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Is Intelligence a Good Idea? 你傻瓜，我聪明

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Intelligence has given humankind a distinct advantage over other life forms. However, the evolution of our intelligence has left biologist Dr. Tadeusz Kawecki asking the question, “If it’s so great to be smart, why have most animals remained dumb?”

智力让人类面对其他生命形态时，拥有明显优势。但我们智力的演进促使生物学家塔都兹．奎克博士提出这个问题：如果聪明这么好，为什么多数动物还是那么笨？

In fact, learning can sometimes be a dangerous thing because it takes time and energy. For example, birds are not born knowing how to make use of their main evolutionary advantage: the ability to fly. And the longer it takes to learn, the more vulnerable a baby bird is to predators. According to Dr. Kawecki, each species evolves to a point where the costs and benefits of learning are equal. Therefore, an animal only learns what its environment requires it to.

事实上，学习有时可能是件危险的事，因为学习需要时间和精力。比如说，鸟类并不是一生下就知道如何运用演化的优势：飞翔的能力。牠们花越多时间学习飞行就越容易被猎食者捕杀。根据奎克博士的说法，每一物种都演化至学习成本和收益相等的阶段。因此动物只需学习到有能力在其环境生存即可。

Now we have an idea of why animals don’t continue to learn, but if our roles were reversed, what would animals test us on? Dogs may test our sense of smell and ability to remember terrain. In those sorts of tests, we would surely fail when compared to our canine counterparts. Then, they might look at us and ask, “What is the point of human intelligence?”

现在我们了解了为何动物没继续学习。但如果今天我们角色互换，动物会拿什么来测试我们呢？狗狗可能会考我们的嗅觉，以及对特殊地形的记忆力。在这些测试当中，与犬类对手相比，我们一定会输。然后狗狗可能就会纳闷：「人类的智力有什么用？」

−by Michael Evans & Joe Henley

Vocabulary

单词发音

intelligence [ɪnˋtɛlədʒəns] n. 智力

distinct [dɪˋstɪŋkt] adj. 明显的，清楚的

vulnerable [ˋvʌlnərəb!] adj. 易受攻击[责难]的

reverse [rɪˋvɝs] v. 颠倒

counterpart [ˋkaʊntɚ͵pɑrt] n. 对应的人（或物）

More Information

单词发音

leave [liv] v. 留下（某人做某事）

biologist [baɪˋɑlədʒɪst] n. 生物学家

dumb [dʌm] adj.【口】愚笨的

evolutionary [͵ɛvəˋluʃən͵ɛrɪ] adj. 进化的

predator [ˋprɛdətɚ] n. 食肉动物；掠夺者

terrain [ˋtɛren] n. 地形；地势

canine [ˋkenaɪn] n. 犬的，狗的

Reading Questions

1.   Why would we fail if we took a test given by a dog?

A.  Because dogs are much smarter than we are.

B.  Because we don’t have any sense of smell.

C.  Because our abilities are different from a dog’s.

D.  Because dogs are better at remembering locations.

2.   According to the article, which of the following is true about learning?

A.  Animals only learn what is necessary for their survival.

B.  Many animals stop learning because they like something more challenging.

C.  Animals should spend as much time and energy on learning because it’s the only way to survive.

D.  The more an animal learns, the less danger it will encounter.

3.   What is the main purpose of this article?

A.  To point out the survival advantages of birds and dogs.

B.  To prove that the sense of smell is not as important as we thought.

C.  To look at how birds escape from their enemies.

D.  To discuss why animals have not become as smart as humans.

Answer