雅思阅读

蚂蚁智力

Collectiveintelligence:：Antsandbrain'sneurons

STANFORD-Anindividualantisnotverybright,butantsinacolony,

operatingasacollective,doremarkablethings.

Asingleneuroninthehumanbraincanrespondonlytowhattheneurons

connectedtoitaredoing,butallofthemtogethercanbeImmanuelKant.

,StanfordUniversityassistant

professorofbiologicalsciences,studiesants.

"I'minterestedinthekindofsystemwheresimpleunitstogetherdobehave

incomplicatedways,"shesaid.

Noonegivesordersinanantcolony,yeteachantdecideswhattodonext.

Forinstance,ecolony

discoversanewsourceoffood,anantdoinghoukeepingdutymaysuddenly

ecolony'sterritorysizeexpandsorcontracts,patroller

antschangetheshapeoftheirreconnaissancepatterntoconformtothenew

ooneisinchargeofanantcolony-includingthemisnamed

"queen,"whichissimplyabreeder-howdoeachantdecidewhattodo?

Thiskindofundirectedbehaviorisnotuniquetoants,

birdsflyinginaflockknowwhentomakeacollectiverightturn?Allanchovies

andotherschoolingfishemtoturninunison,yetnoonefishistheleader.

GordonstudiesharvesterantsinArizonaand,bothinthefieldandinherlab,

theso-calledArgentineantsthatareubiquitoustocoastalCalifornia.

re

drivenoutoftheGulfstatesbythefireantandinvadedCalifornia,wherethey

hethingsGordonis

averenanantwarinvolvingthe

Argentinespeciesandthenativespecies,soit'snotclearwhethertheyare

quietlyaggressiveorjustfindwaysoftakingoverfoodresourcesandterritory.

TheArgentineantsinherlabalsoarebeingstudiedtohelpherunderstand

howtheychangebehaviorasthesizeofthespacetheyareexploringvaries.

"Theantsaregoodatfindingnewplacestoliveinandgoodatfindingfood,"

Gordonsaid."We'reinterestedinfindingouthowtheydoit."

HerantsareconfinedbyPlexiglaswallsandanastyglue-likesubstance

esthewallsin

andouttochangethearenaandvideotapestheants'ter

trackachantfromitsimageonthetapeandreadsitspositionsoshehasa

diagramoftheants'activities.

Themotionsoftheantsconfirmtheexistenceofacollective.

"Acolonyisanalogoustoabrainwheretherearelotsofneurons,eachof

whichcanonlydosomethingverysimple,buttogetherthewholebraincan

theneuronscanthinkant,butthebraincanthinkant,though

nothinginthebraintoldthatneurontothinkant."

Forinstance,ppenswhen

thatpatternnolongerfitsthecircumstances,suchaswhenGordonmovesthe

walls?

"Antscommunicatebychemicals,"shesaid."That'showtheymostly

perceivetheworld;theydon'etheirantennaetosmell.

Sotosmellsomething,theyhavetogetveryclotoit.

"Thebestpossiblewayforantstofindeverything-ifyouthinkofthecolony

asanindividualthatistryingtodothis-istohaveananteverywhereallthe

time,becauifitdoesn'thappenclotoanant,they'renotgoingtoknow

,therearenotenoughantsinthecolonytodothat,so

somehowtheantshavetomovearoundinapatternthatallowsthemtocover

spaceefficiently."

Keepinginmindthatnooneisinchargeofacolonyandthatthereisno

centralplan,howdotheantsadjusttheirreconnaissanceiftheirterritory

expandsorshrinks?

"Noanttoldthem,'OK,guys,ifthearenais20by20....'Somehowthere

hastobesomerulethatindividualantsuindecidingtochangetheshapeof

thatthatruleistheratein

whichtheybumpintoeachother."

Themorecrowdedtheyare,themoreofteneachantwillbumpintoanother

reaoftheirterritoryixpanded,thefrequencyofcontactdecreas.

Perhaps,Gordonthinks,eachanthasathresholdfornormalityandadjustsits

pathshapedependingonhowoftenthenumberofencounterxceedsorfalls

shortofthatthreshold.

Iftheterritoryshrinks,thenumberofcontactsincreasandtheantalters

pands,contactdecreasanditaltersthepatterna

differentway.

IntheArizonaharvesterants,

anthasajob.

"Idividethetasksintofour:foraging,nestmaintenance,midden[piling

refu,includinghusksofeds]andpatrolling-patrollersaretheonesthat

agersgowherethe

patrollersfindfood.

"ayitus

rollersgooutfirstonthetrailsandtheyattracteach

ndofanhour'spatrolling,mostpatrollersare

onjustafewtrails....Alltheforagershavetodoisgowheretherearethemost

patrollers."

Eachanthasitsprescribedtask,buttheantscanswitchtasksifthe

toldittodosoandGordonandotherentomologistsdon'tknowhowthat

happens.

"Noantcanpossiblyknowhowmuchfoodeverybodyiscollecting,how

manyforagersareneeded,"shesaid."Ananthastohaveverysimplerulesthat

tellit,'OK,switchandstartforaging.'Butanantcan'tasssgloballyhowmuch

foodthecolonyneeds.

"I'vedoneperturbationexperimentsinwhichImarkedantsaccordingto

whattaskthey'sthatwereforagingforfood

weregreen,

createdsomenewsituationintheenvironment;forexample,Icreateamess

thatthenestmaintenanceworkershavetocleanuporI'llputoutextrafood

thatattractsmoreforagers.

"Itturnsoutthatantsthatweremarkeddoingacertaintaskonedayswitch

todoadifferenttaskwhenconditionschange."

Ofabout8,000speciesofants,onlyabout10percenthavebeenstudied

thusfar.

"It'shardtogeneralizeanythingaboutthebehaviorofants,"Gordonsaid.

"Mostofwhatweknowaboutantsistrueofavery,verysmallnumberofspecies

comparedtothenumberofspeciesoutthere."

天才儿童

TIME:5-7'

HOWIQBECOMESIQ

In1904theFrenchministerofeducation,facinglimitedresourcesfor

schooling,

Binetgotthejobofdevisinglectionprinciplesandhisbrilliantsolutionputa

stamponthestudyofintelligenceandwastheforerunnerofintelligencetests

lopedathirty-problemtestin1905,whichtapped

veralabilitiesrelatedtointellect,t

determinedagivenchild'smentalage'.Thetestpreviouslyestablishedanorm

mple,five-year-oldsonaverageget

tenitemscorrect,therefore,achildwithamentalageoffiveshouldscore10,

whichwouldmeanthatheorshewasfunctioningprettymuchasothersofthat

ld'smentalagewasthencomparedtohisphysicalage.

Alargedisparityinthewrongdirection(e.g.,achildofninewithamental

ageoffour)mightsuggestinabilityratherthanlazinessandmeansthatheor

,however,deniedthatthetest

wasmeasuringintelligenceandsaidthatitspurpowassimplydiagnostic,for

ssagewashoweverlostandcaudmanyproblemsand

misunderstandingslater.

AlthoughBinet'stestwaspopular,itwasabitinconvenienttodealwitha

,in1912,WilhelmSternsuggested

dedthemental

agechild,

irrespectiveofage,rmuchlowerthan100would

suggesttheneedforhelpandonemuchhigherwouldsuggestachildwellahead

ofhispeer.

ThismeasurementiswhatisnowtermedtheIQ(intelligencequotient)

scoreandithavolvedtobeudtoshowhowaperson,adultorchild,

,

professorofpsychologyandeducationofStanfordUniversity,

constructedanenormouslyinfluentialrevisionofBinet'stest,calledthe

Stanford-Binettest,versionsofwhicharestillgivenextensively.

Thefieldstudyingintelligenceanddevelopingtestventuallycoalesced

intoasub-fieldofpsychologycalledpsychometrics(psychofor‘mind'and

metricsfor'measurements').Thepracticalsideofpsychometrics(the

developmentanduoftests)becamewidespreadquiteearly,by1917,when

Einsteinpublishedhisgrandtheoryofrelativity,mass-scaletestingwasalready

inu.

Germany'sunrestrictedsubmarinewarfare(whichledtothesinkingofthe

Lusitaniain1915)provokedtheUnitedStatestofinallyenterthefirstworldwar

itaryhadtobuildupanarmyveryquicklyandithad

ldbecomeofficersandwhoenlisted

men?Psychometriciansdevelopedtwointelligenceteststhathelpedsortall

thepeopleout,sthefirstmajoruoftesting

todecidewholivedandwhodiedsinceofficerswerealotsaferonthebattlefield.

Theteststhemlvesweregivenunderhorrendouslybadconditionsandthe

recruitssimplyhadnoidea

whattodoandinveralssionsmostinducteesscoredzero!Theexaminers

alsocameupwiththequiteastoundingconclusionfromthetestingthatthe

averageAmericanadult'sintelligencewaqualtothatofathirteen-year-old!

Nevertheless,theabilityforvariousauthoritiestoclassifypeopleon

scientificallyjustifiablepremiswastooconvenientandsignificanttobe

dismisdlightly,sowithallgoodastoundingintentionsandoftenover

enthusiasm,society'saffinityforpsychologicaltestingproliferated.

BackinEurope,SirCyrilBurt,professorofpsychologyatUniversityCollege

Londonfrom1931to1950,wasaprominentfigureforhiscontributiontothe

firmadvocateofintelligencetestingandhisideasfittedinwell

nmentcommitteein1943ud

someofBurt'sideasindevisingaratherprimitivetypologyonchildren's

etestedatageelevenandthetop15or20percent

wenttogrammarschoolswithgoodteachersandafastpaceofworktoprepare

verybrightworking-classchildren,

whootherwiwouldneverhavesucceeded,madeittogrammarschoolsand

universities.

hildrenattended

lesrcondaryortechnicalschoolsandfacedtheprospectofeventual

ltlikedumbfailures,whichhavingbeenofficiallyand

ys

anobssionthat

intelligenceislargelygenetic,heapparentlymadeuptwinstudies,which

supportedthisidea,atthesametimeinventingtwoco-workerswhowere

suppodtohavegatheredtheresults.

Intelligencetestingenforcedpoliticalandsocialprejudiceandtheirresults

wereudtoarguethatJewsoughttobekeptoutoftheUnitedStatesbecau

ndtestbiascontroversies

continuedtoplaquepsychometrics.

eoften

advancesinleapsandboundswhenmeasurementdevicesimprove.

Psychometricshaslongtriedtodevelopwaystogaugepsychologicalqualities

suchasintelligenceandmorespecificabilities,anxiety,extroversion,emotional

stability,coresareoften

eIQmeasurementcantakeonalifeofitsownif

meamajorissueinthe70s

whencourtcaswerelaunchedtostopanyonefrommakingimportant

ncriticismwasandstillisthatcurrent

testsdon'rintelligencecanbemeasuredat

yitcannotwhileotherssaythatIQtestsare

psychology'sgreatestaccomplishments.

全球变暖

ACanaryintheCoalMine

?

A.“ClimatechangeintheArcticisarealitynow!〞SoinsistsRobertCorell,

-eyed

proclamationsarealltoocommonwhenitcomestoglobalwarming,butinthis

cahisasrtionemswellfounded.

tsight,theACIA’s(AmericanConstructionInspectorsAssociation)

report’ll,scientistshavelong

suspectedthatveralfactorsleadtogreatertemperatureswingsatthepoles

lbedo—theposhscientificnameforhow

muchsunlightisabsorbedbyaplanet’ssurface,andhowmuchisreflected.

MostofthePolarRegionsarecoveredinsnowandice,whicharemuchmore

snowmelts,theexposureofdarkearth

(whichabsorbsheat)actsasafeedbackloopthataccelerateswarming.A

condfactorthatmakesthepolesspecialisthattheatmosphereisthinner

therethanattheequator,

factoristhatlesssolarenergyislostinevaporationatthefrigidpolesthaninthe

steamytropics.

thelanguageofthisweek’sreportisstilleye-catching:“the

Arcticisnowexperiencingsomeofthemostrapidandvereclimatechangeon

Earth.〞ThelastauthoritativeasssmentofthetopicwasdonebytheUN’s

IntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange(IPCC)portmade

headlinesbypredictingariinalevelofbetween10cm(fourinches)and

90cm,andatemperatureriofbetween1.4°Cand5.8°Coverthiscentury.

However,itsauthorsdidnotfeelconfidentinpredictingeitherrapidpolar

ngtoevidence

gatheredsincetheIPCCreport,thisweek’sreportsuggeststroubleliesahead.

Areckonsthatinrecentdecadesaveragetemperatureshave

increadalmosttwiceasfastintheArcticastheyhaveintherestoftheworld.

Skepticsarguethatthereareplaces,suchasthehighlatitudesoftheGreenland

icesheetandsomebuoysata,

theotherhand,therearealsoplaces,suchaspartsofAlaska,wheretheyhave

ell,ageophysicistatColumbiaUniversity

whowasnotinvolvedinthereport’scompilation,believesthatsuchconflicting

localtrendspointtothevalueoftheinternational,interdisciplinaryapproachof

thisweek’rves,“climatechange,liketheweather,canbe

patchyandyoucangetfooledunlessyoulookatthewholepicture.〞

reisotherevidenceofwarmingtobolstertheACIA’

example,thereportdocumentsthewidespreadmeltingofglaciersandofa

ice,atrendalreadymakinglifemirableforthepolarbearsandalsthat

t

worryingfinding,however,istheevidence—stillpreliminary—thatthe

Greenlandicesheetmaybemeltingfasterthanpreviouslythought.

intstoonereasontheworldshouldpayattentiontothisweek’s

anaryinacoalmine,thehypernsitivePolarRegionsmaywell

experiencethefullforceofglobalwarmingbeforetherestoftheplanetdoes.

However,pectedly

rapidwarmingoftheArcticcouldalsoleaddirectlytogreaterclimatechange

elwhereontheplanet.

thathugeamountsofmethane,aparticularlypotentgreenhougas,are

ghathawwouldallowforeststo

invadethetundra,whichwouldtendtoameliorateanyglobalwarmingthatis

goingon(sincetreescapturecarbondioxide,thegreenhougasmosttalked

aboutinthecontextofclimatechange),ameltingofthepermafrostmightalso

leadtoalotoftrappedmethanebeingreleadintotheatmosphere,morethan

offttingthecoolingeffectsofthenewforests.

rworryisthatArcticwarmingwillinfluenceoceancirculationin

kinthechainisthesalinityof

awater,whichisdecreasinginthenorthAtlanticthankstoanincreain

glacialmeltwaters.“Becaufreshwaterandsaltwaterhavedifferentdensities,

this‘freshening’oftheoceancouldchangecirculationpatterns.〞saidDr.

Thomson,aBritishclimateexpert.“Themostcelebratedriskistothe

mid-AtlanticConveyorBelt,acurrentwhichbringswarmwaterfromthetropics

tonorth-westernEurope,andwhichisresponsibleforthatregion’sunusually

mildwinters,〞theACIA’xpertsarefrettingover

evidenceofreduceddensityandsalinityinwatersneartheArcticthatcould

adverlyaffectthiscurrent.

gestpopularworry,though,isthatmeltingArcticicecouldleadto

,art,much

edes’sprinciple

showsthatthemeltingofthisicewillmakenoimmediatedifferencetothea’s

level,,iflandice,suchasthat

coveringGreenland,doesmeltinlargequantities,theprocesswilltake

rd,althoughtheexpertsareindeedworriedthatglobal

warmingmightcautheoceanstori,themainwaytheybelievethiswill

happenisbythermalexpansionofthewateritlf.

heless,CIA

rearchersdocument,therearesignsthatthemassiveGreenlandicesheet

inthe

sheetappeartobeallowingmeltwatertotrickletoitsba,explainsMichael

Oppenheimer,aclimatologistatPrincetonUniversitywhowasnotoneofthe

report’termayactasalubricant,speedingupthesheet’s

ntiresheetmelted,theamightriby6-7

nwillthiskindofdisastrousicedisintegrationreallyhappen?

Whileacknowledgingitthiscenturyisstillanunlikelyoutcome,Dr.

Oppenheimerarguesthattheevidenceofthepastfewyearssuggestsitismore

likelytohappenoverthenextfewcenturiesiftheworlddoesnotreduce

iesthatanacceleratingArcticwarming

trendmayyetpushtheicemeltbeyondan“irreversibleon/offswitch〞.

scarystuff,k

Michaels,aclimatologistattheUniversityofVirginia,complainsaboutthe

ACIA’sdatalection,whichhebelievesmayhaveproducedevidenceof

“spuriouswarming〞.Healsopointsout,inanewbook,thatevenifArctic

temperaturesarerising,

putsit,“Underglobalwarming,Greenland’siceindeedmightgrow,especiallyif

ll,warmingtheairtendegrees

whenthetemperatureisdozensofdegreesbelowfreezingislikelytoincrea

snowfall,sincewarmerairisgenerallymoisterandprecipitatesmorewater.〞

-AxelMorner,aSwedishclimateexpertbadatStockholmUniversity,

pointsoutthatobrvedrisinalevelshavenotmatchedtheIPCC’s

hisweek’sreportreliesonmanysuchIPCCassumptions,he

acknowledgethatthereisawarmingtrend

intheArctic,butinsistthatthecauisnaturalvariabilityandnottheburning

lkpointtotheextraordinarilyvolatilehistoryofArctic

aried,oftensuddenly,longbeforesport-utilityvehicles

r,someevidencealsoshowsthatthepastfewmillennia

stpossiblethatthe

currentperiodofwarmingcouldtipthedelicateArcticclimatesystemoutof

balance,andsodragtherestoftheplanetwithit.

tpeopletruly

ofthereport’smostconfidentpredictionsisthatthebreakupofArcticicewill

opentheregiontolong-distanceshippingand,ironically,todrillingforoiland

relynocoincidence,then,thattheDanishgovernment,which

controlsGreenland,hasjustdeclareditsintentiontoclaimthemineralrights

,atleast,clearlybelievesthattheArcticoceanmaysoon

bei人类文字进化史

HistoryofWriting

WritingwasfirstinventedbytheSumeriansinancientMesopotamiabefore

3,lsoindependentlyinventedinMeso-Americabefore600BC

andprobablyindependentlyinventedinChinabefore1,ave

beenindependentlyinventedinEgyptaround3,000BCalthoughgiventhe

geographicalproximitybetweenEgyptandMesopotamiatheEgyptiansmay

havelearntwritingfromtheSumerians.

ttensignsudby

thewritingsystemcouldreprenteitherawholeword,asyllableoran

hewrittensignreprentsawordthesystemisknown

aslogographicasituslogogramswhicharewrittensignsthatreprenta

liestwritingsystemssuchastheSumeriancuneiform,Egyptian

hieroglyphicsandMayanglyphsarepredominantlylogographicsasaremodern

hewrittensignreprentsa

icwritingsystemswere

earAandB

t

nvolvethewrittensign

(aletter)reprentingasinglesound(knownasaphoneme).Theearliest

knownalphabeticalsystemsweredevelopedbyspeakersofmeticlanguages

tten

y

tenlanguageispurelyalphabetic,

syllabicorlogographicbutmayuelementsfromanyorallsystems.

Suchfullydevelopedwritingonlyemergedafterdevelopmentfromsimplier

stickswithnotchesonthemtoreprentanumberofsheepor

dstringshavebeenudas

reachedtheirgreatestdevelopmentwiththeIncaquipuswheretheywereud

ally

ofpicturesforthepurpoofcommunicationwasudbynativeAmericansand

escanshowqualitiesand

nothoweveramounttowritingastheydonotbearaconventionalrelationship

,theGelbdictum(fromitsoriginatorIgnaceGelb),that“At

thebasisofallwritingstandsthepicture〞hasbeenwidelyaccepted.

Analternativeideawasthatasystembywhichtokens,whichreprented

objectslikesheep,wereplacedincontainersandthecontainersweremarked

ontheoutsideindicatingthenumberandtypeoftokenswithinthecontainer

ksontheoutsideofthecontainer

wereadirectsymbolicreprentationofthetokensinsidethecontainerandan

ks

ontheoutsideofthecontainersweregraphicallyidenticaltosomeofthe

earliestpictogramsudinSumeriancuneiform,theworldsfirstwritten

rcuneiformhasapproximately1,500signsandthemarkson

theousideofthecontainerscanonlyexplaintheoriginsofafewofthosigns.

gmainly

consistedofrecordsofnumbersofsheep,goatsandcattleandquantitesof

allyclaytabletswereudasawritingsurfaceandweremarked

ndsofsuchclaytabletshave

liestSumerianwritingconsists

allythe

picturesbecamemoreabstractandweretoconsistofstraightlinesthatlooked

likewedges

ce-free.

阅读常用词组：

y(=befaithfulto;obey)忠于;遵守。

ntfrom….缺席，不在

eormind(=beingabnt-minded)心不在焉

(=takeuptheattentionof)吸引…的注意力(被动语态):beabsorbedin全

神贯注于…近:beengrosdin;belostin;beraptin;beconcentratedon;befocud

on;becenteredon

5.(be)abundantin(berichin;bewellsuppliedwith)富于,富有

(to)(不可数名词)能接近,进入,了解

dent(=bychance,accidentally)偶然地,意外.Withoutaccident(=safely)

平安地,

’sownaccord(=withoutbeingasked;willingly;freely)自愿地,主动

地

rdwith与…一致.outofone’saccordwith同….不一致

eaccord(=witheverybodyagreeing)一致地

rdancewith(=inagreementwith)依照,根据

’sownaccount1)为了某人的缘故,为了某人自己的利益2)(=atone’s

ownrisk)自行负责3)(=byonelf)依靠自己onaccount赊账;onaccountof因为;on

noaccount不管什么原因也不;of…account有…..重要性.中华考试网

…intoaccount(=consider)把...考虑进去

untof说明,解释(理由)

tfor(=giveanexplanationorreasonfor)解释,说明.

untof(=becauof)由于,因为.

count(=innoca,fornoreason)绝不要,无论如何不要(放句首时句

子要倒装)

…of…(=charge…with;.;.;complain

about)指控,控告

stomedto(=beinthehabitof,beudto)习惯于.

aintedwith(=tohaveknowledgeof)了解;(=tohavemetsocially)熟

悉