The co-operative spirit that is present in such pack-hunters as wolves is largely absent from the world of the primate. Competitiveness and dominance is the order of this day.
Competition in the social hierarchy is, of course, present in both groups, but it is less tempered by co-operative action in the case of monkeys and apes. Complicated, coordinated maneuvers are also unnecessary: sequences of feeding action do not need to be strung together in such a complex way. The primate can live much more from minute to minute, from hand to mouth.
Because the primate’s food supply is all around it for the taking, there is little need to cover great distances. Groups of wild gorillas, the largest of the living primates, have been carefully studied and their movements traced, so that we now know that they travel on average about a third of a mile a day. Sometimes they move only a few hundred feet. Carnivores, by contrast, must frequently travel many miles on a single hunting trip. In some instances they have been known to travel over fifty miles on a hunting journey, taking several days before returning to their home base. This act of returning to a fixed home base is typical of the carnivores, but is far less common amongst the monkeys and apes. True, a group of primates will live in a reasonably clearly defined home range, but at night it will probably bed down wherever it happens to have ended up in its day’s meanderings. It will get to know the general region in which it lives because it is always wandering back and forth across it, but is will tend to use the whole area in a much more haphazard way. Also, the interaction between one troop and the next will be less defensive and less aggressive than is the case with carnivores. A territory is, by definition, a defended area, and primates are not therefore, typically, territorial animals.
A small point, but one that is relevant here, is that carnivores have fleas but primates do not. Monkeys and apes are plagued by lice and certain other external parasites, but, contrary to popular opinion, they are completely flea-less, for on every good reason. To understand this, it is necessary to examine the life-cycle of the flea. This insect lays its eggs, not on the body of its host, but amongst the detritus of its victims sleeping quarters. The eggs take three days to hatch into small, crawling maggots. These larvae do not feed on blood, but on the waste matter that has accumulated in the dirt of the den or lair. After two weeks they spin a cocoon and pupate. They remain in this dormant condition for approximately two weeks before emerging as adults, ready to hop on to a suitable host body. So for at least the first month of its life a flea is cut off from its host species. It is clear from this why a nomadic mammal, such as a monkey or ape, is not troubled by fleas. Even if a few stray fleas do happen to hop on to one and mate successfully, their eggs will be left behind as the primate group moves on, and when the pupae hatch there will be no host “at home” to continue the relationship.
1. The writer says of the social life of monkeys and apes that they ____.
2. According to the writer, gorillas ____.
3. The writer says that primates show little hostility ____.
4. Monkeys and apes are not troubled by fleas because ____.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that the co-operative spirit present in such pack-hunters as wolves is largely absent from the world of the primates because ____.
问题1选项
A.are not allowed by their social code to dominate other individuals before they have competed with each other
B.compete during the day, but turn to a co-operative pattern when darkness falls
C.have to be on constant watch against other species that might drive them away
D.live in a very competitive society
问题2选项
A.prefer to stay near their home
B.move from place to place within a limited area
C.are followed when they travel by other animals
D.move around looking for food according to a fairly regular pattern
问题3选项
A.towards soldiers and other human beings
B.except towards animals such as lions, leopards, tigers or wildcats
C.unless their own particular area is invaded
D.towards other groups of the same species of monkey or ape
问题4选项
A.the fleas, when fully developed, are not normally where the primates are
B.they do not mind the fleas
C.the harmful type of flea rarely gets onto them
D.the fleas relationship with them is important biologically
问题5选项
A.wolves are more defensive and aggressive than primates
B.primates are more friendly than wolves
C.it is not so difficult for primates to obtain food as for wolves
D.primates are not territorial animals
第1题:D
第2题:B
第3题:D
第4题:A
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
The writer says of the social life of monkeys and apes that they ____. 作者在谈到猴子和猿类的社会生活时说____。
A. are not allowed by their social code to dominate other individuals before they have competed with each other A. 在他们相互竞争之前，他们的社会准则不允许他们支配其他同类
B. compete during the day, but turn to a co-operative pattern when darkness falls B. 在白天竞争，但在夜幕降临时转为合作模式
C. have to be on constant watch against other species that might drive them away C. 必须时刻警惕其他可能赶走它们的物种
D. live in a very competitive society D. 生活在一个竞争激烈的社会里
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据Para.2第一句“当然，社会等级的竞争（Competition in the social hierarchy）在两个群体中都存在，但在猴子和猿这两个群体当中，这种竞争较少因合作行为而缓和。”而且，在上一段的最后一句中也提及“竞争和统治（Competitiveness and dominance）才是现如今的规则”。由此可以推断出，它们都生活在一个竞争激烈的社会。所以选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“在他们相互竞争之前，他们的社会准则不允许他们支配其他同类”、B选项“在白天竞争，但在夜幕降临时转为合作模式”和C选项“必须时刻警惕其他可能赶走它们的物种”原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
According to the writer, gorillas ____. 根据作者的说法，大猩猩____。
A. prefer to stay near their home A. 更喜欢呆在离家近的地方
B. move from place to place within a limited area B. 在有限的区域内从一个地方搬到另一个地方
C. are followed when they travel by other animals C. 当它们旅行时，其他动物也会跟着它们
D. move around looking for food according to a fairly regular pattern D. 根据一个非常规律的模式四处寻找食物
【答案】B
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据关键词“gorillas”定位到第三段。第三段首句提及“因为灵长类动物的食物来源在它们周围，所以它们几乎不需要走很远的路。”野生大猩猩是现存灵长类中最大的一种，而且下文还提及，灵长类动物会生活在一个相当明确的家庭范围内。由此可推断，大猩猩它们会在有限的区域内从一个地方移动到另一个地方，所以选项B符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项原文虽有提及“一群灵长类动物会生活在一个相当明确的家庭范围内（live in a reasonably clearly defined home range）”，但并不能说“大猩猩更喜欢呆在离家近的地方”，属于曲解原文；
C选项“当它们旅行时，其他动物也会跟着它们”原文中没有特别提及，属于无中生有；
D选项原文Para.3讲“这种返回固定基地的行为是食肉动物的典型行为，但在猴子和猿类中就不常见了。”由此可知选项D描述的是食肉动物的特点，属于张冠李戴。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The writer says that primates show little hostility ____. 作者说灵长类动物____很少表现出敌意。
A. towards soldiers and other human beings A. 对士兵和其他人
B. except towards animals such as lions, leopards, tigers or wildcats B. 除狮子、豹、老虎或野猫等动物外
C. unless their own particular area is invaded C. 除非他们自己的地区被入侵
D. towards other groups of the same species of monkey or ape D. 对同一物种的其他猴群或猿类
【答案】D
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据第三段的倒数第二句“与食肉动物相比，一个群体和另一个群体之间的互动会降低防御性和攻击性（be less defensive and less aggressive）。”也就说，灵长类动物对其他群体中的同类，如猴子或猿类，不会表现出很大的敌意，所以选项D符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“对士兵和其他人”、B选项“除狮子、豹、老虎或野猫等动物外”和C选项“除非他们自己的地区被入侵”原文均没有线索能证明，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Monkeys and apes are not troubled by fleas because ____. 猴子和猿类不受跳蚤的困扰，因为____。
A. the fleas, when fully developed, are not normally where the primates are A. 当跳蚤发育完全时，它们通常不在灵长类动物所在的地方
B. they do not mind the fleas B. 他们不介意跳蚤
C. the harmful type of flea rarely gets onto them C. 这种有害的跳蚤很少接触到它们
D. the fleas relationship with them is important biologically D. 跳蚤与它们的关系在生物学上很重要
【答案】A
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】原文最后一段提及，灵长类动物身上没有跳蚤是和跳蚤的生命周期相关。这种昆虫并不在寄主的身体上产卵，而是在寄主睡觉的地方的碎屑中产卵。至少在跳蚤生命的第一个月里，它是与宿主隔绝的。后面又以猴子进行了举例，即使有几只游离的跳蚤碰巧跳到其中一只猴子身上并成功交配，它们的卵也会留在这个灵长类动物群体的身后，当蛹孵化时，没有宿主在“家里”能够继续这种关系了。也就是说，当跳蚤发育完全后，通常已经不在灵长类动物所在的位置了，所以选项A符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“他们不介意跳蚤”、C选项“这种有害的跳蚤很少接触到它们”和D选项“跳蚤与它们的关系在生物学上很重要”原文均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the passage that the co-operative spirit present in such pack-hunters as wolves is largely absent from the world of the primates because ____. 从文章中我们可以推断出，像狼这样的群体捕猎者身上的合作精神在灵长类世界中很大程度上是缺失的，因为____。
A. wolves are more defensive and aggressive than primates A. 狼比灵长类动物更具防御性和攻击性
B. primates are more friendly than wolves B. 灵长类动物比狼更友好
C. it is not so difficult for primates to obtain food as for wolves C. 灵长类动物获得食物并不像狼那么困难
D. primates are not territorial animals D. 灵长类动物不是领地动物
【答案】C
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据原文第二段的内容“社会等级的竞争在两个群体中都存在，但在猴子和猿这两个群体当中，这种竞争较少因合作行为而缓和。复杂的、协调的动作也是不必要的：喂食动作的顺序不需要以如此复杂的方式串在一起。这种灵长类动物可以现挣现吃，满足目前对食物的需要。”由此可知，灵长类动物获得食物并不像狼那样困难，所以像狼这样的群体捕猎者身上所表现出的合作精神在灵长类世界中是很少见的。选项C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项讲“狼比灵长类动物更具防御性和攻击性”，而题目问的是灵长类动物缺失合作精神的原因，属于张冠李戴；
B选项“灵长类动物比狼更友好”属于推理过度；
D选项“灵长类动物不是领地动物”可定位到Para.3最后一句“根据定义，领地是有防卫的区域，因此灵长类动物通常不是领地动物。”但并不是合作精神在灵长类世界中是很少见的原因，属于出处错位。
