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1、阅读理解：第四十八篇 Researchers Discover Why Humans Began Walking Upright Most of us walk and carry items in our hands every day. These are seemingly simple activities that the majority of us dont question. But an international team of researchers, including Dr. Richmond from GWs Columbian College of Arts an
2、d Sciences，have discovered that human walking upright, may have originated millions of years ago as an adaptation to carrying scarce, high- quality resources. The team of researchers from the U. S., England, Japan and Portugal investigated the behavior of modern-day chimpanzees as they competed for
3、food resources，in an effort to understand what ecological settings would lead a large ape one that resembles the 6 million-year old ancestor we shared in common with living chimpanzees to walk on two legs. “These chimpanzees provide a model of the ecological conditions under which our earliest ances
4、tors might have begun walking on two legs, ，said Dr. Richmond. The research findings suggest that chimpanzees switch to moving on two limbs instead of four in situations where they need to monopolize a resource. Standing on two legs allows them to carry much more at one time because it frees up thei
5、r hands. Over time，intense bursts of bipedal activity may have led to anatomical changes that in turn became the subject of natural selection where competition for food or other resources was strong. Two studies were conducted by the team in Guinea. The first study was conducted by the team in Kyoto
6、 Universitys “ outdoor laboratory ” in a natural clearing in Bossou Forest. Researchers allowed the wild chimpanzees access to different combinations of two different types of nut the oil palm nut，which is naturally widely available, and the coula nut, which is not. The chimpanzees behavior was moni
7、tored in three situations:(a) when only oil palm nuts were available,(b)when a small number of coula nuts were available，and(c) when coula nuts were the majority available resource. When the rare coula nuts were available only in small numbers, the chimpanzees transported more at one time. Similarly
8、, when coula nuts were the majority resource, the chimpanzees ignored the oil palm nuts altogether. The chimpanzees regarded the coula nuts as a more highly-prized resource and competed for them more intensely. In such high-competition settings，the frequency of cases in which the chimpanzees started
9、 moving on two legs increased by a factor of four. Not only was it obvious that bipedal movement allowed them to carry more of this precious resource, but also that they were actively trying to move as much as they could in one go by using everything available 一even their mouths. The second study, b
10、y Kimberley Hockings of Oxford Brookes University, was a 14-month study of Bossou chimpanzees crop-raiding, a situation in which they have to compete for rare and unpredictable Resources. Here, 35 percent of the chimpanzees activity involved some sort of bipedal movement, and once again, this behavi
11、or appeared to be linked to a clear attempt to carry as much as possible at one time.词汇：scarce adj.缺乏的，不足的；稀有的chimpanzee n.黑猩猩ape n.无尾猿; 类人猿bipedal adj. 二足的anatomical adj.解剖的coula nuts( coula也可写作cola或kola)可乐果注释：1. GWs Columbian College of Arts and Sciences:乔治华盛顿大学哥伦比亚艺术与科学学院。乔治华盛顿大学（George Washingto
12、n University)的英文简称为GW，是美国顶尖的私立大学之一，于1821年建校，位于美国首都华盛顿。2. ecological settings: 生态环境3. bipedal activity：双足活动4. anatomical chaiige: 解剖学上的变化5. Kyoto University:京都大学，是继东京大学之后成立的日本第二所国立大学，于I897年建校。京都大学主要校区位于日本历史名城京都市。6. Bossou: 博苏,几内亚的一个地名。博苏森林生活着黑猩猩群落。7. oil palm nut: 油棕榈坚果8. increased by a factor of fou
13、r:增加了四倍9. in one go: 口气10. Oxford Brookes University: 牛津布鲁克斯大学，创立于1865年，是英国最具特色的综合性大学之一。牛津布鲁克斯大学位于世界学术名城牛津。这里学风浓郁、精英荟萃，历来为求学圣地。练习：1. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first two paragraphs? A Many people question the simple human activities of walking and carrying items.B
14、 Chimpanzees behaviors may suggest why humans walk on two legs.C Human walking upright is viewed as an adaptation to carrying precious resources.D Our ancestors ecological conditions resembled those of modern-day chimpanzees.2. Dr. Richmond conducted the experiment with the purpose of findingA when
15、humans began walking on two legs.B what made our ancestors walk upright.C what benefits walking upright brought to our ancestors.D how walking upright helped chimpanzees monopolize resources.3. Kyoto, Universitys study discovered that chimpanzees.A regarded both types of nut as priced resources.B pr
16、eferred oil palm nuts to coula nuts.C liked coula nuts better than oil palm nuts.D ignored both types of nut altogether.4. Why did the chimpanzees walk on two limbs during Kyoto Universitys experiment?A Because they imitated the human way of walking just for fun.B Because they wanted to please the researchers
