首页
登录
职称英语
Prairie Dog barks have ______ meanings. [br] Why wouldn’t the Prairie Dogs know
Prairie Dog barks have ______ meanings. [br] Why wouldn’t the Prairie Dogs know
游客
2024-01-07
48
管理
问题
Prairie Dog barks have ______ meanings. [br] Why wouldn’t the Prairie Dogs know of the European ferret?
Lecturer: Welcome to this presentation on Prairie Dogs. You can see a picture of these rather cute animals on this slide. As you can see, they are about the size of a rabbit and they have a brown or clay-coloured coat with black-tipped hairs and a black-tipped tail. The underside of the prairie dog is a light tan colour. They have short legs and sharp claws to help them dig their homes. Their bodies are 12-15 inches long with a 3-4 inch tail and they weigh 2-4 pounds.
I’ve been interested in these animals for a long time and would like to talk about a remarkable discovery. The barks of prairie dogs have distinct, individual meanings. Prairie dogs have different "words" for tall human in yellow shirt, short human in green shirt, coyote, deer, red-tailed hawk and many other creatures. They can even coin new terms for things they’ve never seen before, independently coming up with the same calls or words, according to research done over two decades by a professor from Arizona University, who can now not only call himself a biology professor, but also a prairie dog linguist.
Prairie dogs of the Gunnison’s species, which were studied intensely, actually speak different dialects in Arizona and in Colorado, but they would probably understand one another, research indicates. So far, this is believed to be...or prairie dogs appear to be demonstrating, the most sophisticated communication system that anyone has shown in animals. Prairie dog chatter is variously described by observers as a series of yips, high-pitched barks or eeks. And most scientists think prairie dogs simply make Sounds that reflect their inner condition. That means all they’re saying are things like "ouch" or "hungry" or "eek." But we now know that prairie dogs are communicating detailed information to one another about what animals are showing up in their colonies, and maybe even gossiping.
Linguists have set five criteria that must be met for something to qualify as language: It must contain words with abstract meanings; possess syntax in which the order of words is part of their meaning; have the ability to coin new words; be composed of smaller elements; and use words separated in space and time from what they represent. The American researchers focussed their efforts on these five criteria to see if prairie dogs use a language, as defined by human linguists, or not. Work was done in the field and in a laboratory. With digital recorders, they recorded the calls prairie dogs make as they see different people, dogs and other animals of different sizes and with different coat colours, such as hawks and elk. They then analysed the sounds using a computer that dissects the underlying structure and creates a sonogram, or visual representation of the sound. Computer analysis later identifies the similarities and differences.
The prairie dogs have calls for various predators but also for elk, deer, antelope and cows. It’s as if they’re trying to inform one another what’s out there. So far, the researchers have recorded at least twenty different "words." Some of those words or calls were created by the prairie dogs when they saw something for the first time. Four prairie dogs in the lab were shown a great-horned owl and European ferret, two animals they had almost certainly not seen before, if only because the owls are mostly nocturnal and this kind of ferret is foreign. The prairie dogs independently came up with the same new calls. In the field, black plywood cut-outs showing the silhouette of a coyote, a skunk and a circular shape were randomly run along a wire through the prairie dog colony. Now, there are no black ovals running around out there and yet they all had the same word for black circle. The researchers believe that prairie dogs are genetically programmed with some vocabulary and the ability to describe things.
The researchers then played back a recorded prairie dog alarm call for coyote in a prairie dog colony when no coyote was around. The prairie dogs had the same escape response as they did when the predator was really there. In other words, there’s no coyote present, but the prairie dogs hear this recording of prairie dogs barking, "Hey, there’s a coyote!" and they say, "Oh, coyote! Better hide." Computer analysis has been able to break down some prairie dog calls into different components, suggesting the creatures have yet another element of a real language. The researchers are quietly confident that they will establish that the prairie dogs will meet the five criteria set by linguists. Then, there will be conclusive proof that animals have language.
选项
答案
(it is) foreign
解析
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3341849.html
相关试题推荐
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]Whatkindofanimalisthecoyoted
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]Whywouldn’tthePrairieDogsknow
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]Whatkindofanimalisthegreat-ho
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]Whatdidtheresearcherusetoreco
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]【36】[originaltext]Lecturer:We
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]【35】[originaltext]Lecturer:We
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]【34】[originaltext]Lecturer:We
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]PrairieDogsinArizonaandColorad
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.[br]PrairieDogsareabletoinvent___
Matchthesoundswiththeircorrectmeanings.Writetheappropriateletteronyo
随机试题
WhiteHouse,official【S1】______ofthepresidentoftheU.S.,builtinitsor
中国学习英语的人口数量全球最多。数据显示,中国有4亿多人在学英语,约占全国总人口的1/3。目前,中国的小学,甚至幼儿园都开设英语课程。英语学习贯穿中国学
填入问号处最恰当的是()。 A、A B、B C、C D、D
出厂检验为产品出厂前的随机抽样,对()。A.结构尺寸、外观质量、标志板面色度、
男,11岁。生时即发现左头面部有隆起的肿块,此后肿块缓慢生长,2岁时影响视物。生
阅读下面的文字,完成题。 桂花树下的故事 史红点 ①绿色的小区里,怡人的居
A.黄色鲜明其色如金 B.面色黧黑 C.黄色鲜明 D.萎黄不泽,目睛及小便
A.缩宫素 B.前列腺素E C.垂体后叶素 D.麦角新碱 E.麦角胺只适
对买入套期保值而言,基差走强,套期保值效果是()。(不计手续费等费用)A.
关于人身意外伤害保险费率厘定的说法,正确的有()。A.费率厘定一般需要考虑
最新回复
(
0
)