劍橋雅思閱讀4test1原文翻譯及答案解析

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劍橋雅思閱讀4原文(test1)

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the alarming rate of loss of tropical rainforests. For example, one graphic illustration to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football fields every forty minutes — about the duration of a normal classroom period. In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about rainforests — what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers them — independent of any formal tuition. It is also possible that some of these ideas will be mistaken.

Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science. These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification. These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media. Sometimes this information may be erroneous. It seems schools may not be providing an opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and refined by teachers and their peers.

Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests, little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area. The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in their schools.

The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests. Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions. The most frequent responses to the first question were descriptions which are self-evident from the term ‘rainforest’. Some children described them as damp, wet or hot. The second question concerned the geographical location of rainforests. The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the Equator.

Responses to question three concerned the importance of rainforests. The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats. Fewer students responded that rainforests provide plant habitats, and even fewer mentioned the indigenous populations of rainforests. More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of rainforest as animal habitats.

Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats. These observations are generally consistent with our previous studies of pupils’ views about the use and conservation of rainforests, in which girls were shown to be more sympathetic to animals and expressed views which seem to place an intrinsic value on non-human animal life.

The fourth question concerned the causes of the destruction of rainforests. Perhaps encouragingly, more than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests, some personalising the responsibility by the use of terms such as ‘we are’. About 18% of the pupils referred specifically to logging activity.

One misconception, expressed by some 10% of the pupils, was that acid rain is responsible for rainforest destruction; a similar proportion said that pollution is destroying rainforests. Here, children are confusing rainforest destruction with damage to the forests of Western Europe by these factors. While two fifths of the students provided the information that the rainforests provide oxygen, in some cases this response also embraced the misconception that rainforest destruction would reduce atmospheric oxygen, making the atmosphere incompatible with human life on Earth.

In answer to the final question about the importance of rainforest conservation, the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive. Only a few of the pupils (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue. Some children expressed the idea that the conservation of rainforests is not important.

The results of this study suggest that certain ideas predominate in the thinking of children about rainforests. Pupils’ responses indicate some misconceptions in basic scientific knowledge of rainforests’ ecosystems such as their ideas about rainforests as habitats for animals, plants and humans and the relationship between climatic change and destruction of rainforests.

Pupils did not volunteer ideas that suggested that they appreciated the complexity of causes of rainforest destruction. In other words, they gave no indication of an appreciation of either the range of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social, economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests. One encouragement is that the results of similar studies about other environmental issues suggest that older children seem to acquire the ability to appreciate, value and evaluate conflicting views. Environmental education offers an arena in which these skills can be developed, which is essential for these children as future decision-makers.

Questions 1-8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 The plight of the rainforests has largely been ignored by the media.

2 Children only accept opinions on rainforests that they encounter in their classrooms.

3 It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the ‘pure’ science that they study at school.

4 The fact that children’s ideas about science form part of a larger framework of ideas means that it is easier to change them.

5 The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as ‘Are there any rainforests in Africa?’

6 Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about the rainforests’ destruction.

7 The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children’s understanding of rainforests.

8 A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children’s ideas about rainforests.

Questions 9-13

The box below gives a list of responses A-P to the questionnaire discussed in Reading Passage 1.

Answer the following questions by choosing the correct responses A-P.

Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

9 What was the children’s most frequent response when asked where the rainforests were?

10 What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rainforests?

11 What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rainforests?

12 Why did most children think it important for the rainforests to be protected?

13 Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?

A There is a complicated combination of reasons for the loss of the rainforests.

B The rainforests are being destroyed by the same things that are destroying the forests of Western Europe.

C Rainforests are located near the Equator.

D Brazil is home to the rainforests.

E Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live.

F Rainforests are important habitats for a lot of plants.

G People are responsible for the loss of the rainforests.

H The rainforests are a source of oxygen.

I Rainforests are of consequence for a number of different reasons.

J As the rainforests are destroyed, the world gets warmer.

K Without rainforests there would not be enough oxygen in the air.

L There are people for whom the rainforests are home.

M Rainforests are found in Africa.

N Rainforests are not really important to human life.

O The destruction of the rainforests is the direct result of logging activity.

P Humans depend on the rainforests for their continuing existence.

Question 14

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, D or E.

Write your answer in box 14 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?

A The development of a programme in environmental studies within a science curriculum

B Children’s ideas about the rainforests and the implications for course design

C The extent to which children have been misled by the media concerning the rainforests

D How to collect, collate and describe the ideas of secondary school children.

E The importance of the rainforests and the reasons for their destruction

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

What Do Whales Feel?

An examination of the functioning of the senses in cetaceans, the group of mammals comprising whales, dolphins and porpoises

Some of the senses that we and other terrestrial mammals take for granted are either reduced or absent in cetaceans or fail to function well in water. For example, it appears from their brain structure that toothed species are unable to smell. Baleen species, on the other hand, appear to have some related brain structures but it is not known whether these are functional. It has been speculated that, as the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head, the neural pathways serving sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed. Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary.

The sense of touch has sometimes been described as weak too, but this view is probably mistaken. Trainers of captive dolphins and small whales often remark on their animals’ responsiveness to being touched or rubbed, and both captive and free-ranging cetacean individuals of all species (particularly adults and calves, or members of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact. This contact may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species. The area around the blowhole is also particularly sensitive and captive animals often object strongly to being touched there.

The sense of vision is developed to different degree in different species. Baleen species studied at close quarters underwater — specifically a grey whale calf in captivity for a year, and free-ranging right whale and humpback whales studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii — have obviously tracked objects with vision underwater, and they can apparently see moderately well both in water and in air. However, the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision.

On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have stereoscopic vision forward and downward. Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward and upward. By comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water. Judging from the way it watches and tracks airborne flying fish, it can apparently see fairly well through the air-water interface as well. And although preliminary experimental evidence suggests that their in-air vision is poor, the accuracy with which dolphins leap high to take small fish out of a trainer’s hand provides anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Such variation can no doubt be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species have developed. For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting clear open waters than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains. The South American boutu and Chinese Beiji, for instance, appear to have very limited vision, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that probably allow them to sense only the direction and intensity of light.

Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be uncertain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic sense. Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of sounds they produce, and many forage for food using echolocation1. Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are often limited in their repertoire. Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales. Toothed species in general employ more of the frequency spectrum, and produce a wider variety of sounds, than baleen species (though the sperm whale apparently produces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and little else). Some of the more complicated sounds are clearly communicative, although what role they may play in the social life and ‘culture’ of cetaceans has been more the subject of wild speculation than of solid science.

1. echolocation: the perception of objects by means of sound wave echoes.

Questions 15-21

Complete the table below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

SENSE SPECIES ABILITY COMMENTS

Smell toothed no evidence from brain structure

baleen not certain related brain structures are present

Taste some types poor nerves linked to their 15………are underdeveloped

Touch all yes region around the blowhole very sensitive

Vision 16……… yes probably do not have stereoscopic vision

Dolphins, porpoises yes probably have stereoscopic vision 17………and………

18………

yes probably have stereoscopic vision forward and upward

Bottlenose dolphins yes exceptional in 19………and good in air-water interface

Boutu and beiji poor have limited vision

Indian susu no probably only sense direction and intensity of light

Hearing most large baleen yes usually use 20………; repertoire limited

21………whales and ………whales

yes song-like

Toothed yes use more of frequency spectrum; have wider repertoire

Questions 22-26

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

22 Which of the senses is described here as being involved in mating?

23 What species swims upside down while eating?

24 What can bottlenose dolphins follow from under the water?

25 Which type of habitat is related to good visual ability?

26 Which of the senses is best developed in cetaceans?

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Visual Symbols and the Blind

Part 1

From a number of recent studies, it has become clear that blind people can appreciate the use of outlines and perspectives to describe the arrangement of objects and other surfaces in space. But pictures are more than literal representations. This fact was drawn to my attention dramatically when a blind woman in one of my investigations decided on her own initiative to draw a wheel as it was spinning. To show this motion, she traced a curve inside the circle (Fig. 1). I was taken aback. Lines of motion, such as the one she used, are a very recent invention in the history of illustration. Indeed, as art scholar David Kunzle notes, Wilhelm Busch, a trend-setting nineteenth-century cartoonist, used virtually no motion lines in his popular figures until about 1877.

When I asked several other blind study subjects to draw a spinning wheel, one particularly clever rendition appeared repeatedly: several subjects showed the wheel’s spokes as curved lines. When asked about these curves, they all described them as metaphorical ways of suggesting motion. Majority rule would argue that this device somehow indicated motion very well. But was it a better indicator than, say, broken or wavy lines — or any other kind of line, for that matter? The answer was not clear. So I decided to test whether various lines of motion were apt ways of showing movement or if they were merely idiosyncratic marks. Moreover, I wanted to discover whether there were differences in how the blind and the sighted interpreted lines of motion.

To search out these answers, I created raised-line drawings of five different wheels, depicting spokes with lines that curved, bent, waved, dashed and extended beyond the perimeter of the wheel. I then asked eighteen blind volunteers to feel the wheels and assign one of the following motions to each wheel: wobbling, spinning fast, spinning steadily, jerking or braking. My control group consisted of eighteen sighted undergraduates from the University of Toronto.

All but one of the blind subjects assigned distinctive motions to each wheel. Most guessed that the curved spokes indicated that the wheel was spinning steadily; the wavy spokes, they thought, suggested that the wheel was wobbling; and the bent spokes were taken as a sign that the wheel was jerking. Subjects assumed that spokes extending beyond the wheel’s perimeter signified that the wheel had its brakes on and that dashed spokes indicated the wheel was spinning quickly.

In addition, the favoured description for the sighted was the favoured description for the blind in every instance. What is more, the consensus among the sighted was barely higher than that among the blind. Because motion devices are unfamiliar to the blind, the task I gave them involved some problem solving. Evidently, however, the blind not only figured out meanings for each line of motion, but as a group they generally came up with the same meaning at least as frequently as did sighted subjects.

Part 2

Words associated Agreement

with circle/square among

subjects (%)

SOFT-HARD 100

MOTHER-FATHER 94

HAPPY-SAD 94

GOOD-EVIL 89

LOVE-HATE 89

ALIVE-DEAD 87

BRIGHT-DARK 87

LIGHT-HEAVY 85

WARM-COLD 81

SUMMER-WINTER 81

WEAK-STRONG 79

FAST-SLOW 79

CAT-DOG 74

SPRING-FALL 74

QUIET-LOUD 62

WALKING-STANDING 62

ODD-EVEN 57

FAR-NEAR 53

PLANT-ANIMAL 53

DEEP-SHALLOW 51

Fig. 2 Subjects were asked which word in each pair fits best with a circle and which with a square. These percentages show the level of consensus among sighted subjects.

We have found that the blind understand other kinds of visual metaphors as well. One blind woman drew a picture of a child inside a heart — choosing that symbol, she said, to show that love surrounded the child. With Chang Hong Liu, a doctoral student from China, I have begun exploring how well blind people understand the symbolism behind shapes such as hearts that do not directly represent their meaning.

We gave a list of twenty pairs of words to sighted subjects and asked them to pick from each pair the term that best related to a circle and the term that best related to a square. For example, we asked: What goes with soft? A circle or a square? Which shape goes with hard?

All our subjects deemed the circle soft and the square hard. A full 94% ascribed happy to the circle, instead of sad. But other pairs revealed less agreement: 79% matched fast to slow and weak to strong, respectively. And only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square. (See Fig. 2.) When we tested four totally blind volunteers using the same list, we found that their choices closely resembled those made by the sighted subjects. One man, who had been blind since birth, scored extremely well. He made only one match differing from the consensus, assigning ‘far’ to square and ‘near’ to circle. In fact, only a small majority of sighted subjects — 53% — had paired far and near to the opposite partners. Thus, we concluded that the blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted people do.

Questions 27-29

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.

27 In the first paragraph the writer makes the point that blind people.

A may be interested in studying art.

B can draw outlines of different objects and surfaces.

C can recognise conventions such as perspective.

D can draw accurately.

28 The writer was surprised because the blind woman

A drew a circle on her own initiative.

B did not understand what a wheel looked like.

C included a symbol representing movement.

D was the first person to use lines of motion.

29 From the experiment described in Part 1, the writer found that the blind subjects

A had good understanding of symbols representing movement.

B could control the movement of wheels very accurately.

C worked together well as a group in solving problems.

D got better results than the sighted undergraduates.

Questions 30-32

Look at the following diagrams (Questions 30-32), and the list of types of movement below. Match each diagram to the type of movement A-E generally assigned to it the experiment. Choose the correct letter A-E and write them in boxes 30-32 on your answer sheet.

A steady spinning

B jerky movement

C rapid spinning

D wobbling movement

E use of brakes

Questions 33-39

Complete the summary below using words from the box.

Write your answers in boxes 33-39 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any word more than once.

In the experiment described in Part 2, a set of word 33…… was used to investigate whether blind and sighted people perceived the symbolism in abstract 34…… in the same way. Subjects were asked which word fitted best with a circle and which with a square. From the 35… volunteers, everyone thought a circle fitted ‘soft’ while a square fitted ‘hard’.

However, only 51% of the 36…… volunteers assigned a circle to 37…… . When the test was later repeated with 38…… volunteers, it was found that they made 39…… choices.

associations blind deep hard

hundred identical pairs shapes

sighted similar shallow soft

words

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

Write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.

Which of the following statements best summarises the writer’s general conclusion?

A The blind represent some aspects of reality differently from sighted people.

B The blind comprehend visual metaphors in similar ways to sighted people.

C The blind may create unusual and effective symbols to represent reality.

D The blind may be successful artists if given the right training.

劍橋雅思閱讀4原文參考譯文(test1)

Passage1

參考譯文

無論大人還是孩子都經常會遇到這樣的報道，那就是熱帶雨林正在以驚人的速度消失。打個比方，孩子們很容易就能理解這樣一個圖例，即平均每四十分鐘，也就是一節課的時間內，世界上就會有相當於一千個足球場大小的熱帶雨林遭到破壞。面對媒體頻繁且生動的報道，也許不需要任何正規的教育，孩子們就能夠形成一系列有關熱帶雨林的觀點：比如說雨林是什麼，位置在哪裏，爲什麼如此重要，又是什麼在威脅它們等等。當然，這些觀點也很有可能是錯的。

許多研究表明孩子們對於在學校裏學到的科學知識心存誤解。這些誤解不是孤立存在的，而是組成了一個儘管多層面卻十分有條理的概念體系，這一點使得該體系本身及其所有的組成觀點更加難以攻破，有些觀點本身甚至就是錯誤的，但是也正是這樣，它們反而更容易被改動。這些錯誤觀點正是由於孩子們從大衆煤體上吸收了信息而形成的。有時連這些信息本身都是錯誤的。學校似乎也沒能夠給們提供一個再度闡述自己觀點的機會，因此寵師及其他學生也不能幫助其檢驗及糾正這種錯誤觀點。

儘管媒體對於熱帶雨林所遭受的破壞做了大量的報道，但是有關孩子相關觀點的信息卻少之又少。所以，目前這項研究的目的就是要給教師提供這樣的信息來幫助他們設計自己的教學策略，以便幫助學生構築正確的觀點，置換他們的錯誤概念，並在學校中展開環保研究項目。

該項研究調査了孩子有關熱帶雨林的科學知識以及態度。研究要求一些中學生填寫一份包含了五個簡答題的調查表。對於第一個問題，最常見的解答就來自“熱帶雨林”這一名稱所附帶的不言自明的含義。有些孩子把雨林描述成一個又潮又溼或悶熱的地方。第二個問題是關於雨林的地理位置的，大多數答案都提到了國名或洲名：百分之四十三的孩子寫了非洲，百分之三十寫了美洲;還有百分之二十五的人認爲熱帶雨林主要分佈在巴西。有些孩子給出瞭如“赤道附近”這樣更爲寬泛的答案。

第三道題目問及了熱帶雨林的重要性。百分之六十四的學生認爲雨林爲動物提供了棲身之所。較少的學生回答說雨林是植物的生長地。更少的學生提到了雨林中的土著居民。其中，有百分之七十的女孩子認爲雨林是動物的家，而男孩子中只有百分之六十的人執此觀點。

相似的是，有百分之十三的女生認爲熱帶雨林爲人類提供了居所，而男生中有此想法的人只佔百分之五。這些觀點與先前就學生對熱帶雨林的開發及保護狀況所做的研究的結果基本一致，該結果表明女生更容易表現出對小動物的同情，其觀點也更容易將內在價值觀基於動物而非人類生命上。

第四個問題問到了熱帶雨林遭到破壞的原因。值得慶幸的是，過半的學生(百分之五十九)都認爲是人類的行爲導致了這一破壞，有人甚至用“我們”這樣的字眼將問題與自身聯繫起來。大概有百分之十八的學生將這一破壞歸咎於濫砍濫伐。

百分之十的學生錯誤地認爲是酸雨導致了雨林的破壞，還有百分之十的學生覺得污染纔是罪魁禍首。看來學生們是將熱帶雨林所受的破壞與上述因素對西歐森林的毀壞混爲一談了。百分之四十的學生認爲熱帶雨林爲人們提供了氧氣，在某種程度上，這樣的答案也包含着一個誤解，那就是認爲熱帶雨林的消失會減少大氣中氧氣的含量，最終導致地球上的大氣不再適合人類呼吸。

在被問及雨林保護的重要性時，大部分學生只是認爲人類離開雨林就無法生存。只有寥寥百分之六的人提到熱帶雨林的消失會導致全球變暖。鑑於媒體對這個問題長篇累牘的報道，這樣的結果真是有點出人意料。還有些學生認爲保不保護雨林根本無關緊要。

研究結果表明，在學生們對雨林的觀點中，某些觀點明顯佔上風。在有些問題上，比如說熱帶雨林是植物、動物及人類的棲息地以及天氣變化與雨林破壞之間的關係等，學生們的回答又表明了他們在一些基本科學知識上的誤區。

學生們給出的答案並不能夠表明他們瞭解熱帶雨林所遭受破壞的原因的複雜性。換言之，沒有任何跡象表明他們瞭解熱帶雨林對人類來講到底如何重要以及那些破壞行爲背後所潛藏的複雜社會、經濟及政治因素。然而，值得欣慰的是，其他類似環保研究的結果表明，大孩子們已經具備了鑑賞、理解以及評價矛盾觀點的能力。而環保教育正是爲這些能力的養成提供舞臺，這一點對於孩子們成爲未來的政策制定者是至關重要的。

Passage2

參考譯文

What Do Whales Feel?

An examination of the functioning of the senses in cetaceans, the group of mammals comprising whales, dolphins and porpoises

鯨魚的感官

鯨目動物(包括鯨、海豚、鼠海豚等晡乳動物)的感官功能測試

對我們人類以及其他的陸地哺乳動物來說，有些感官是與生俱來的，然而對於鯨魚來講，這些功能要麼已經衰退或徹底消失，要麼就無法在水中正常發揮作用。比如說從齒鯨的大腦結構來看，它們是嗅不到氣味的;而鬚鯨雖然有與嗅覺相關的腦部結構，可是我們卻無法判斷這些結構是否起作用。據推測，由於鯨魚的氣孔進化並最終移到了頭部的正中，所以掌管嗅覺的神經纖維幾乎全部不見了。同樣，儘管有些鯨魚也有味蕾，但這些味覺器官要麼已經退化，要麼就根本沒有發育。

有人認爲鯨魚的觸覺也不發達，不過這個觀點很可能是錯誤的。訓練人工飼養海豚和小鯨魚的人常常會評論他們的小動物對於觸碰和撫摩的敏感度。而無論是人工飼養還是放養，幾乎所有種類的鯨魚個體之間都會進行頻繁的接觸，特別是在成年鯨魚和幼鯨之間或同一亞羣的成員之間。這種接觸有助於維護同一種羣內部的秩序，而且對大多數鯨魚而言，撫摸和觸碰也是求偶儀式的一部分。氣孔周圍的部分尤其敏感，一旦被觸碰，人工飼養的鯨魚就會有激烈的反應。

不同種類的鯨魚，視覺發達程度也各不相同。通過研究一隻被人工飼養了一年的小灰鯨，以及通過對阿根廷和夏威夷沿海所放養的露脊鯨和座頭鯨的研究及拍攝，人們發現在封閉水域中的鬚鯨顯然可以利用視覺來追蹤水下的物體，而且它們無論在水中或空氣中視力都相當好。但是眼睛的位置如此嚴重地限制了鬚鯨的視野，以致於它們可能不具備立體視覺。

從另一方面來看，大多數海豚和江豚眼睛的位置表明它們是擁有向前及向下的立體視覺的。淡水海豚經常側遊，或是在吃東西的時候肚皮朝上游泳，這就表明眼睛的位置使它們擁有向前及向上的立體視覺。相反的是，寬吻海豚在水中視力就很敏銳，而從它觀察及追蹤空中飛魚的方式來看，它在水天交界面的視力也相當好。儘管之前的實驗證據表明，海豚在露天環境中可能是睜眼瞎，然而，它們能夠從水中躍起很髙，並且能夠準確地吃到訓練員手中的小魚，這就有趣地證明了上述觀點是錯誤的。

當然，這些變異可以通過這些品種所生長的環境來解釋。比如說，對於寬廣清澈水域中的鯨魚來說，視覺顯然就有用的多;而對於那些住在混濁的河流或水淹的平原上的品種來說，視力顯然就沒什麼大用。比如，南美洲亞馬遜河中的江豚以及中國的白鰭啄視力都相當有限，而印度河中的江豚根本看不見東西，它們的眼睛已經退化成了兩條窄縫，除了感知一下方向和光的強度幾乎沒什麼作用。

儘管鯨魚們的味覺和嗅覺嚴重衰退，在水中的視覺又不那麼確定，然而這些缺陷完全可以被它們那高度發迖的聽覺系統所彌補。儘管鯨魚們音域不同，但是大多數鯨魚都很會“唱歌”，而且還能用回聲定位法來覓食。大個子鬚鯨只能用低頻發聲，除此之外就黔“鯨”計窮了。當然也有些著名的例外：比如夏天裏北極露脊鯨歌曲般的合唱，還有座頭鯨那複雜的、令人難以忘懷的低語。與鬚鯨相比，齒鯨們可以更多地利用頻譜，發出多種聲音，當然，抹香鯨只會發出一系列單調激烈的喀噠聲。有些複雜的聲音顯然具有交流作用，然而想要搞清楚它們在鯨魚的社會生活及文化中到底起何作用，與其說是嚴謹科學研究的對象，不如說是豐富想像力的結果。

Passage3

參考譯文

Visual Symbols and the Blind

盲人與視覺符號

Part 1

第一部分

最近的幾次研究表明，盲人可以理解用輪廓線和透視法來描述物體排列及空間平面的方法。但是，圖畫不只是表面意思的體現。在研究中，一名盲人女性自發地畫出了一個轉動的車輪，這就引起了我對上述事實的極大關注。爲了展示這樣一個動作，她在圓圈中畫了一條曲線(見圖1)。我大吃一驚。像她所使用的這種運動線是插圖史上最近的發明。實際上，正如藝術學者David Kunzle指出的那樣，Wilhelm Busch，一名引領潮流的19世紀卡通畫家，直到1877年纔開始在其最流行的人物身上使用運動線。

當我要其他接受研究的盲人對象畫出轉動中的車輪時，一種特別聰明的畫法反覆出現了：幾個人把車條畫成了曲線。當被問到爲什麼要用曲線的時候，他們都說這是喑示運動的一種帶有隱喻意味的方法。多數原則會認爲從某種角度來講，這個圖案充分地表示了運動。但是就此而言，曲線是不是比，比如說虛線，波浪線或者其他任何一種線條，更能說明問題呢?答案是不確定的。所以我決定測試一下，不同的運動線是否就是表現運動的恰當方式，而或它們只是一些特殊的符號而已。進一步而言，我還想找出盲人和普通人在詮釋運動線時的不同之處。

爲了找出答案，我用凸起線條做出了五幅有關輪子的畫，車條被畫成大麴線，小曲線，波浪線，虛線以及超出車輪的直線。然後，我讓18名盲人志願者撫摩這些輪子，並且將它們分別與下列運動中的一個搭配：不穩定地轉動，飛速轉動，穩定地轉動，顛簸和剎車。參照組則是由來自於多倫多大學的18名普通大學生組成的。

除了一個人，其他所有的盲人都將具體的動作與車輪搭配了起來。大多數人猜測被畫成大麴線的車條表示車輪正在穩定地轉動;而他們認爲波浪線車條表示車輪在不穩定地轉動，小曲線則被認爲是車輪正在顛簸的象徵。受試者推測，超出車輪邊緣的車條代表車輪正處在剎車狀態，而虛線車條則說明車輪正在飛快地旋轉。

另外，在毎種情況下，普通人喜愛的表達與盲人喜愛的基本一致。更有甚者，盲人之間的共識幾乎與普通人的一樣高。因爲盲人不熟悉運動裝置，因此這個任務對他們而言相當困難。然而，很明顯，盲人不僅能夠搞清楚每種運動線所代表的意義，而且作爲一個團隊，他們達成共識的頻率也不比普通人低。

Part 2

第二部分

我們還發現盲人同樣可以理解其他的視覺隱喻。有個盲人女性在心形中畫了個小孩兒——她說選擇心形是爲了表示這個孩子周圍充滿了愛。於是，我和劉長虹，一名來自中國的博士生，開始探索盲人對如心形這樣含義不直白的圖形的象徵意義，到底理解到了何種程度。

我們給普通受試者一張有二十對詞的單子，並且要求他們從每一對詞當中挑一個最能代表圓形的詞以及一個最能代表方形的詞。舉個例子，我們會問：“哪個形狀和柔軟有關?圓形還是方形?哪個形狀表示堅硬?”

所有的受試者都認爲圓形代表柔軟，方形代表堅硬。高達94%的人將快樂歸給了圓形，而沒有選悲傷。但是在其他詞組上，不同意見就出現了：79%的人分別認爲圓是快的而方是慢的，圓是弱的而方是強的。只有51%的人將深與圓形相連，將淺與方形相連(見圖2)。當我們用同樣的單子去測試四個完全失明的人時，他們的選擇幾乎與普通受試者的一模一樣。有個先天失明的人做得極好。他的選擇只有一個與衆不同，那就是把“遠”與方形聯繫起來而把“近”同圓形聯繫起來。實際上，也只有剛剛過半53%的普通受試者認爲圓形代表遠，而方形代表近。因此，我們可以得出結論，盲人同普通人一樣能夠理解抽象的圖形。

　　劍橋雅思閱讀4原文解析(test1)

Question 1

答案：FALSE

關鍵詞：media

定位原文：第1段第3句“In the face of the frequent and often vivid media coverage…”;“Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of rainforests…”

解題思路：這兩段當中的frequent/vivid/extensive/coverage等詞都說明媒體對於熱帶雨林的現狀十分關注，並做了廣泛報道。

Question 2

答案：FALSE

關鍵詞：children/classroom

定位原文：第2段第3句“These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media。”這些觀點可能是學生從大衆媒體中獲得的。

解題思路：這句話證明學生也從大衆媒體中吸取有關熱帶雨林的觀點，而並不是只從課堂中得到相關知識。

Question 3

答案：TRUE

關鍵詞：pure/ mistaken

定位原文：第2段第1句“Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.”

解題思路：這句話是題乾的同義替換，學生關鍵需要掌握“harbour”在這裏的意思等於“hold”。

Question 4

答案：TRUE

關鍵詞：framework/easier

定位原文：第2段第2句“These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted，but organized, conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification.”

解題思路：解這題的關鍵是要明白題幹中的“easier to change”和文中的“accessible to modification”是同義替換。

Question 5

答案：FALSE

關鍵詞：yes/no

定位原文：第4段第2句“Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions.”

解題思路：Open-form指簡答題，與yes/no直接矛盾。

Question 6

答案：NOT GIVEN

關鍵詞：more likely than

定位原文：第5段第4句“More girls (70%) than boys (60%) raised the idea of rainforest as animal habitats.”

第6段第1句“Similarly, but at a lower level, more girls (13%) than boys (5%) said that rainforests provided human habitats.”

解題思路：雖然這兩句話分別將男生女生作了比較，但是比較內容並不是關於熱帶雨林破壞的錯誤觀點，所以此題屬於並不存在的比較關係。

Question 7

答案： TRUE

關鍵詞：follow on from

定位原文：第6段第2句“These observations are generally consistent with our previous studies of pupils’ views about the use and conservation of rainforests…”

解題思路：“previous”一詞是先前的意思，證明在此研究之前，人們也就學生對熱帶雨林的看法做了研究，因此本文所提到的調査是在這些研究之後進行的。

Question 8

答案：NOT GIVEN

關鍵詞：primary/second

解題思路：文中直到最末尾也從未提到這項研究是否會繼續，所以此題屬於無中生有。

Question 9

答案：M

關鍵詞：where/ rainforests

定位原文：第4段第6句“The commonest responses were continents or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil (25%).”

解題思路：根據對應句信息可選出答案爲M。

Question 10

答案：E

關鍵詞：importance/rainforests

定位原文：第9段第1句…the majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.

解題思路：根據對應句信息可選出答案爲E。

Question 11

答案：G

關鍵詞：reason/loss

定位原文：第7段第2句“ than half of the pupils(59%)identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests,...”

解題思路：根據對應句信息可選出答案爲G。

Question 12

答案：P

關鍵詞：important/protected

定位原文：第5段第2句“The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats.”

解題思路：根據對應句信息可選出答案爲P。

Question 13

答案：J

關鍵詞：uncommon/issue

定位原文：第9段第2句至第3句“Only a few of the pupils(6%)mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.”

解題思路：根據對應句信息可選出答案爲J。

Question 14

答案：B

關鍵詞：title

定位原文：無

解題思路：從文章第二段開始，一直在圍繞孩子對熱帶雨林容易產生錯誤的理解，因此本文重點應該放在孩子對熱帶雨林遭破壞狀況的觀點上，故要選擇一個帶有孩子的標題。

Question 15

答案：taste buds

關鍵詞：taste

定位原文：第1段第5句“Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是taste buds。

Question 16

答案：baleen whales

關鍵詞：stereoscopic vision

定位原文：第3段第3句“However，the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是baleen whales。

Question 17

答案：forward downward (IN EITHER ORDER)

關鍵詞：Dolphins, porpoises

定位原文：第4段第1句“On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have stereoscopic vision forward and downward.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是forward和downward。

Question 18

答案：(the) freshwater dolphin(s)

關鍵詞：forward and upward

定位原文：第4段第2句“Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward and upward.”

解題思路：根據關鍵詞定位，可知答案爲freshwater dolphin(s)。

Question 19

答案：(the) water

關鍵詞：bottlenose dolphin

定位原文：第4段第3句“By comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water. Judging from the way it watches and tracks airborne flying fish, it can apparently see fairly well through the air-water inter?face as well.”

解題思路：題幹中的exceptional和文中的extremely是同義替換，所以根據定位句答案應該爲water。

Question 20

答案：(the) lower frequencies

關鍵詞：most large baleen

定位原文：第6段第3句“Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are often limited in their repertoire.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是(the) lower frequencies。

Question 21

答案：bowhead humpback (IN EITHER ORDER)

關鍵詞：song-like

定位原文：第6段第4句“Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales.”

解題思路：根據song-like定位到該句話，可知答案爲bowhead和humpback。

Question 22

答案：touch/sense of touch

關鍵詞：mating

定位原文：第2段第3句“This contact may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species.”

解題思路：這裏的mating和文中的courtship ritual是同義替換，所以答案應爲touch或者sense of touch。

Question 23

答案：freshwater dolphin(s)

關鍵詞：upside down/eating

定位原文：第4段第2句“Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding...”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是freshwater dolphin(s)。

Question 24

答案：airborne flying fish

關鍵詞：follow/under the water

解題思路：題目中的“follow”和文中的“tracks”是同義替換，根據定位句信息，可知答案是airborne flying fish。

Question 25

答案：clear water(s)/clear open water(s)

關鍵詞：habitat/good visual ability

定位原文：第5段第句“For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting clear open waters than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是clear open water(s)。

Question 26

答案：(the) acoustic sense

關鍵詞：best/cetaceans

定位原文：第6段第1句“Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be uncertain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic sense.”

解題思路：根據定位句信息，可知答案是acoustic sense。

Question 27

答案：C

關鍵詞：first paragraph

定位原文：第1段第1句“From a number of recent studies, it has become clear that blind people can appreciate the use of outlines and perspectives to describe the arrangement of objects and other surfaces in space.”

解題思路：根據定位句可知，說的是盲人能夠理解outlines和perspectives的使用。故正確答案爲C。

Question 28

答案：C

關鍵詞：surprised/blind woman

定位原文：第1段第3-5句“This fact was drawn to my attention dramatically when a blind woman in one of my investigations decided on her own initiative to draw a wheel as it was spinning. To show this motion, she traced a curve inside the circle (Fig.1). I was taken aback. Lines of motion, such as the one she used, are a very recent invention in the history of illustration.”

解題思路：這段話說到讓作者驚訝的是一個盲人女性決定靠自己的能力繪出正在旋轉的輪椅。故正確答案爲C選項。

Question 29

答案：A

關鍵詞：Part1/ blind subjects

定位原文：第5段第4句“Evidently, however, the blind not only figured out meanings for each line of motion，but as a group they generally came up with the same meaning at least as frequently as did sighted subjects.”

解題思路：從“not only…but…came up with the same meaning as least as frequently as did sighted subjects” 可以得出A選項正確。這裏並沒有說比sighted subjects會好，所以D選項是不對的。

Question 30

答案：E

關鍵詞：無

定位原文：Part1第4段最後一句“Subjects assumed that spokes extending beyond the wheel's perimeter signified that the wheel had its brakes on...”

解題思路：這段話恰好說明輻條超出了車輪的周界是使用了剎車，所以正確答案爲E。

Question 31

答案：C

關鍵詞：無

定位原文：Part1第4段最後一句“ that dashed spokes indicated the wheel was spinning quickly.”

解題思路：這句話的意思是虛線輻條表示車輪在快速轉動，故正確答案爲C。

Question 32

答案：A

關鍵詞：無

定位原文：Part1第4段第2句“Most guessed that the curved spokes indicated that the wheel was spinning steadily…”

解題思路：這句話的意思是曲線輻條表示車輪在穩定的轉動，故正確答案爲A。

Question 33

答案：pairs

關鍵詞：Part2/a set of word

定位原文：Part2第2段第1句“We gave a list of twenty pairs of word of words to sighted subjects...”

解題思路：此空要求填一個名詞，而詞庫中只有associations, pairs, shapes, words四個詞是名詞，從意思上判斷，words和shapes顯然不太合適，最後只能填pairs。

Question 34

答案：shapes

關鍵詞：abstract

定位原文：Part2第3段最後一句“Thus, we concluded that the blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted people do.”

解題思路：Abstract是形容詞，空裏要求填個名詞。從對應句可以看出改名詞爲shapes。

Question 35

答案：sighted

關鍵詞：circle/soft/hard/square

定位原文：Part2第3段第1句“All our subjects deemed the hard/square circle soft and the square hard.”

解題思路：雖然在這句話中沒有出現sighted這個詞，但是根據上一整段的內容推測，此處的subjects指得是sighted subjects.

Question 36

答案：sighted

關鍵詞：51%

定位原文：Part2第3段第4句。And only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square.(See Fig.2.)

解題思路：這題依然沒有出現sighted這個詞，但是同上題，根據上文可以推測出這裏的volunteers指的是sighted subjects。

Question 37

答案：deep

關鍵詞：51%

定位原文：Part2第3段第4句。And only 51% linked deep to circle and shallow to square.(See Fig.2.)

解題思路：根據定位句可知，這裏填的詞應該是deep。

Question 38

答案：blind

關鍵詞：repeated/volunteers

定位原文：Part2第3段第5句“When we tested four totally blind volunteers using the same list, we found that their choices closely resembled those made by the sighted subjects.”

解題思路：這句話是說被測試者是blind volunteers，故正確答案爲blind。

Question 39

答案：smilar

關鍵詞：choices

定位原文：Part2第3段第7句“He made only one match differing from the consensus, assigning 'far' to square and 'near' to circle.”

解題思路：“Consensus”是共識的意思，從這句話我們可以知道盲人們對如何搭配基本可以達成一致意見。

Question 40

答案：B

關鍵詞：conlusion

定位原文：Part2第3段最後一句“Thus, we concluded that the blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted people do.”

解題思路：這句話剛好是B選項的同義替換，意思是我們能夠推斷出盲人詮釋abstract shapes與視力正常的人是一樣的。

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劍橋雅思閱讀4test1原文翻譯及答案解析

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