考研英语历年真题阅读理解精读笔记。
TEXT 1 Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking, you might even be outraged. Such behaviour is regarded as "all too human", with the underlying assumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance. But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.
The researchers studied the behaviour of female brown capuchin monkeys. They look cute. They are good natured, cooperative creatures, and they share their food readily. Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of "goods and services" than males.
Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan’s and Dr. de Waal’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for slices of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate but adjoining chambers, so that each could observe what the other was getting in return for its rock, their behaviour became markedly different.
In the world of capuchins, grapes are luxury goods (and much preferable to cucumbers).So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to induce resentment in a female capuchin.
The researchers suggest that capuchin monkeys, like humans, are guided by social emotions. In the wild, they are a cooperative, group living species. Such cooperation is likely to be stable only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of righteous indignation, it seems, are not the preserve of people alone. Refusing a lesser reward completely makes these feelings abundantly clear to other members of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.
21. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by .
［A］ posing a contrast
［B］ justifying an assumption
［C］ making a comparison
［D］ explaining a phenomenon
22. The statement "it is all too monkey" (Last line, Paragraph 1) implies that .
［A］ monkeys are also outraged by slack rivals
［B］ resenting unfairness is also monkeys nature
［C］ monkeys, like humans, tend to be jealous of each other
［D］ no animals other than monkeys can develop such emotions
23. Female capuchin monkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are .
［A］ more inclined to weigh what they get
［B］ attentive to researchers instructions
［C］ nice in both appearance and temperament
［D］ more generous than their male companions
24. Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal have eventually found in their study that the monkeys .
［A］ prefer grapes to cucumbers
［B］ can be taught to exchange things
［C］ will not be cooperative if feeling cheated
［D］ are unhappy when separated from other
25. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
［A］ Monkeys can be trained to develop social emotions.
［B］ Human indignation evolved from an uncertain source.
［C］ Animals usually show their feelings openly as humans do.
［D］ Cooperation among monkeys remains stable only in the wild.
ancestor1 n.祖宗，祖先
appearance3 n.①出现，出场，露面；②外表，外貌，外观
assumption3 n.①假定，设想；②采取；③承担
attention14 n.①注意（力），留心；②立正
author69 n.①作者；②创始人
candidate3 n.①候选人，候补者；②报考者，应试者
capable3 a.①有本领的，有能力的；②（of）可以...的，能...的
chamber3 n.房间，室
characteristic8 a.（of）特有的，独特的；n.特征，特性
cheat1 v.①欺骗；②作弊；n.①骗子；②欺诈，欺骗行为
colleague4 n.同事，同僚
comparison3 n.比较，对比，比喻，比拟
contrast5 v.对比，对照；n.对比，对照，差异
cooperative2 a.合作的，协作的；n.合作社
counterpart2 n.对应的人（或物）
creature2 n.人，动物，生物
cucumber4 n.黄瓜
emotion4 n.情绪，情感
eventually4 ad.终于，最后
evolve3 v.（使）发展，（使）进化
exchange8 v./n.①（for）交换，调换，兑换；②交流，交易；③交换台，交易所
female4 a.女的，雌的
generous1 a.宽宏大量的，慷慨的
goods9 n.商品，货物
grape4 n.葡萄
imply12 v.意指，含...意思，暗示
incline2 v.①（使）倾斜，（使）偏向；②（使）倾向于；n.斜坡，斜面
indignation1 n.愤怒，愤慨
induce2 v.①引诱，劝使；②引起，导致；③感应
infer21 v.推论，推断
jealous1 a.①（of）妒忌的；②猜疑的，警惕的
justify8 v.证明...是正当的，认为有理
luxury1 n.①奢侈，华贵；②奢侈品；a.奢华的，豪华的
male4 n./a.男性（的），雄性（的）
mere7 a.①纯粹的；②仅仅，只不过
nature14 n.①自然界，大自然；②性质，本性，天性
observe5 v.①遵守，奉行；②观察，注意到，看到
opening3 n.①口子，孔；②开始，开端；③空缺，机会；a.开始的，开幕的
outrage1 n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.触怒，激怒
perfect5 a.①完善的，无瑕的；②完全的，十足的；v.使完美，改进
phenomenon9 n.［pl.phenomena］现象
pose4 v.①造成（困难等）；②提出（问题等），陈述（观点等）；③摆姿势；④假装，冒充
preferable3 a.（to）更可取的，更好的
presence2 n.出席，到场，存在，在
preserve4 v.①保护，维持；②保存，保藏；③腌渍；n.专门领域
publish3 v.①出版，刊印；②公布，发表
readily4 ad.①容易地；②乐意地，欣然地
reluctant2 a.不愿的，勉强的
reputation1 n.名声，声望
resent3 v.对...表示忿恨，怨恨
reward3 n.（for）报酬，赏金，奖赏；v.①（for）酬劳，奖赏；②酬谢，报答，奖酬
rival4 n.竞争者，对手；v.竞争，对抗；a.竞争的
sense16 n.①感官，官能；②感觉；③判断力；④见识；⑤意义，意思；v.感觉到，意识到
slack2 a.①懈怠的，懒散的，松驰的，不紧的；②萧条的；n.①淡季，萧条；②［pl.］便裤，运动裤；v.松弛，放松
slice2 n.①薄片，切片；②一份；③部分切（片）
social38 a.①社会的；②社交的，交际的；n.社交活动
source11 n.①源，源泉；②来源，出处
species7 n.（物）种，种类
stable3 a.稳定的，安定的；n.马厩，马棚
statement7 n.声明，陈述
stem2 n.①茎，干；②词干；vi.（from）源自，起源于
temperament1 n.气质，性情，性格
tend26 v.①趋向，往往是；②照料，看护
token3 n.①象征；②代金券，代用品；a.象征性的
topic3 n.话题，主题，题目
toss1 v.①投，扔；②摇摆，颠簸；③辗转反侧
underlying2 a.①含蓄的，潜在的；②在下面的
vanish3 v.消失，消散
abundantly1 ad.丰富地
adjoin1 v.毗连，靠近
attentive1 a.注意的，专心的
capuchin5 n.卷尾猴
cooperation3 n.合作，协作
cute1 a.可爱的，聪明的，伶俐的
fairness1 n.公平，正直
finely1 ad.精巧地；细微地，美好地
grievance1 n.委屈，抱怨
independently3 ad.独立地，自立地
markedly1 ad.显著地，明显地
resentment1 n.怨恨，愤恨
righteous1 a.正直的，正当的
unfairness2 n.不公平
