2012年12月1日雅思阅读机经[A类]

Reading Passage 2

Title:

Animals’ self-medication

Question types:

判断

细节配对 which paragraph contains the following information

文章内容回顾

动物可以通过吃某些植物来缓解病痛，动物用植物和粘土治病，以及对人类研究药物的启发。鹦鹉吃clay, 为了中和它们食物中不好的东西。某日本科学家发现他观察的黑猩猩中有个母的生病了在吃个什么植物然后好了，然后他的向导告诉他那个植物是当地部落人用来驱寄生虫的。科学家继而想到多年前的一个事，好像是猴子把另一种植物卷起来吃。但研究表明那种植物本身并没用药用价值，但把它们刚吃进去的拿来化验发现带有寄生虫，原来是那种植物表面带绒毛还是小刺，可以附着寄生虫，于是把它们gut里的寄生虫都带走了。类似的研究在那期间有不少，但大家都没有互相了解，所以某机构把它们都统一收集起来（有相关题，统一收集起来就是在这一段）。那就出现了新的问题，动物的这种行为究竟是天生的还是模仿的？模仿的例子：小老鼠；天生的例子：鹦鹉吃clay, 即使之前并没有见到clay。旧文V110115的P2

英文原文阅读

What do wild animals do when they get sick? Unlike domestic pets, animals in the wild don’t have access to the range of treatments provided by owners or vets. Do wild animals know how to heal themselves?

Growing scientific evidence indicates that animals do indeed have knowledge of natural medicines. In fact, they have access to the world's largest pharmacy: nature itself. Zoologists and botanists are only just beginning to understand how wild animals use plant medicines to prevent and cure illness.

There’s a name for it

The emerging science of Zoopharmacognosy studies how animals use leaves, roots, seeds and minerals to treat a variety of ailments. Indigenous cultures have had knowledge of animal self-medication for centuries; many folk remedies have come from noticing which plants animals eat when they are sick. But it is only in the last 30 years that zoopharmacognosy has been scientifically studied. Biologists witnessing animals eating foods not part of their usual diet, realized the animals were self-medicating with natural remedies.

When a pregnant African elephant was observed for over a year, a discovery was made. The elephant kept regular dietary habits throughout her long pregnancy but the routine changed abruptly towards the end of her term. Heavily pregnant, the elephant set off in search of a shrub that grew 17 miles from her usual food source. The elephant chewed and ate the leaves and bark of the bush, then gave birth a few days later. The elephant, it seemed, had sought out this plant specifically to induce her labor. The same plant (a member of the borage family) also happens to be brewed by Kenyan women to make a labor-inducing tea.

Chimps take their medicine

Not only do many animals know which plant they require, they also know exactly which part of the plant they should use, and how they should ingest it. Chimpanzees in Tanzania have been observed using plants in different ways. The Aspilia shrub produces bristly leaves, which the chimps carefully fold up then roll around their mouths before swallowing whole. The prickly leaves 'scour' parasitical worms from the chimps intestinal lining.

The same chimps also peel the stems and eat the pith of the Vernonia plant (also known as Bitter leaf). In bio-chemical research, Vernonia was found to have anti-parasitic and anti-microbial properties. Both Vernonia and Aspilia have long been used in Tanzanian folk medicine for stomach upsets and fevers.

It is only the sick chimpanzees that eat the plants. The chimps often grimace as they chew the Vernonia pith, indicating that they are not doing this for fun; healthy animals would find the bitter taste unpalatable.

Nature’s pharmacy for all

Wild animals won’t seek out a remedy unless they need it. Scientists studying baboons at the Awash Falls in Ethiopia noted that although the tree Balanites aegyptiaca (Desert date) grew all around the falls, only the baboons living below the falls ate the tree’s fruit. These baboons were exposed to a parasitic worm found in water-snails. Balanites fruit is known to repel the snails. Baboons living above the falls were not in contact with the water-snails and therefore had no need of the medicinal fruit.

Many animals eat minerals like clay or charcoal for their curative properties. Colobus monkeys on the island of Zanzibar have been observed stealing and eating charcoal from human bonfires. The charcoal counteracts toxic phenols produced by the mango and almond leaves which make up their diet.

Some species of South American parrot and macaw are known to eat soil with a high kaolin content. The parrots’ diet contains toxins because of the fruit seeds they eat. (Even the humble apple seed contains cyanide.) The kaolin clay absorbs the toxins and carries them out of the birds' digestive systems, leaving the parrots unharmed by the poisons. Kaolin has been used for centuries in many cultures as a remedy for human gastrointestinal upset.

Survival of the medicated

So, how do animals know how to heal themselves? Some scientists believe that evolution has given animals the innate ability to choose the correct herbal medicines. In terms of natural selection, animals who could find medicinal substances in the wild were more likely to survive. Other observations have shown that, particularly among primates, medicinal skills appear to be taught and learned. Adult females are often seen batting their infant's hand from a particular leaf or stem as if to say “No, not that one.”

Wild animals don’t rely on industrially produced synthetic drugs to cure their illnesses; the medicines they require are available in their natural environment. While animals in the wild instinctively know how to heal themselves, humans have all but forgotten this knowledge because of our lost connection with nature. Since wild animals have begun to be observed actively taking care of their own wellbeing, it raises questions of how we approach healthcare with natural remedies, not just for ourselves but for our companion and farm animals too.

题型难度分析

判断题难度不大，难点在于细节配对，建议细节配对放在最后做。

题型技巧分析

是非无判断题是上半年度的重点题型，有顺序原则。

注意看清是TRUE还是YES, 本篇是TRUE/ FALSE/ NOT GIVEN

解题步骤：

1. 速读句子，找出考点词（容易有问题的部分）。考点词：比较级，最高级，数据（时间），程度副词，特殊形容词，绝对化的词（only，most，each，any，every，the same as等）

2. 排除考点词，在余下的词中找定位词，去原文定位。

3. 重点考察考点词是否有提及，是否正确。

TRUE的原则是同义替换，至少有一组近义词。

FALSE是题目和原文截然相反，不可共存，通常有至少一组反义词。

NOT GIVEN原文未提及，不做任何推断，尤其多考察题目的主语等名词在原文是否有提及。

4. 通读所有段落，依次寻找答案

因为每段都会有答案，因此现在所需要做的事情就是到每段去找答案。要注意在选出信息后，要在选出的段落上做上记号，以免浪费时间。

段落细节信息配对题

1. 无序

2. 注意有可能出现NB

3. 注意大量题目和原文的近义替换

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