Unit 6 Text A I．Summary Culture is thought to be the thing only humans have．Studies of animals, however，show that chimpanzees can make and use tools like man．Monkeys can learn to do something from each other．Apes can even be taught some forms of language．We find that certain animals do have culture similar to that of human beings and the line dividing us from them is not as clear as we used to think． II. Language points: 1．defense（美 ）defence (英) n. ①保卫，防卫，维护 e.g: He spoke In defense of the governments record．他发言维护政府的政绩。 ②防御的手段，防御物 e.g: Good strong locks are the best defense against burglars．坚固的锁是防盗贼的最好防御物。 ③辩护，辩词，答辩 e.g: She said，in her defense，that she had not seen the“No parking”sign．她为自己辩护说，她没有看见“不准停车”的标志。 【常用短语】in defense of sth．or sb．为某事或某人辩护；defend against／from sb.／sib．防御某人或某物 2．cooperate v．合作，协作 e.g: They’11 get the Job finished much more quickly if they all cooperate．如果他们都合作，他们会更快完成这项工作。 e.g: The British cooperated with the French In designing the satellite．英法两国合作设计人造卫星。 【常用短语】cooperate with sb．和某人合作；cooperate to do sth．合作干某事 3．attempt n．努力，尝试，企图 e.g: The government announced big tax cuts in an attempt to regain its lost popularity． 政府宣布大幅度减税，企图以此恢复失去的声望。 v．试图，尝试，企图 e.g: The second question was so difficult I didn’t even attempt it． 第二道题太难了，我连碰都不敢碰。 【常用短语】attempt to do sth．试图干某事make an attempt to do sth．企图做某事 4. command n．①命令 e.g: Fire when I give the command．我一下命令就开火。 ②指挥权，控制 e.g: The army is under the king’s direct command．军队由国王直接统帅。 ③掌握，运用能力，控制力 e.g: He has a good command of French．他法文很好。 v．①命令 e.g: He commanded that we（should）attack at once．他命令我们立即发起进攻。 ②指挥、管辖，统率 e.g: General Smith commands the army. 史密斯将军统率这只部队。 ③对…有支配权，拥有，掌握 e.g: The company commands considerable resources．这家公司拥有相当可观的财力。 【常用短语】］take command of 统帅，控制 5. economics n． ①经济学 e.g: She’s studying economics at college．她在大学学习经济学。 ②经济情况，经济意义 e.g: The economics of plan need to be looked at very carefully．这项计划的经济意义还需要认真考虑。 【常用短语】political economics政治经济学 6．rid v．使摆脱掉，使去掉 e.g: One day we will manage to rid the world of this terrible disease．总有一天我们有办法使这种可怕的疾病在世界上绝迹。 You must rid yourself of these old ideas.你必须摒弃这些过了时的陈旧观念。 【常用短语】get rid of 摆脱，丢掉，除去，消灭 7. make up for 补偿，弥补 e.g: We must make up for the lost time. They demanded a raise in their salaries to make up for the increased cost of living. 8. get rid of 除去 同义词组: remove…from; throw…away e.g: We used weed killer to get rid of the weeds in the garden. 9. come into contact with 与……接触 , 接触到 : to get in touch with; to be in touch with e.g: Have you come into contact with him by telephone? They came into contact with many new ideas when they were abroad. 10. rule out 排除在外 同义词组: to consider as impossible e.g: The docter took X-rays and ruled out the chance of broken bones. 11. tell… from 区别 e.g: It is very difficult for us to tell artificial silk from real silk. III. Detailed Study of the Text 1．When we speak of culture，we mean a way of life a group of people have in common. 当我们说起文化时，我们是指一群人所共有的一种生活方式。 speak of：to talk about ; mention谈到，提到。 e.g: I have never spoken of these things to anyone before． 以前我从来没有对任何人讲过这些事。 in common共同。 e.g: Brown and Clarks seem to have no interest in common． 布朗和克拉克似乎没有共同的兴趣。 2．Culture includes the beliefs and attitudes we learn. 文化包括我们学到的信仰和态度。 attitude态度，看法。同义词：opinion。 an hostile attitude敌对的态度 a wait－and－see attitude观望的态度 an attitude of indifference冷漠的态度 e.g: What’s your attitude toward the new plan？ 对这个新计划你有什么看法？ 3. It is the patterns of behaviour that help people to live together. __ Culture is the ways that help people behave properly so as to live together. 文化是有助于人们共同生活在一起的行为模式。 4…make one group of people different from another group．……使～群人有别于另一群人。 be different from“与……不同，不同于”。同义词组： be unlike。 e.g: A home in the country is very different from an apartment in the city．乡下的家跟城里的公寓差别很大。 5. We used to think that the ability to use tools was the dividing line between human beings and other animals. __ We thought that the distinct different between human beings and other animals is that the former were able to use tools. 6.… we have found that this is not the case． 我们发现事实并非如此。 be the case“事实”。同义词组：to be true。 e.g: She thought she was innocent，but It wasn’t really the case． 她认为她是无辜的，但实际上不是这样的。 Such is also the case in China．这也是中国的实际情况。 7.This is a major step up from simply picking up a handy object and using it. 它们从随手拣起一样东西来使用又向前迈进了一大步。 handy：①手边的，近便的。同义词：near (adj. ) at hand。 e.g: The taxi－stop is handy at the next block． 出租车停靠站在下一个街区附近。 ②方便的，便利的。同义词： useful，simple。 e.g: There were handy shelves near the kitchen sink． 厨房洗涤槽边有方便架。 ③手巧的 e.g: My husband is very handy at repairing radios. 我丈夫擅长修理收音机。 8. Now almost all monkeys who have never not come into contact with this group do not. ___Now those monkeys who have never got in touch with the experimental group do not have the habit ( of washing the sweet potato to get rid of the sand ). 凡是未与这群猴子接触过的其它猴子， 现在几乎都不会这么做。 9. We have ruled out tool use and invention as ways of telling animal behavior from human behavior. __ We didn’t regard tool use and invention as ways of telling the difference between animal behavior and human behavior. 我们现在已经否定了根据能否使用工具和发明创造来区分动物和人类行为的方法。 10. Yet we still have held onto the last feature __ language. __ However we still can find support in the last feature __ language. 不过我们依然坚持我们的最后一个特点：语言。 11. But even the use of language can no longer separate human culture from animal culture. __ But even the use of language can’t be the dividing line between the human culture and animal culture. 但是，即便语言的使用也不在能够用来区分人类和动物文化了。 12. Attempts to teach apes to speak have failed. ___ We did not succeed in trying to teach apes to speak. 13. But teaching them language has been very successful if we are willing to accept other forms than just the spoken word. ___ But if we are ready to accept other forms as language instead of accepting only the spoken word as language, we have succeeded in teaching them language. 如果我们愿意承认语言还有其它形式，而不仅仅是说出来的词语，那么教授类人猿学会语言的尝试还是十分成功的。 .14. … and not by spelling out words with individual letters． ……而不是通过把一个一个字母拼成单词。 spell out：①拼写出词的字母 e.g: John is slow in learning and finds It difficult to spell out the new words．约翰学起来很慢，并丘他发现很难拼写这些新词。 It took the student an hour to spell out a page of French． 这个学生花了一个小时拼写一页法语单词。 ②详细阐明 e.g: Can you spell out what he said ? 你能详述他的话吗？ It permits more than one-way command and response. ― It ( the chimp’s creation of language ) makes it possible that the chimp is able not only to receive the order and give her response but also to communicate. 而不是局限于单项指令和回应。 14. Of course, there are limits to the culture of animals. __ Of course, there are some other things that the culture of animals cannot do. 15… but this form of language is limited in its ability to communicate abstract ideas. __…but by the sign language chimps are incapable of expressing and accepting abstract ideas. 但是这种语言形式在交流抽象思想方面是有限的。