发布时间： 2016年06月13日
In this week's Nature， a group of zoologists led by Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews in Scotland and Christophe Boesch of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig， Germany， have provided that evidence. They have synthesised the results from seven chimpanzee-research centres scattered across Africa， and shown that chimps can， indeed， do more than just pass on the odd behaviour pattern here and there. Individual groups of chimps exhibit behavioural“complexes'' that are recognisably different from those of other groups， yet seem to have no connection with environmental or genetic differences between the groups. If that is not culture， it is difficult to think what is.
The problem that confronted Dr Whiten and Dr Boesch was how to disentangle which of chimpanzees' many behaviour patterns are genetically instinctive， which are learnt by individuals in isolation (and so are not cultural， because not copied from others) and which are culturally transmitted (by animals copying one another)。 They solved it by standardising the reports from the research centres， and paying as much attention to what the animals in each place did not do as to what they did.
Behaviour patterns found at all sites were deemed as likely to be genetic as cultural (leaf-sponging turned out to be in this category)， as were those whose absence was due to some environmental factor (fishing algae out of ponds is impossible where there are no algae to fish)。 Nor were behaviour patterns that did not appear to be sporadic (digging for termites， rather than using a stick to fish for them) classified as cultural. They could just as well have been the result of individual invention， as of copying.
That still left 39 behaviour patterns that were common at some sites and absent from others. Termite fishing with twigs and the mid-ribs of leaves were two. So were breaking nuts open with a hammer (which could be done in four different ways， each with its own pattern of occurrence among the sites)， and picking marrow out of the bones of hunted animals using a tool. Nor does chimpanzee culture revolve solely around food. Some chimps have developed flywhisks in the form of leaves. Others have learnt how to tickle themselves. And there is even a behaviour pattern the researchers refer to as ``rain dance''， though it takes place in response to rain， rather than as a way of conjuring it up.
The idea that these and some 30 other behaviour patterns are cultural rather than genetic was supported by the fact that particular sub-species (which differ from one another genetically) are not associated with particular behaviours. Indeed， abrupt cultural transitions often occur in the middle of sub-specific homelands. Short of developing language (and there are a few researchers who believe that chimps can also manage that)， it is hard to see what more man's closest relatives could possibly be required to do to be admitted to the culture club.
注(1)：本文选自Economist; 06/19/99，p82;
注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2004年真题Text 3(题目顺序稍做调整);
1. By “If that is not culture， it is difficult to think what is.”(Line 8， Paragraph 1)， the
author means _______.
[A]it is difficult to define what culture is
[B]scientists feel confused about culture
[C]nobody knows what the culture is
[D]it is nothing but culture
2. The most distinctive feature of culture is _________.
[A]copying one another among animals
[B]passing on the odd behavior among animals
[C]learning from one another among animals
[D]individual invention by the animals
3. How does the author feel about the cultural phenomenon among the chimps?
[A]Optimistic.
[B]Affirmative.
[C]Carefree.
[D]Panicked.
4. Which of the following will the scientists not regard as cultural behavior?
[A]Using a stick to fish for termites.
[B]Breaking nuts open with a hammer.
[C]Making flywhisks in the form of leaves.
[D]Dancing a “rain dance”。
5. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?
[A]Chimps can learn 37 behaviors by copying one another.
[B]Genes and environment have no effect on the behavior of chimps.
[C]Chimps should be admitted to the culture club.
[D]People are too critical of the behavior of chimps.
答案：DABAC
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