2010年新托福阅读机经背景知识

　　上篇背景知识我们主要是总结整理了考生的回忆内容，把文章的大致结构和内容架构出来了，因此在中篇和下篇中，朗阁海外考试研究中心的专家将重点放到一些相似的英语背景材料分析上，仔细来看看是通过怎样的实验来了解鸟类学习唱歌这个过程的。
　　BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
　　Songbirds include those birds from the order Passeriformes, commonly called passerines. There are approximately 5,400 different species of passerines. The suborder Oscine includes those birds that we tend to think of as your typical songbird, those birds that have complex songs as adults. In the majority of Oscines, the male is the one with the complex singing ability, and there is much diversity among males of different species in the length and complexity of their songs.
　　Song needs to be developed, just like any other characteristic of songbird behavior. Singing the correct song for that species is not an instinctual process. The need to sing is instinctual, however what song to sing has been found to be learned. When and where young songbirds learn their songs has long been studied. Just as songbirds differ in their songs, they also differ in their song learning process, though some basic principles seem to be the same. Many species learn their song only during the first few months, though a few can learn songs their entire lives. Also differing between species is from who the songs are learned, and how much of the songs are accurately imitated.
　　Some species may exactly copy the songs they are exposed to. On the other hand, many will not exactly imitate the song or songs that they have been exposed to. Instead they will take bits and pieces of it and invent their own song, though usually similar in construction to that which the species normally sings.
　　重点词汇：
　　Passerine：雀形目的，雀形鸟
　　Oscine：鸣禽类的，鸣禽类的鸟
　　Instinctual：本能的
　　Principles：原则
　　Imitate：模仿，效仿
　　exposed to：曝露于，公开揭露
　　bits and pieces：曲子的部分调子或小节
　　点拨迷津：
　　重点内容是在第二段和第三段，告诉我们鸣禽类唱歌是一种本能，但是如何去学会唱歌的是实验所要研究的问题。虽然每种不同的鸣禽有不同的学习过程，但是有一些基本的原则是相同的，例如大部分的鸟都是在出生的前几个月学习唱歌。另外一个要关注的问题就是鸟类是不是准确地模仿到了自己所听到的歌声。