If you’re out for a walk and a bird

If you’re out for a walk and a bird in a tree says to you "Hello there!", don’t worry, you’re not going mad.

Naturalists have reported a growing phenomenon of pet parrots that have been taught to repeat phrases by their owners before escaping from their cages and then passing on the technique to the wild flocks they join. "Hello there!" "Hello darling!" and "What’s happening?" are among the chorus of comments that flocks of wild birds have been repeating after picking up words and sentences from other birds that were once household pets.

Naturalist Martyn Robinson said: "We’ve had people calling us thinking they’ve had something put into their drink because they’ve gone out to look at the flock of birds in their back yard and all the birds have been saying something like ‘Who’s a pretty boy, then?’"

Mr. Robinson, who is based at the Australian Museum in Sydney, said the usual sequence of events saw a caged parrot of some kind which had been taught phrases but had then made its escape. It would then join a wild flock and chatter away in the trees, its words being learned by younger birds in the flock. The older ones would be unlikely to start learning. When chicks are born, they hear the words being spoken by the older birds and grow up repeating the phrases. And so it continues, generation after generation.

Mr. Robinson said that because of a drought in the western regions of New South Wales, flocks of wild bird "speakers" among them have been flying to Sydney, where more food is available, and have been hanging around suburban gardens.

From the tree tops in gardens, from chimney pots and lamp posts, the flocks have been talking away, leaving many people wondering if their minds were playing tricks on them.

"These birds are very smart and very social, meaning that communication and contact is important between them," said Mr. Robinson. "I just hope a pet bird that’s been taught dirty words doesn’t join a flock because we don’t want to hear that kind of thing going around the back gardens."


1:When people heard a flock of birds say "Hello there!", they felt  .


A.there was something wrong with their minds 
B.they had drunk some wine 
C.they were in a world of parrots 
D.they heard people speaking




2:Flocks of wild bird "speakers" have been flying to Sydney because  .


A.they are following some escaped pet parrots 
B.it is easy for them to find food in Sydney 
C.there are fewer birds left in New South Wales 
D.they are on their way of migration




3:Which of the following gives the correct order of events given in the passage?

a. People hear a bird in a tree say "Hello there!".

b. The pet parrot escaped from its cage.

c. A flock of wild parrots learned to speak from the escaped

"speaker".

d. A pet parrot picked up some sentences from its owner.

e. The pet parrot joined a flock of wild birds.


A.b,c,d,a,e
B.e,a,c,d,b 
C.d,b,e,c,a
D.e,b,c,a,d




4:We can learn from the passage that  .


A.parrots like to learn to speak human language 
B.younger birds are most likely to learn the language from the escaped parrots 
C.parrots can learn to speak from each other, whether old or young 
D.parrots flock together because they speak the same language




5:What Mr. Robinson said in the last paragraph suggests that  .


A.a flock of parrots can only pick up some simple sentences 
B.parrots cannot learn to say dirty words 
C.parrots can even pick up dirty words 
D.a pet parrot is forbidden to be taught dirty words



答案


1:A 
2:B 
3:C 
4:B 
5:C

結果 (中文) 3:

如果你出去散步，一只小鸟在树上对你说“你好！”，别担心，你不会疯了。博物学家已经报道的现象日益严重，已教鹦鹉重复短语由业主在逃跑前从笼子里然后传递技术的野生羊群他们加入。”“你好！”你好，亲爱的！”“发生了什么？”在评论的合唱中，有一群野生鸟类一直在重复着从其他鸟类中提取的单词和句子，这是一次重复的评论。自然主义者鲁滨孙说：“我们已经有人呼吁我们思考他们的东西放进他们的饮料，因为他们去看鸟在他们的后院的羊群，所有的鸟都是这样说的：一个漂亮的男孩，是谁呢？"”鲁滨孙先生，他是根据在悉尼的澳大利亚博物馆说，通常的事件序列看到一只笼中的鹦鹉，一些已经教了短语，但已使其逃脱。然后，它会加入一个野生的羊群，在树上喋喋不休地说，它的话是由年轻的鸟类在羊群中学习的。年长者不太可能开始学习。当小鸡出生时，他们听到了老的鸟儿们的话，并且不断地重复着这句话。因此它继续，一代又一代。鲁滨孙先生说，由于干旱在新南威尔士州西部，成群的野生鸟类“喇叭”，其中已飞往悉尼，在那里更多的食物是可用的，并已挂在郊区的花园。从花园里的树顶上，从烟囱里和路灯柱上，成群的人一直在说，让许多人在想他们的想法是在他们的脑海里。鲁滨孙说：“这些鸟是非常聪明和非常社会的，这意味着他们之间的沟通和联系是很重要的。”我只希望一只宠物鸟被教脏的话不加入一群因为我们不想听到这样的事情发生在后花园。”1：当人们听到一群鸟在那里说“你好！”，他们觉得 。A.是他们的思想 坏了他们喝了一些酒 他们在一个鹦鹉 世界他们听人说2：野生鸟“喇叭”的羊群被飞到悉尼，因为 。他们有一些逃跑的宠物鹦鹉 但是他们在悉尼 找到食物容易那是鸟很少在新南威尔士州 左他们是在他们的途中迁移3：下列哪个给出正确的顺序的事件中给出的通道？人们听到树上有一只鸟说“你好！”。鹦鹉从笼子里逃了出来。C.一群野鹦鹉学会了逃跑的说“扬声器”。一只宠物鹦鹉从它的主人中挑选了一些句子。宠物鹦鹉加入了一群野生鸟类。A.B，C，D，E是，一，C，D，B C.，B，E，C，A有效剂量，B，C，A，D4：从文章中我们可以学习， 。a.parrots想学会说人类的语言 b.younger鸟最有可能从逃跑的鹦鹉 学习语言c.parrots能学会从彼此说话，无论是老的还是年轻的 d.parrots聚在一起，因为他们说同样的语言5：鲁滨孙先生所说，在最后一段表明 。“一群鹦鹉只能挑选一些简单的句子 b.parrots不能学会说脏话 c.parrots甚至可以拿起脏话 一只鹦鹉是不能教的脏话答案1：一个 2：B 3：C 4：B 5：C