Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别）which is larger.

For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼）on her tasty prize.

Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.

Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.

The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.

Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.

It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.

One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群）so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.

Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品）of natural selection for a larger brain.

68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.

A. memorize things correctly      B. munch on apples

C. do some simple math          D. change small quantities into larger ones

69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?

A. Difficult        B. Impossible     C. Easy      D. Useful

70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.

A. they want to exercise their brains

B .they often count the members of their herd

C. they hope to stay in groups

D. they have taken regular training

Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别）which is larger.
For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼）on her tasty prize.
Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.
Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.
The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.
Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.
It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.
One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群）so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.
Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品）of natural selection for a larger brain.
68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.
A. memorize things correctly      B. munch on apples
C. do some simple math          D. change small quantities into larger ones
69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Difficult        B. Impossible     C. Easy      D. Useful
70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.
A. they want to exercise their brains
B .they often count the members of their herd
C. they hope to stay in groups
D. they have taken regular training

   Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.

   Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别）which is larger.

   For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼）on her tasty prize.

Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.

Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.

The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.

Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.

It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.

One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群）so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.

Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品）of natural selection for a larger brain.

 68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.

    A. memorize things correctly      B. munch on apples

    C. do some simple math          D. change small quantities into larger ones

 69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?

    A. Difficult        B. Impossible     C. Easy      D. Useful

 70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.

    A. they want to exercise their brains

    B .they often count the members of their herd

    C. they hope to stay in groups

    D. they have taken regular training

We like to think our intelligence is self-made; it happens inside our heads, the product of our inner thoughts alone. But the rise of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools has made many people question the impact of these technologies on our brains. Is typing in “Who has played James Bond in the movies?” the same as our knowledge about the names like Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig? Can we say we know the answer as long as we know how to rapidly get the information on Google?
Here the question is about how we define intelligence itself. The answer appears to be interesting, because the evidence from psychological studies suggests that much of our intelligence comes from how we coordinate ourselves with other people and our environment.
An influential theory among psychologists is that we're cognitive misers(认知吝啬者). This is the idea that we are unwilling to do mental work unless we have to. We try to avoid thinking things fully when a short cut is available. If you've ever voted for the presidential candidate(总统候选人) with the most honest smile, or chosen a restaurant based on how many people are already sitting in there, then you are a cognitive miser. The theory explains why we'd much rather type a zip code into Google Maps than memorize and recall the location of a place – it's so much easier to do so.
Research shows that people don't tend to rely on their memories for things they can easily access. Buildings can somehow disappear from pictures we're looking at, or the people we're talking to can be changed with someone else, and often we won't notice – a phenomenon called “change blindness”. This isn't an example of human stupidity – far from it, in fact – this is an example of mental efficiency. The mind relies on the world as a better record than memory.
Philosophers have suggested that thinking is really happening in the environment as much as it is happening in our brains. The philosopher Andy Clark called humans "natural born cyborgs(电子人)", those naturally capable of absorbing and combining new tools, ideas and abilities. In Clark's view, the route to a solution is not the issue – having the right tools really does mean you know the answers, just as much as already knowing the answer.
Rather than being forced to rely on our own resources for everything, we can share our knowledge. Technology keeps track of things for us so we don't have to, while large systems of knowledge serve the needs of society as a whole. I don't know how a computer works, or how to grow vegetables, but that knowledge is out there and I can get to benefit. The internet provides even more potential to share this knowledge. Wikipedia is one of the best examples – an increasingly large database of knowledge from which everyone can benefit.
So as well as having a physical environment – like the rooms or buildings we live or work in – we also have a mental environment, which means that when I ask you where your mind is, you shouldn’t point toward the centre of your forehead. As research shows, our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull.
【小题1】Why did the writer raise the questions in Paragraph 1?

Last Friday my brother and I were driving home and had a fun conversation. So absorbed in our talk, my brother took a wrong turn.
Unfortunately, the wrong turn took us towards a  31 , and we had no way to turn  32 . __33 my brother paid the bridge fee and drove on. He was greatly  34 by his mistake and the needless   35  of $4.
We eventually reached an exit, and as we took it, my brother noticed a young fellow  36 over to the side. He came out of his car and tried to  37 someone. I was busy trying to   38 which way we would go next, but my brother stopped and asked the guy if he needed any  39 And he did. He had a flat tire and needed a tool to get it off.
My brother gave him a wrench（扳手）, and then helped him  40 the flat. The young man said that this had been a  41 week for him: earlier he had gotten into a minor car  42 , and now this tire was flat on his way home from work. But he called us “a breath of fresh air’’ and kept   43  us because he really would have been   44  if we hadn’t come along.
After we had finished the job, he thanked us again and pulled out $20 to give us. “No,” my brother said. “We were never  45 to even get on that bridge. We took a wrong turn. But now we know  46  we did. It was to help you. Thank you for turning our mistake into a（n）  47 to serve.”
What I loved most was  48 my brother throughout this process. He was able to turn his mistake into 49 energy to help others even in a negative situation, which could only come from a calm mind and an open  50 .