公共英语考试三级阅读理解模拟题：
　　Certain animals have an intuitive awareness of quantities.They know without analysis the difference between a number of objects ands a smaller number.In his book The Natural History of Selbourne(1786),the naturalist Gilbert White tells how he surreptitiously removed one egg a day to make up plover’s nest,and how the mother laid another egg each day to make up for the missing one.He noted that other species of birds ignore the absence of a single egg but abandon their nest if more than one egg has been removed.It has also been noted by naturalist that a certain type of wasp always provides five-never four,never six-caterpillars for each of their eggs so that their young have something to eat when the eggs hatch.Research has also shown that both mice and pigeons can be taught to distinguish between odd and even numbers of food pieces.
　　These and similar accounts have led some people to infer that creatures other than human can actually count.They also point to dogs that have been taught to respond to numerical questions with the correct number of barks,or to horses that seem to solve arithmetic problem by stomping their hooves number of times.
　　Animals respond to quantities only when they are connected to survive as a species-as in the case of the eggs-or survive as individuals-as in the case of food.There is on transfer to other situations or from concrete reality to the abstract notion of numbers.Animals can“count”only when the objects are present and only when the numbers involved are small-no more than seven or eight.In lab experiments,animals trained to count one kind of object were unable to count any other type.The objects,not the numbers,are what interest them.Animal’s admittedly remarkable achievements simply do not amount to evidence of counting,nor do they reveal more than innate instinct,refined by the genes of successive generations,or the results of clever,careful conditioning by trainers.
　　1、The author mentions that all of the following are aware of quantities in some way except.
　　A.plovers
　　B.mice
　　C.caterpillars
　　D.wasps
　　参考答案：C
　　参考解析：It has also been noted by naturalist that a certain type of wasp always provides five-never four,never six-caterpillars for each of their eggs.
　　2、What is the main idea of the passage?
　　A.Careful training is required to teach animals to perform tricks involving numbers
　　B.Animas cannot count more than one kind of object
　　C.of all animals,dogs and horses can count best
　　D.Although some animals may be aware of quantities,they cannot actually count
　　参考答案：D
　　参考解析：文章中介绍了某些动物很惊人的数字能力。但是无论怎样，他们对数字的感觉也只是一种本能。
　　3、According to the information in the passage,which of the following is LEAST likely to occur as a result of animal’s intuitive awareness of quantities?
　　A.A pigeon is more attracted by a box containing two pieces of food than by a box containing one piece.
　　B.When asked by its trainer how old it is,a monkey holds up five fingers.
　　C.When one of its four kittens crawls away,a mother cat misses it and searches for the missing kitten.
　　D.A lion follows one antelope instead of a herd of antelopes because it is easier to hunt a single prey.
　　参考答案：B
　　参考解析：When asked by its trainer how old it is,a monkey holds up five fingers.无论猴子的反应是什么样子，都只是一种反复训练之后的一种本能的反映。而不是真正的说出他的年龄.
　　4、The word“surreptitiously”in line 4 is closest in meaning to ___.
　　A.quickly
　　B.secretly
　　C.occasionally
　　D.stubbornly
　　参考答案：B
　　参考解析：根据上下文以及我们的常识，观察动物的习性是需要很长时间，而且应该是隐蔽的。
　　5、The author refers to Gilbert’s book in paragraph 1 in order to___.
　　A.show how attitudes have changed since 1786
　　B.Contradict the idea that animals can count.
　　C.provide evidence that some birds are aware of quantities.
　　D.Indicate that more research is needed in this field.
　　参考答案：C
　　参考解析：作者举这个例子是为了证明他所提出的某些动物能够认知某些东西的数量。
　　参考译文：
　　某些动物对数量有直觉的认识。他们不知道一些对象之间的差异和更小的数量。博物学家吉尔伯特·怀特在他的《塞尔本自然史》（1786）一书中讲述了他如何每天偷偷地取出一个蛋来组成鹦鹉的巢，以及母亲如何每天产下一枚蛋来弥补丢失的巢。他指出，其他种类的鸟类忽略了缺少一个卵，但如果多于一个卵被移除，则放弃它们的巢。自然学家还注意到，某种类型的黄蜂总是为它们的每个卵提供5-而不是4，而不是6-毛虫，以便它们的幼虫在卵孵化时有东西吃。研究还表明，老鼠和鸽子都可以被教导区分奇数和偶数的食物块。
　　这些和类似的说法已经使一些人推断出除了人类以外的生物实际上可以计数。他们还指出那些被教导用正确数量的吠声回答数值问题的狗，或者那些似乎通过跺蹄子多次来解决算术问题的马。
　　只有当动物作为一个物种（如卵子）生存或作为个体生存（如食物）时，它们才会对数量作出反应。有向其他情形的转变，或从具体的现实到抽象的数字概念。动物只能在物体存在的时候进行计数，而且只在数字很小的时候——不超过七或八。在实验室实验中，被训练去数一种物体的动物不能数任何其他类型的物体。对象，而不是数字，是他们感兴趣的东西。动物们公认的显著成就不仅仅只是数量上的证据，而且也不只是显示出天生的本能，被后代的基因所精炼，或者训练者巧妙、细心地调节的结果。