Question

 It is easy for us to tell our friends from our enemies. But can other animals do the same? Elephants can! They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who pose a threat and those who do not.

In Kenya, researchers found that elephants react differently to clothing worn by men of the Maasai and Kamba ethnic groups. Young Maasai men spear animals and thus pose a threat to elephants; Kamba men are mainly farmers and are not a danger to elephants.

In an experiment conducted by animal scientists, elephants were first presented with clean clothing or clothing that had been worn for five days by either a Maasai or a Kamba man. When the elephants detected(察覺)the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man, they moved away from the smell faster and took longer to relax than when they detected the smells of either clothing worn by Kamba men or clothing that had not been worn at all.

Clothing color also plays a role, though in a different way. In the same study, when the elephants saw red clothing not worn before, they reacted angrily, as red is typically worn by Maasai men. Rather than running away as they did with the smell, the elephants acted aggressively toward the red clothing.

The researchers believe that the elephants’ emotional reactions are due to their different interpretations of the smells and the sights. Smelling a potential danger means that a threat is nearby and the best thing to do is run away and hide. Seeing a potential threat without its smell means that risk is low. Therefore, instead of showing fear and running away, the elephants express their anger and become aggressive.

1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE about Kamba and Maasai people?

A．Maasai people are a threat to elephants.

B．Kamba people raise elephants for farming.

C．Both Kamba and Maasai people are elephant hunters.

D．Both Kamba and Maasai people traditionally wear red clothing.

2. How did the elephants react to smell in the study?

A．They attacked a man with the smell of new clothing.

B．They needed time to relax when smelling something unfamiliar.

C．They became anxious when they smelled Kamba-scented(有…氣味的) clothing.

D．They were frightened and ran away when they smelled their enemies.

3. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Elephants use sight and smell to detect danger.

B．Elephants attack people who wear red clothing.

C．Scientists are now able to control elephants’ emotions.

D．Some Kenyan tribes understand elephants’ emotions very well.

4.What can be inferred about the elephants’ behavior from this passage?

A．Elephants learn from their experience.

B．Elephants have sharper sense of smell than sight.

C．Elephants are more intelligent than other animals.

D．Elephants tend to attack rather than escape when in danger.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.D

3.A

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了人類很容易就可以判斷出誰是我們的朋友，誰是我們的敵人。動物也有自己的方法判斷敵我。文章講述了大象通過視覺和嗅覺來判斷它們的敵人。

1.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段的 “Young Maasai men spear animals and thus pose a threat to elephants. . . ”可知Maasai人是大象的敵人。故選A。

2.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的 “When the elephants detected the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man,  they moved away from the smell faster. . . ”可知大象聞到敵人的味道的反應是恐懼和逃跑。故選D。

3.主旨大意題。根據(jù)第一段的 “They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who pose a threat and those who do not. ”可知主要講大象這種動物用視覺和嗅覺來感知危險。故選A。

4.推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段：“當大象聞到Maasai人通常穿的衣服時，他們會跑開，故選A。

考點：科普類短文閱讀。

點評：所謂主旨大意題，就是指那些針對文章的主要內(nèi)容、主題、標題或?qū)懽髂康乃�設(shè)置的問題。這類題主要考查同學們在理解全文的基礎(chǔ)上運用概括、判斷、歸納、推理等邏輯思維方法對文章進行高度概括或總結(jié)的能力。