公共英语考试二级阅读理解模拟题：
　　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、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。
　　2、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。
　　3、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。
　　4、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。
　　5、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.
　　参考译文：
　　某些动物对数量有直观的认识。它们不用分析就能知道许多物体和较小数量的物体之间的差别。自然学家吉尔伯特·怀特在他的书《塞尔本的自然史》（1786）中讲述了如何每天偷偷地取出一个蛋来组成鹦鹉。鸟巢，以及母亲每天如何产下一枚蛋来弥补缺失的一枚。他指出，其他种类的鸟类忽略了单个蛋的缺乏，但如果多于一枚蛋被移除，则放弃它们的巢。自然学家还注意到，某种类型的黄蜂总是提供fi。为了让幼虫在蛋孵化时有东西吃，每只蛋从不吃四只或六只毛虫。研究还表明，老鼠和鸽子都可以学会区分奇数和偶数的食物。
　　这些和类似的说法使一些人推断出除了人类以外的生物实际上可以计数。他们还指出狗被教导用正确的吠声数量回答数值问题，或者马被教导用跺跺蹄子来解决算术问题。许多次。
　　动物只在数量上作出反应，因为它们是作为一个物种生存的，如卵子，或作为个体生存的，如食物一样。有转移到其他情况，或从具体的现实转移到抽象的数字概念。动物只能在对象时“计数”。只有当涉及的数字小到七或八时才存在。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它类型的物体。它们感兴趣的是物体，而不是数字。动物公认的显著成就根本不算什么。以计数为证据，它们也不能揭示出多于天生的本能，由后代的基因提炼，或由训练者巧妙、仔细地调节的结果。