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  3. The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals—even competitors l

The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals—even competitors l

游客2024-03-07  20
问题     The unique human habit of taking in and employing animals—even competitors like wolves—spurred on human tool-making and language, which have both driven humanity’s success, Pat Shipman says, paleoanthropologist of Perm State University. "Wherever you go in the world, whatever ecosystem (生态系统) , whatever culture, people live with animals," Shipman said.
    For early humans, taking in and caring for animals would seem like a poor strategy for survival. "On the face of it, you are wasting your resources. So this is a very weird behavior," Shipman said. But it’s not so weird in the context something else humans were doing about 2.6 million years ago: switching from a mostly vegetarian diet to one rich in meat. This happened because humans invented stone hunting tools that enabled them to compete with other top predators. Quite a rapid and bizarre switch for any animal. So we invented the equipment, learned how to track and kill, and eventually took in animals who also knew how to hunt—like wolves and other canines. Others, like goats, cows and horses, provided milk, hair and, finally, hides and meat.
    Managing all of these animals—or just tracking them—requires technology, knowledge and ways to preserve and convey information. So languages had to develop and evolve to meet the challenges. Tracking game has even been argued to be the origin of scientific inquiry, said Peter Richerson, professor emeritus (名誉退休的) in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis. One of the signs that this happened is in petroglyphs (史前岩画) and other rock art left by ancient peoples. At first they were abstract, geometric patterns that are impossible to decipher (破译) . Then they converge on one subject: animals.
    There have also been genetic changes in both humans and our animals. For the animals those changes developed because human bred them for specific traits, like a cow that gives more milk or a hen that lays more eggs. But this evolutionary influence works both ways. Dogs, for instance, might have been selectively taken in by humans who shared genes for more compassion. Those humans then prospered with the dogs’ help in hunting and securing their homes. [br] What do we learn from the last paragraph?
选项 A、Animals’ changes are developed by themselves.
B、Human raise animals for specific genes.
C、Evolutionary influence works on both humans and animals.
D、Genes could make the dogs help people in hunting.
答案 C
解析 根据题干，将答案定位到最后一段。选项A说动物的变化是自发产生的，但是最后一段第二句说“对于动物来说，它们发生变化是因为人类为了特定的特性驯养它们”，所以该选项错误。选项B说人类为了特定的基因饲养动物，但文章说的是“人类为了特定的特性饲养它们”，该选项错在偷换概念。文章最后一段的第三句说this evolutionary influence works both ways，这句话的前面讲了人类如何影响动物的变化，而这句话的后面讲到了动物如何影响人类，所以选项C正确。选项D的说法文中没有提及。
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