Question

He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established (确立) himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the world’s most famous talking bird.

But last week, Alex, an African parrot, died, obviously of natural causes, said Dr Irene Pepperberg, an expert at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of its life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31.

Scientists have long debated whether any other species can develop the ability to learn human language. Alex’s language ability was, in some ways, more surprising than the efforts of those animals that have been taught, like Koko, the gorilla (猩猩) trained by Penny Patterson at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, or Washoe, another gorilla studied by R. Allen and Beatrice Gardner at the University of Nevada in the 1960s and 1970s.

When Dr Pepperberg, who was then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, found Alex was good at remembering words in a pet store in 1977 and bought it, scientists had little expectation that birds could learn to communicate with humans. Most of the research had been done on pigeons, and was not promising.

But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr Pepperberg taught Alex to learn about 150 words, which he could put into categories. He could count small numbers and tell colors and shapes. “The work changed the way we think of bird brains,” said Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College who works with dolphins and elephants. “We used to look down upon those birds, but now we look at those brains — at least Alex’s — with some awe.”

1.Alex is very famous because ________.

A. it died of a strange disease

B. it lived longer than any other parrot

C. it hosted many famous TV shows

D. it has a special talent in learning human language

2.What was the direct reason why Dr Pepperberg bought Alex?

A. He found it was good at remembering words.

B. He liked its colors and shapes.

C. He wanted to do research on birds.

D. Diana Reiss asked him to do that.

3.What does the underlined word “novel” mean in the last paragraph?

A. Special.    B. New.

C. Great.    D. Unique.

4.According to the last paragraph, we can learn that ________.

A. people used to think dolphins were the cleverest

B. Alex’s ability of learning human language has changed some researchers’ ideas about birds

C. elephants are better at learning human language

D. birds’ great ability in learning human language has already been noticed before

5.What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Who are cleverer, birds or gorillas?

B. A famous talking bird died

C. Have you ever talked with a bird?

D. The keeper of a famous bird

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.B

5.B

【解析】本文主要介绍了一只会说人类语言的鹦鹉Alex。Alex非常出名，因为它有特殊的学习人类语言的天赋。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established (确立) himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the world’s most famous talking bird.可知，Alex非常出名是因为它的特殊的学习人类语言的天赋，故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段When Dr Pepperberg, who was then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, found Alex was good at remembering words in a pet store in 1977 and bought it可知，Dr Pepperberg买下它的直接原因是因为他发现它很擅长记忆词汇，故选A。

3.词义猜测题。根据最后一段But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr Pepperberg taught Alex to learn about 150 words, which he could put into categories.可猜出，novel的意思是“新的”，故选B。

4.细节理解题。根据“The work changed the way we think of bird brains,” said Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College who works with dolphins and elephants. “We used to look down upon those birds, but now we look at those brains — at least Alex’s — with some awe.”可知，Alex学习人类语言的能力改变了研究者对鸟类的看法，故选B。

5.主旨大意题。这篇文章主要介绍了一只会说人类语言的鹦鹉Alex。Alex非常出名，因为它有特殊的学习人类语言的天赋，故选B。