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Kanzi, the “Talking” Ape 会说话的侏儒黑猩猩

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Kanzi and his pals are hanging out feasting on blueberries, M&M’s and celery while watching their favorite DVDs. They flip from Quest for Fire, to Tarzan, to Babe by pressing buttons on the computer screen. This sounds like a ___1___ Saturday night, right? Except that Kanzi and his friends are apes. Or, more specifically, bonobos.

肯吉和好友聚会，边看最爱的DVD影片，边吃蓝莓、M&M巧克力和芹菜。牠们点选计算机屏幕上的按键，从《火种》转到《泰山》，再换到《我不笨，所以我有话要说》。这听起来像是典型的周末夜，对吧？只不过肯吉和牠的朋友是黑猩猩，或者更精确地说，「侏儒黑猩猩」。

When Kanzi was an infant, American psychologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh tried to teach his mother how to communicate by using symbols on a keyboard. Little Kanzi monkeyed around in the background, appearing totally ___2___. However, while Kanzi’s mom learned next to nothing, kanzi ___3___ picked up the language! He quickly progresses from using six symbols all the way up ___4___ mastering 348. The symbols refer to everyday things and activities like “key, tummy, yogurt, tickle, and chase,” and a few somewhat abstract concepts like “bad” and “now.” Savage-Rumbaugh says Kanzi now even understands about 3,000 English words ___5___ the symbols. He can respond to simple verbal ___6___ too, such as “Carry the TV outdoors.”

美国心理学家苏．莎维吉兰堡在肯吉还是婴儿时，便尝试教牠妈妈用键盘上的符号沟通。小肯吉在后面闲晃，一副完全不感兴趣的样子。然而，虽然肯吉的妈妈几乎没学到什么，肯吉实际上却学会了这种语言！他进步神速，从运用六种符号一路进步到精通348个。这些符号代表日常生活中的事物，像「钥匙」、「肚子」「优格」、「搔痒」和「追赶」，以及几个稍微抽象的观念，例如「坏」和「现在」。莎维吉兰堡说，现在除了这些符号外，肯吉甚至认得约三千个英文字。牠也能回应简单的口令，譬如「把电视搬到外面去」。

In one experiment, Savage-Rumbaugh showed Kanzi some yogurt and asked him to tell his sister about it. Then she put Kanzi and his sister in adjacent rooms. The two apes could hear but not see each other. Kanzi vocalized the concept “yogurt” to his sister in an unknown language, and his sister then ___7___ the correct symbol for yogurt on her keyboard!

在一项实验中，莎维吉兰堡拿了一些优格给肯吉看，要牠去告诉牠的姊妹。然后她将肯吉和牠的姊妹安置在相邻的房间内。两只黑猩猩可听到彼此，但看不见对方。肯吉用一种无人知晓的语言，以声音传达「优格」的概念给姊妹，而牠姊妹则正确地在键盘上选出代表优格的符号！

Many linguists still believe that bonobos are just extremely ___8___ at getting what they want, but not able to use actual language. Savage-Rumnaugh disagrees. She goes onto say that the myth of human uniqueness is coming ___9___ challenge. If apes can learn language, it is possible that this ability is not only ___10__ in humans. Does this mean one day bonobos will be joining us for afternoon tea or a trip to the theater? We’ll just have to wait and see.

许多语言学家仍相信，侏儒黑猩猩只是十分善于取得想要的东西，但无法使用真正的语言。莎维吉兰堡不予苟同，她还说，「人类独一无二」的迷思正面临挑战。如果黑猩猩能学习语言，那么这种能力可能不仅只有人类与生俱来。这是否意味着有一天侏儒黑猩猩会和我们一起喝下午茶或到剧院看戏呢？这只有来日方知了。

−by Amy Guttelson

Vocabulary

单词发音

hang out【非正式】闲荡; 厮混 spend time in a certain location or with certain people

specifically [spɪˋsɪfɪk!ɪ] adv. 明确地；具体地

psychologist [saɪˋkɑlədʒɪst] n. 心理学家

monkey around 【口】调皮; 捣蛋 do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

abstract [ˋæbstrækt] adj. 抽象的

concept [ˋkɑnsɛpt] n. 概念，观念

verbal [ˋvɝb!] adj. 口头的

myth [mɪθ] n. 神话

innate [ˋɪnˋet] adj. 与生俱来的；天生的；固有的

More Information

单词发音

pal [pæl] n.【口】伙伴；好友

feast [fist] v. 尽情地吃[（+on/upon）]to eat a great deal of something

celery [ˋsɛlərɪ] n. 芹菜

flip [flɪp] v. 轻弹；轻拍; 翻阅[（+through）]

Tarzan [ˋtɑrzn] n. 泰山（美国作家E.R.Burroughs的作品"人猿泰山"之主角）

ape [ep] n.（无尾）猿，大猩猩，黑猩猩

bonobo [ˋbɑnəbo] n. 倭黑猩猩

next to nothing 几乎没有, 非常少 hardly anything; almost nothing; very little

pick up 学会 to learn

tummy [ˋtʌmɪ] n.【儿】肚子，胃

tickle [ˋtɪk!] v. 搔〔某人的〕痒痒

adjacent [əˋdʒesənt] adj. 邻接的

vocalize [ˋvok!͵aɪz] v. 发声

linguist [ˋlɪŋgwɪst] n. 语言学者

uniqueness [juˋniknɪs] n. 独一无二；独特性

on top of 除…之外  in addition to; as well as

Kanzi and Novel Sentences

Kanzi with lexigram

Answer