horse tapped the required number of times. Clever Hans could not perform the task when his owner was not present.
To test whether a similar use of cues might be occurring with the chimpanzees, the Gardners designed an experiment in which the chimpanzees had to name objects shown to them on a video monitor. Their responses were recorded by a human who could not see the screen and did not know what the chimpanzees were observing. In fact, there was no human who knew what was on the screen present in the room with the chimpanzees. In this controlled experiment, the chimpanzees were able to name objects accurately. Therefore, their use of sign language was self- generated and not some form of mimicry or associative learning.
The chimpanzees also used the sign language they had learned to tell humans things they did not already know. For example, when very young, Washoe dropped one of her toys into a hole in the inside wall of the caravan in which she lived. That night, when Allen Gardner visited her, she attracted his attention to a part of the wall below the hole and signed “Open, open” many times over. From this communication Allen deduced what had happened and retrieved the toy. Washoe had used sign language to communicate something really new to a human. This shows genuine communication, communication made deliberately. Again, there was no question of the chimpanzee’s having communicated merely by reading subtle cues given by a human.
1
Do animals communicate deliberately, meaning do they communicate with a goal in mind? It would help if we could ask them what they intended to communicate and they could reply using communication signals that we could understand. To achieve such two-way communication, humans must either learn to use the communication signals of the species we wish to study or teach an animal to use some form of human language. Since we have not yet been successful in understanding more than rudimentary aspects of animal communication signals, the latter has presented itself as the best option. Apes have been taught to communicate with humans using American Sign Language or by pointing to symbols that represent words. They have not been taught verbal communication using spoken language because the vocal apparatus of apes is very different from that of humans and does not allow them to make the same vocalizations that we do.
According to paragraph 1, the most promising way created so far for humans to achieve two-way communication with animals involves
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Ateaching apes verbal communication that uses human speech sounds
Bobserving the communication signals that animals use in the wild
Cteaching animals to use sign language or identify symbols for words
Dlearning to understand and reproduce verbal signals that animals use
2
Allen and Beatrix Gardner trained several chimpanzees to communicate with humans using American Sign Language, beginning in 1966 with a chimpanzee called Washoe. The chimpanzees learned to use signs to refer to objects and individuals, and all of them acquired vocabularies that allowed them to express requests, such as “Ice cream hurry give me.” By the chimpanzees’ frustrated behavior when these requests were not honored, compared with when they were, it was clear that these were deliberate forms of communication. The chimpanzees also announced when the next activity in the daily routine should occur. This announcement of a pending event is an aspect of awareness of the future that indicates deliberate communication. Emotion entered into the signing-more emotive events evoked more signing-but cognition was obviously a major aspect of their communication.
According to paragraph 2, which of the following was regarded as evidence that the chimpanzees’ use of sign language was deliberate?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
AThe chimpanzees were able to distinguish individuals from objects
BWhen given a choice of activity, the chimpanzees chose to practice sign language
CThe chimpanzees acted pleased when they got what they asked for and upset when they did not.
DSigning allowed some chimpanzees to control their emotions
3
Allen and Beatrix Gardner trained several chimpanzees to communicate with humans using American Sign Language, beginning in 1966 with a chimpanzee called Washoe. The chimpanzees learned to use signs to refer to objects and individuals, and all of them acquired vocabularies that allowed them to express requests, such as “Ice cream hurry give me.” By the chimpanzees’ frustrated behavior when these requests were not honored, compared with when they were, it was clear that these were deliberate forms of communication. The chimpanzees also announced when the next activity in the daily routine should occur. This announcement of a pending event is an aspect of awareness of the future that indicates deliberate communication. Emotion entered into the signing-more emotive events evoked more signing-but cognition was obviously a major aspect of their communication.
According to paragraph 2, the chimpanzees trained by the Gardners were able to
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Aunderstand their trainers’ emotions
Beasily change their daily routine of activities
Clearn more than one word for a single object
Ddemonstrate awareness of a future event
4
To convince critics that the chimpanzees were expressing genuine requests and were coming up with answers to questions by use of their own powers of cognition, it was necessary for the Gardners to prove that the chimpanzees were not using subtle cues given inadvertently by the humans caring for them. By responding to cues produced by the humans in their presence, the apes could appear to be communicating intelligently and deliberately but would merely be performing some sort of clever mimicry. In other words, they might be similar to Clever Hans, the horse that was once thought to be able to read numbers written on a board and to count them out by tapping his foot on the ground. Later it was found that the horse used subtle cues that his owner supplied unknowingly, such as the blink of an eyelid when the horse tapped the required number of times. Clever Hans could not perform the task when his owner was not present.
In saying that the horse, Clever Hans, used “subtle” cues, the author means that the cues were
Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题
Apreviously learned
Bdifficult to notice
Crepeated
Dvaried
5
To convince critics that the chimpanzees were expressing genuine requests and were coming up with answers to questions by use of their own powers of cognition, it was necessary for the Gardners to prove that the chimpanzees were not using subtle cues given inadvertently by the humans caring for them. By responding to cues produced by the humans in their presence, the apes could appear to be communicating intelligently and deliberately but would merely be performing some sort of clever mimicry. In other words, they might be similar to Clever Hans, the horse that was once thought to be able to read numbers written on a board and to count them out by tapping his foot on the ground. Later it was found that the horse used subtle cues that his owner supplied unknowingly, such as the blink of an eyelid when the horse tapped the required number of times. Clever Hans could not perform the task when his owner was not present.
In paragraph 3, the author discusses the case of Clever Hans in order to
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Ashow that animals other than chimpanzees communicate deliberately
Bargue that chimpanzees are not the only animals capable of learning human language
Cpoint out specific ways that chimpanzee communication differs from horse communication
Dexplain how an animal could appear to be communicating deliberately but actually not be doing so
6
To test whether a similar use of cues might be occurring with the chimpanzees, the Gardners designed an experiment in which the chimpanzees had to name objects shown to them on a video monitor. Their responses were recorded by a human who could not see the screen and did not know what the chimpanzees were observing. In fact, there was no human who knew what was on the screen present in the room with the chimpanzees. In this controlled experiment, the chimpanzees were able to name objects accurately. Therefore, their use of sign language was self- generated and not some form of mimicry or associative learning.
All of the following were true of the video experiment described in paragraph 4 EXCEPT:
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
AThe chimpanzees were asked to identify images on a video screen
BThe chimpanzees were able to accurately name only a few of the objects that they were shown.
CNone of the humans knew what was on the screen.
DHumans observed the chimpanzees as they responded
7
The chimpanzees also used the sign language they had learned to tell humans things they did not already know. For example, when very young, Washoe dropped one of her toys into a hole in the inside wall of the caravan in which she lived. That night, when Allen Gardner visited her, she attracted his attention to a part of the wall below the hole and signed “Open, open” many times over. From this communication Allen deduced what had happened and retrieved the toy. Washoe had used sign language to communicate something really new to a human. This shows genuine communication, communication made deliberately. Again, there was no question of the chimpanzee’s having communicated merely by reading subtle cues given by a human.
According to paragraph 5, Washoe was able to tell Allen Gardner
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
Athat she wanted the door to her caravan opened
Bwhy there was a hole in the wall
Cwhere she dropped her toy
Dhow many times she had dropped her toy
8
The chimpanzees also used the sign language they had learned to tell humans things they did not already know. For example, when very young, Washoe dropped one of her toys into a hole in the inside wall of the caravan in which she lived. That night, when Allen Gardner visited her, she attracted his attention to a part of the wall below the hole and signed “Open, open” many times over. From this communication Allen deduced what had happened and retrieved the toy. Washoe had used sign language to communicate something really new to a human. This shows genuine communication, communication made deliberately. Again, there was no question of the chimpanzee’s having communicated merely by reading subtle cues given by a human.
Paragraph 5 suggests that the interaction between Washoe and Allen Gardner was particularly significant for which of the following reasons?
Inference Questions推理题
AIt occurred as part of a controlled experiment.
BIt showed that even very young chimpanzees are capable of fully learning sign language.
CIt proved that chimpanzees are able to pick up on subtle cues given by a human
DIt indicated that chimpanzees can communicate information that their trainers do not know
9
To test whether a similar use of cues might be occurring with the chimpanzees, the Gardners designed an experiment in which the chimpanzees had to name objects shown to them on a video monitor. [■] Their responses were recorded by a human who could not see the screen and did not know what the chimpanzees were observing. [■] In fact, there was no human who knew what was on the screen present in the room with the chimpanzees. [■] In this controlled experiment, the chimpanzees were able to name objects accurately. [■] Therefore, their use of sign language was self- generated and not some form of mimicry or associative learning.
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
By limiting in these ways the knowledge of all people involved in or observing the experiment, the Gardners made it impossible for the chimpanzees to respond based on cues provided by humans.Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
The Gardners conducted experiments with chimpanzees to determine whether or not animals are able to communicate deliberately
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
AScientists tried to communicate with animals by learning to produce the animals’ signals and by teaching them spoken language, but both methods were initially unsuccessful
BThe chimpanzees successfully learned to identify people and things make requests, and indicate that a daily activity was about to occur.
CScientists have successfully taught animals to read numbers, and some animals even learned to communicate deliberately through signals like eye-blinking.
DEarly studies focused on whether cognition or emotion had a bigger impact on chimpanzee use of sign language.
EThe Gardners designed a video experiment that showed that their chimpanzees were communicating deliberately and not simply following cues that their trainers had given to them.
FWashoe used sign language to indicate an action she wanted the trainer to do, and this was evidence of chimpanzees’ ability to communicate deliberately.
答案：
