Birdsong

Birdsong is the classic example of how genes (hereditary information) and

environment both have a crucial role to play in the behavioral development of
animals. Since the pioneering work of W. H. Thorpe on chaffinches (a
common European bird), many species have been studied, and it has become
clear both that learning plays an important role for all species and also that
there are constraints on what they are able to learn.

The word “pioneering” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• A.recent

• B.famous

• C.original

• D.controversial

Thorpe was able to show that learning from others was involved in chaffinch
birds through a series of experiments on hand-reared chicks (young birds). As
in most other species, only the males sing. Thorpe found that, if he raised young
males in total isolation from all others, the song they produced was quite
different from that of a normal adult. It was about the right length and in the
correct frequency range. It was also split up into a series of notes as it should
be. But these notes lacked the detailed structure found in wild birds, nor was
the song split up into distinct phrases as it usually is. This suggested that song
development requires some social influence. Later experiments in which
researchers played recordings of songs to young birds showed just how precise
this influence was: many of them would learn the exact pattern of the recording
they had heard. A remarkable feature here was that birds were able to copy
precisely songs that they only heard in the first few weeks of life, yet they did
not sing themselves until about eight months old. They are thus able to store a
memory of the sound within their brain and then match their own output to their
recollection of it when they mature.

According to paragraph 2, researchers discovered which of the following by

playing recordings of songs to chaffinches?
 • A.Chaffinches could no longer be taught to reproduce sounds after the

first few weeks of life.

• B.Chaffinches could not reproduce songs with exactly the same patterns

of recorded songs.

• C.Chaffinches at the age of eight months could recall and reproduce a

song that they heard in the first few weeks of life.

• D.Chaffinches that learned a song from recordings in the first few weeks

of life were later unable to copy the sounds of mature chaffinches.

All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 2 as characteristics of wild

chaffinches EXCEPT:

• A.They are able to copy songs very precisely.

• B.Their song development requires interaction with other chaffinches.

• C.Their songs are not as well-structured as the songs of other birds.

• D.It is the males of the species that do the singing.

Young chaffinches normally learn only chaffinch song, though Thorpe found
they could be trained to sing the song of a tree pipit (another type of bird), which
is very similar to that of their own species. [ ▇ ]In general, however, the
constraints on learning which birds have ensure that they only learn songs
appropriate to the species to which they themselves belong. [ ▇ ]These
constraints may be in their brain's circuitry, the young bird hatching with a rough
idea of the sounds that it should copy. [▇]The crude song of a bird reared in
isolation gives some clues as to what this rough idea may be: the length,
the frequency range and the breaking up into notes are all aspects of
chaffinch song shared between normal birds and those reared in isolation.
[▇] In other cases the constraints are more social, young birds only being
prepared to learn from individuals with whom they have social interactions.
Thus, in a number of species, it has been found that they will not copy from
recordings, but will do so from a live tutor. In some cases this may occur when
they are young birds, but in others the main learning period is when they set up
their territories and interact with neighbors for the first time, enabling them to
match their neighbor’s songs and so countersing with them.Whatever the
nature of the learning rules in a particular species, there is no doubt that they
are effective; it is very unusual to hear a wild bird singing a song which is
not typical of its own species despite the many different songs which often
occur in a small patch of woodland.

It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that one of the functions of songs in birds
is to

• A.bring together birds living in groups with birds living in isolation

• B.help young birds distinguish other young birds from adults

• C.make possible interactions between birds of different species

• D.help birds to establish territories

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning
in important ways or leave out essential information.

• A.Songs produced by chaffinches reared in isolation are cruder than the

songs of wild birds.

• B.The song of a bird reared in isolation suggests which aspects of

chaffinch song may be inborn.

• C.Comparing the crude songs of chaffinches reared in isolation to the

songs of wild chaffinches suggests differences as well as similarities.

• D.Studying the song aspects of chaffinches reared in isolation,

researchers have gained a better understanding of the songs produced

by wild birds.

According to paragraph 3, in some species, young birds do not copy songs

from recordings because
 • A.they learn to sing only by live interactions with other birds

• B.their ability to learn from recordings occurs later in life

• C.they can only learn the songs of the birds living in their area of

woodland

• D.they can only learn songs from other birds of their own species

Look at the four squares [▇] that indicate where the following sentence could
be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
Are these constraints genetic, environmental, or both?

However, not all birds show the same learning pattern as do chaffinches. There
are some species which produce normal sounds even if deaf, so that they
cannot hear their own efforts, much less copy those of others. The cooing of
doves and the crowing of cocks are examples here. In other cases, such as
parrots and hill mynahs, birds can be trained to copy a huge variety of sounds,
though those they learn in the wild are usually more restricted. The amazing
capability of mynahs has apparently arisen simply because birds in an area
learn a small number of their calls from each other, males from males and
females from females, and these calls are highly varied in structure. The ability
to master them has led the birds, incidentally, to be capable of saying “hello”
and mimicking a wide variety of other sounds.

The word “restricted” in the passage is closest in meaning to

• A.important

• B.popular

• C.limited

• D.accurate

According to paragraph 4, why are mynahs able to learn to make a wide

variety of sounds?
• A.They have the ability to imitate any sound that they are exposed to.

• B.The frequency with which mynahs travel from one small area to

another exposes them to a wide variety of sounds.

• C.They are exposed in the wild to calls that are very different from each

other.

• D.An acute sense of hearing allows them to listen to and copy many

different sounds.

正确答案:CCCDB ABCC