15．Very mobile ears help many animals direct their attention to the rustle of a possible attacker．Researchers say these mobile ears have become a useful communication tool．Their studies of animal behaviour build up a picture of how communication and social skills developed．
"We're interested in how they communicate，"said lead researcher Jennifer Wathan．"And being sensitive to what another individual is thinking is a fundamental skill from which other more complex skills develop．"
Ms Wathan and her colleague Prof Karen McComb set up a behavioural experiment where 72individual horses had to use visual cues from another horse in order to choose where to feed．They led each horse to a point where it had to select one of two buckets．On a wall behind this decision-making spot was a life-sized photograph of a horse's head facing either to left or right．In some of the trials，the horses'ears or eyes were covered．
If the ears and eyes of the horse in the picture were visible，the horses being tested would choose the bucket towards which its gaze-and its ears-were directed．If the horse in the picture had either its eyes or its ears covered，the horse being tested would just choose a feed bucket at random．
Like many mammals that are hunted by predators（捕食者），horses can rotate（旋转）their ears through almost 180degrees-but Ms Wathan said that in our"human-centric"view of the world，we had overlooked the importance of these very mobile ears in animal communication．
"It seems there's something in the visual cues-from both the eyes and the ears-that are really important，"she told BBC News．"Horses have quite rich social lives and relationships with other horses，so they're a good species to look at this in．"And the more we look at communication across different species，the more we can consider what might have promoted the evolution of sophisticated communication and social skills．"
32．Why does a horse rotate its ears？C
A．To tell each other where they can go for the buckets．
B．To be curious about what the other horse is thinking．
C．To warn the other horse when an attacker is coming closer．
D．To express its hope to build up social relations with others．
33．Why did the researchers use the life-sized photograph of a horse in the experiment？D
A．To help develop horses'complex skills．
B．To lead other horses to feed themselves．
C．To make the horses in the experiment excited．
D．To provide clues for the horses in the experiment．
34．Why are ears and eyes important to horses？C
A．They can find the feeding buckets more easily with ears and eyes．
B．With ears and eyes they can escape from dangers more easily．
C．With ears and eyes they can communicate with other horses．
D．Horses have quite rich social lives with ears and eyes．
35．What can be the best title of the passage？A
A．Rotary Ears Serve as Communication Tools．
B．Horses Have More Social Skills than Other Species．
C．Experiments with Horses'Ears．
D．Fundamental Skills of Horses．
分析 本文属于说明文阅读，作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了通过研究马的交流方式，发现马儿转动耳朵可以与另外的马儿交流；由此可见耳朵也是动物的一种交流工具．
解答 32．C．细节理解题．根据文章第一段"Very mobile ears help many animals direct their attention to the rustle of a possible attacker"可推测，马儿转动耳朵的目的是警告另外的马儿，有狩猎者正在靠近；故选C．
33．D．推理判断题．根据文章第四段"If the ears and eyes of the horse in the picture were visible，the horses being tested would choose the bucket towards which its gaze-and its ears-were directed．If the horse in the picture had either its eyes or its ears covered，the horse being tested would just choose a feed bucket at random"可知研究结果是马儿可以通过耳朵交流，因策利用马的图片是为其他的马提供信息交流线索的；故选D．
34．C．推理判断题．根据文章最后一段"It seems there's something in the visual cues-from both the eyes and the ears-that are really important"可推测出马是一种善于交际的动物，马耳朵的转动是一种重要的交际方式；故选C．
35．A．主旨大意题．通读全文可知，本文主要介绍了一项研究，马耳朵是马的一种交流工具；因此可判断最合适的标题为作为通讯工具的旋转式耳朵；故选A．
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力，做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确的选择．在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
