Question

Elephants have four distinct personalities that help their herd survive in the African bush, scientists have found. 

With their grey skin, mournful eyes and slow heavy pace, you could be forgiven for thinking elephants are uniformly melancholy(憂郁的) creatures. But scientists have now discovered the largest living land animals have personalities to match their size.

In a new study of African elephants, researchers have identified four distinct characters that are common in a herd – the leaders, the gentle giants, the playful rogues(小淘氣) and the reliable plodders (辛勤工作的人).

Each of the types has developed to help the giant mammals survive in their harsh environment and is almost unique in the animal kingdom, according to the scientists.

Professor Phyllis Lee and her colleague Cynthia Moss studied a herd of elephants in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya known as the EB family — famous for their matriarch Echo before she died in 2009.

Using data collected over 38 years of watching this group, the researchers analyzed them for 26 types of behavior and found four personality features tended to emerge.

The strongest personality to emerge was that of the leader. Unlike other animals, where leadership tends to be won by the most dominant and aggressive individual, the elephants instead respected intelligence and problem solving in their leader. Echo, the matriarch and oldest in the group, her daughter Enid, and Ella, the second oldest female, all emerged as leaders.

The playful elephants tended to be younger but were more curious and active. Eudora, a 40-year-old female in the herd, seemed to be the most playful, consistently showing this feature throughout her life while playfulness in some of the other elephants declined with age.

Gentle elephants, which included two 27-year-old females Eleanor and Eliot, touched and rubbed against others more than the others.

Those that were reliable tended to be those that were most consistent at making good decisions, helped to care for infants in the herd and were calm when faced with threats. Echo and her youngest daughter Ebony seemed to be the most reliable.

Professor Lee said that elephants with these features tended to be the most socially integrated in the group while those who tended to be less reliable and pushy were more likely to split from the herd.

1.From the passage we get to know that ________.

A．the researchers reached their conclusion by analyzing the data

B．the research centered on the 26 types of behavior of the matriarch

C．the scientists conducted the research by comparing elephants with other animals

D．professor Phyllis Lee and her colleague spent nearly 38 years tracking the herd

2.According to the new findings of the scientists, ________.

A．playfulness of an elephant will always decline with age

B．those elephants which are caring and wise are most reliable

C．each elephant can be matched with only one of the four personalities

D．once becoming a member of a herd, an elephant will never split from it

3.In the EB family Echo and Eudora are ________.

A．mother and daughter                    B．two oldest females

C．the gentlest ones                       D．leader and member

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.B

3.D

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了通過分析38年以來收集的數據來分析大象的性格特質所得出的結論。

1.A 細節題。根據文章第六段Using data collected over 38 years of watching this group, the researchers analyzed them for 26 types of behavior and found four personality features tended to emerge.可知是通過分析38年以來收集的數據，研究人員才得出這樣的結論。故A正確。

2.B 細節題。根據倒數第二段Those that were reliable tended to be those that were most consistent at making good decisions, helped to care for infants in the herd and were calm when faced with threats.說明那些能聰明的能夠做出好的決定的并能照顧好小象的大象是值得信賴的。故B項正確。

3.D 推理題。根據Echo, the matriarch and oldest in the group, her daughter Enid, and Ella, the second oldest female, all emerged as leaders.和Gentle elephants, which included two 27-year-old females Eleanor and Eliot, touched and rubbed against others more than the others.說明Echo and Eudora是領導和成員的關系。故D正確。

考點：考查科普說明文

點評：本文講述了通過分析38年以來收集的數據來分析大象的性格特質。以細節的考查為主，要求考生能夠從文章中的信息中曬選出和題目所要求的有關的內容，然后進行合理的推理判斷。