Cats'Domestication托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Cats'Domestication托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Cats'Domestication托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.FEMALE PROFESSOR:In our last class we began talking about animal domestication.And we said it's the process whereby a population of animals is bred in captivity and becomes accustomed to being provided for and controlled by humans.Question,Jim?

MALE STUDENT:Yeah.I was thinking...you said domesticated animals usually served some kind of purpose for humans,like horses could...uh...pull heavy loads,and dogs could hunt or herd sheep,but cats,why were they ever domesticated?I mean,mine can't do much of anything.FEMALE PROFESSOR:Interesting question.Cats don't seem likely candidates for domestication,do they?They actually lack an important characteristic that most animals that can be domesticated have:Domesticable animals tend to live in herds or packs,with clear dominance hierarchies.Humans could easily take advantage of this hierarchical structure.By supplanting the alpha individual,they could gain control of the whole group or of individuals as in the case of dogs.Cats in the wild,though,rarely have this structure.For the most part,they are solitary hunters.But...as for their utility to humans...Well,it's helpful to think about when and where cat domestication might've begun. Any ideas,Jim?

MALE STUDENT:Well,I'd guess ancient Egypt?I'm thinking of all those ancient Egyptian paintings of cats.FEMALE PROFESSOR:Good guess.—those paintings you mentioned do provide the oldest known depictions of full cat domestication,where cats are,without question,household companions.The paintings from about 3,600 years ago typically show cats in Egyptian homes poised under chairs,sometimes wearing collars,eating scraps of food out of bowls.....But the Egyptians don't get credited for the early stages of cat domestication where cats are just beginning to interact with humans.There are signs of early domestication as far back as 9,500 years ago!Recently,two graves were discovered on the Island of Cyprus.

One was the grave of a human,buried with some tools,sea shells and other items,and nearby,a cat was buried in its own grave.Interestingly,the cat's body was oriented in the same westward direction as the human's body.

Another notable thing about the two bodies was that they were in an identical state of preservation,suggesting they had been buried at the same time.So we can assume that humans had at least some kind of relationship with cats as early as 9,500 years ago!MALE STUDENT:So cat domestication began in Cyprus?

FEMALE PROFESSOR:Well,except cats weren't native to Cyprus.They were undoubtedly brought over to the island by boat probably from the nearby coast of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East.In fact,extensive DNA analysis has now confirmed what archaeologists have believed for quite some time.All modern domesticate cats arose from just one subspecies of wild cat from that single location:the Fertile Crescent,and not from any of the other four subspecies of wild cats located in other areas throughout the world.Pretty amazing,isn't it?Which brings us back to Jim's question:why did it happen?And how?Well,for years,researchers have pondered this question of cat domestication,and the best I can do here is just a theory?But tell me it doesn't make sense!

In evolutionary terms,early settlements and agriculture in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 years ago created a completely new environment for any wild animals that were flexible and curious enough to exploit it.Mice were attracted to these settlements,and cats,being obligate carnivores they must eat meat to thrive,They were almost certainly drawn to the settlements by the mice.Over time,only the cats that could adapt to living in human-dominated environments would have stayed and thrived.People probably encouraged them to stick around and controlled the mice in the field and the granaries,and eventually,their homes,and perhaps simply grew to like their company too.MALE STUDENT:Hmm...so in a way,the difference with cats was that domestication was their idea instead of ours.

But?why do you suppose only one of the five subspecies was domesticated?Were the others just not friendly enough towards humans?FEMALE PROFESSOR:Well,no.In fact,at least two of the other subspecies are known to be relatively friendly,but the Fertile Crescent subspecies had,well,a head start because of its proximity to the first human settlements.And as agriculture spread,the tamed ancestors of this subspecies spread with it.So they filled the niche of home companion in each region they entered—and effectively shut out the local subspecies that were already there.

二、Cats'Domestication托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在考古学课上听一部分讲座。女教授：上节课我们开始讨论动物驯化。我们说这是；圈养繁殖动物群体在圈养中繁殖并习惯于由人类提供和控制的过程。有问题吗，吉姆？

男学生：是的。我在想…你说家养动物通常对人类有某种用途，比如马可以…呃…拉重物，狗可以打猎或放羊，但是猫，为什么它们会被家养？我的意思是，我的什么都做不了。女教授：这是一个有趣的问题。猫似乎不太可能被驯化，是吗？它们实际上缺乏大多数可驯化动物所具有的一个重要特征：家养动物往往成群结队地生活，具有明显的优势等级。人类可以很容易地利用这种层次结构。通过取代阿尔法个体，他们可以像狗一样控制整个群体或个体。然而，野生猫很少有这种结构。在大多数情况下，他们是孤独的猎人。但是…至于它们对人类的效用…好吧，思考一下猫的驯化何时何地开始是很有帮助的&nbsp；有什么想法吗，吉姆？

男学生：我猜是古埃及吧？我想到了所有古埃及的猫画。女教授：猜对了-你提到的那些画确实提供了已知最古老的猫完全驯化的描述，毫无疑问，猫是家庭伴侣。大约3600年前的画作通常展示了埃及家庭中的猫在椅子下一动不动，有时戴着项圈，吃着碗里的零碎食物……但埃及人并没有因为猫驯化的早期阶段而得到认可，因为猫才刚刚开始与人类互动。早在9500年前就有早期驯化的迹象！最近，在塞浦路斯岛上发现了两座坟墓。

一个是一个人的坟墓，埋着一些工具、贝壳和其他物品。附近，一只猫被埋在自己的坟墓里。有趣的是，猫的身体和人的身体朝向同一个西方方向。

关于这两具尸体，另一件值得注意的事情是，它们处于相同的保存状态，这表明它们是同时埋葬的。所以我们可以假设人类至少早在9500年前就和猫有过某种关系！男学生：那么，猫的驯化是从塞浦路斯开始的？

女教授：嗯，除了猫不是土生土长的塞浦路斯人。毫无疑问，他们是从中东富饶的新月海岸附近乘船来到该岛的。事实上，广泛的DNA分析已经证实了考古学家相当长一段时间以来的看法。所有现代家养猫都来自同一地点的野生猫的一个亚种：肥沃的新月，而不是来自世界其他地区的其他四个野生猫亚种。真是太神奇了，不是吗？这让我们回到了吉姆的问题：为什么会这样？怎么做？好吧，多年来，研究人员一直在思考猫的驯化问题，而我在这里能做的只是一个理论？但告诉我这没有意义！

从进化的角度来看，大约10000年前肥沃的新月地带的早期定居点和农业为任何具有足够灵活性和好奇心的野生动物创造了一个全新的环境。老鼠被吸引到这些定居点，而猫，作为必须吃肉才能茁壮成长的食肉动物，它们几乎肯定会被老鼠吸引到定居点。随着时间的推移，只有能够适应人类主导环境的猫科动物才能生存和繁衍。人们可能鼓励他们留下来，控制田里和谷仓里的老鼠，最终控制他们的家，也许只是喜欢上了他们的公司。男学生：嗯……所以在某种程度上，与猫的区别在于驯化是他们的想法，而不是我们的想法。

但是为什么你认为这五个亚种中只有一个被驯化了？其他人对人类不够友好吗？女教授：嗯，不。事实上，至少有两个其他亚种是相对友好的，但肥沃的新月亚种因为靠近第一个人类住区而领先。随着农业的发展，这个亚种驯服的祖先也随之传播。因此，他们填补了他们进入的每个地区的家庭伴侣生态位，并有效地将已经存在的本地亚种排除在外。

三、Cats'Domestication托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.The development of a herding instinct in one subspecies of wildcat.

B.The recent discovery of a wildcat subspecies native to Cyprus.

C.The cultural significance of cats in ancient Egypt.

D.The ancient origins of the modern domestic cat.

Q2:2.Why does the professor point out that most cats are solitary hunters?

A.To provide one reason that cats might seem unlikely animals to be domesticated.

B.To give an example of a characteristic that developed relatively recently in the evolutionary history of cats.

C.To explain why wild dogs were generally more successful at hunting than cats.

D.To explain why cats evolved into many unique subspecies.

Q3:3.According to the professor,what do many ancient Egyptian painting reveal about cats?

A.Cats in ancient Egypt were in the early stages of domestication.

B.Cats were welcome as companions in the homes of ancient Egyptians.

C.Many different breeds of cats existed in ancient Egypt.

D.Ancient Egyptian cats did not closely resemble any of the five subspecies of wildcat.

Q4:4.Why do researchers believe that the cat's grave and the human's grave on the island of Cyprus provide evidence of early cat domestication?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Both graves contained a collar,scraps of food,and a bowl.

B.The cat's body and the human's body were positioned to face in the same direction when they were buried.

C.The box in which the cat was buried and the box in which the human was buried were similarly decorated.

D.The cat's body and the human's body were apparently buried at the same time.

Q5:5.Why does the professor mention that the wildcat subspecies of the Fertile Crescent lived close to the first human settlements?

A.To explain why that subspecies developed an unfriendly disposition

B.To explain why that subspecies was the only one that evolved a relatively small skeletal frame

C.To explain why that subspecies was the only one to be domesticated

D.MARK_1314To explain why members of that subspecies became obligate carnivores

Q6:6.What can be inferred about the professor when she says this:

A.She wants the students to tell her which aspects of the theory are not clear.

B.She wants to know whether anyone has already heard the theory.

C.She expects that the students will agree with her that the theory seems reasonable.

D.She is critical of researchers who have oversimplified a complex question.

四、Cats'Domestication托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：D

A2:正确答案：A

A3:正确答案：B

A4:正确答案：BD

A5:正确答案：C

A6:正确答案：C

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