专题02 阅读理解之记叙文（最新名校模拟题）-冲刺2024年高考英语终极题型预测（新高考专用）

2024年高考英语必考题型终极预测（最新名校模拟题） 专题02 阅读理解之记叙文 （2023·江苏南通·江苏省如皋中学校考三模）In 1977, Irene Pepperberg, a Harvard graduate, decided to investigate the thought processes of another creature by talking to it. To do this, she would teach a one-year-old African gray parrot (鹦鹉), Alex, to reproduce the sound of the English language. Pepperberg bought Alex in a pet store, where she let the store’s assistant choose him because she didn’t want other scientists to say that she had intentionally chosen an especially smart bird. Given that Alex’s brain was just the size of a walnut, most researchers thought Pepperberg’s communication study would be futile. But with Pepperberg’s patient teaching, Alex learned how to follow almost 100 English words. He could count to six and had learned the sound for seven and eight. But the point was not to see if Alex could learn words by heart. Pepperberg wanted to get inside his mind and learn more about a bird’s understanding of the world. In one demonstration, Pepperberg held up a green key and a green cup for him to look at. “What’s the same?” she asked. “Co-lor,” Alex responded without hesitation. “What’s different?” Pepperberg asked. “Shape,” Alex quickly replied. His voice had the soundh of a cartoon character. But the words—and what can only be called the thoughts—were entirely his. Many of Alex’s skils, such as his ability to understand the concepts of “same” and “different”, are rare in the animal world. Living in a complex society, parrots like Alex must keep track of changing relationnships and environments. During the demonstration, as if to offer final proof of the mind inside his bird’s brain, Alex spoke up. “Talk clearly!” he commanded, when one of the younger birds Pepperberg was also teaching mispronounced the word “green”。 Alex knew all the answers himself and was getting bored. “He’s moody,” said Pepperberg, “so he interrupts the others, or he gives the wrong answer just to be difficult.” Pepperberg was certainly learning more about