第四部分 閱讀理解（共六篇）
第四十七篇
Listening to Birdsong
Scientists had noticed slight variations in the songs of mal~ zebra f'mches based on whether they were singing alone or whether there was a female (and potential mate) nearby. With an audience, the males sped up the pace of their songs and controlled the notes they used.
For this study, researchers Sarah C. Woolley and Allison Doupe at the University of California, San Francisco decided to focus attention on the listening females, which have not been well studied in the past.
In the study, Woolley and Doupe set up ,a long cage with a sound speaker at each end. One broadcast the sound of a male zebra finch singing to himself, like someone singing in the shower. The other speaker broadcast a male performing for a female audience, as if he was giving a concert.
Female birds were placed between the two speakers. Some of the birds had mates, others didn't. The females shifted around a bit, and then most of them hopped over to sit beside just one speaker. All the birds that made a clear choice liked songs meant for a female audience, even if they'd never met the male.
Mated females also had a chance to listen to two different performance songs, one from an unknown male, and one from their mate. They spent more time listening to the concert version of their mates' songs. This suggests that after a while, females learn to recognize--and prefer—the songs of their mates.
Scientists then studied the brains of the females. They found certain areas of the brain perked up3 when the birds listened to the concert songs. These brain areas may be involved in recognizing and evaluating the songs, and storing the memories of them.
This research deals with what's called directed communication, when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. One example is the way moms speak to their babies. Mothers around the world use the same sort of high'pitched4 sing-song chatter, and the babies respond best to those sounds. Songbirds are one of the only other species known to learn their communication, in this case their songs.
詞匯：
finch n. 雀科鳴鳥(niǎo) perk v. 使振作，使活躍
chirp v. (鳥(niǎo))鳴 morn n. 媽媽(等于英國(guó)英語(yǔ)mum)
trill n. (鳥(niǎo)的)囀音；顫音 chatter v. &n喋喋不休，嘮叨
注釋：
1. zebra finch: 斑胸草雀
2. chirp away: 吱喳而鳴。away有continuously和steadily的意思。
3. perk up : 活躍起來(lái)，振作精神
4. high-pitched: 活躍起來(lái)，振作精神
練習(xí)：
1. What does the first paragraph say about zebra finches?
A）Male zebra finches like to sing to female zebra finches.
B）Male zebra finches sing louder than female zebra finches.
C）Male zebra finches change their songs in female zebra finches' presence.
D）Male zebra finches like to listen to female zebra finches sing.
2. What did the researchers fred in their study of female zebra finches?
A）Female finches liked songs male finches sang for them.
B）Female finches only liked songs male finches sang for their mates.
C）Female finches liked to listen to songs from both speakers.
D）Female finches chose the best male singers as their mates.
3. What is meant by "concert songs" in the seventh paragraph?
A）Songs sung by zebra finches at a concert.
B）Songs sung by male finches for female finches.
C）Songs sung by female fmches for male finches.
D）Songs sung by male fmches to many female finches.
4. What is NOT true of directed communication?
A）The sender of a message has a specific audience.
B）Male zebra finches sing to female finches.
C）Mothers talk to their babies,
D）Male zebra finches sing to themselves.
5. Which of the following can best reflect the theme of the passage?.
A）Chirping away.
B）Birdsongs as communication.
C）Zebra finches and their life.
D）Enjoying birdsongs.
答案與題解：
1. C 文章第一段的第二句告訴我們，雄性斑胸草雀只要注意到有雌性斑胸草雀聽(tīng)他唱歌便會(huì)改變聲調(diào)。其他選項(xiàng)均不是該段所表達(dá)的意思。
2. A 選項(xiàng)B、C、D 都不是答案，因?yàn)槲恼碌牡谖宥握f(shuō)，有配偶的雌性胸草雀更喜歡她們配偶的歌聲，而沒(méi)有配偶的喜歡的聽(tīng)雄性斑胸草雀為雌性斑胸草雀的歌。
3. B 第四段提到…a male performing for a female audience, as if he was giving a concert. 所以，第七段中的concert songs 即指雄性斑胸草雀為雌性斑胸草雀的歌。
4. D 文章的最后一段解釋了什么是directed communication,即，when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. 該段又舉了母親對(duì)嬰兒說(shuō)話的例子，說(shuō)明這與雄性斑胸草雀為雌性斑胸草雀的歌同屬directed communication。
5. B 文章所涉及的研究旨在發(fā)現(xiàn)雄性斑胸草雀歌聲是否會(huì)在不同的情況下發(fā)生變化，其結(jié)果是，它們?cè)跒榇菩园咝夭萑赋钑r(shí)，會(huì)改變聲調(diào)和速度。這就是說(shuō)，它們的歌聲實(shí)際上是一種交流方式。所以應(yīng)選擇B。
