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Gorillas Have a Word for it Koko is the first gorilla to have been taught sign language. With a vocabulary of more than 1,000 words, she is the first to prove we share a world with other intelligent beings who feel emotions, look forward to celebrations and also have a sense of humour. The 30-year study of Koko has redefined science’s concept of gorilla intelligence. 1 But what had not been recognised by the scientific community was that gorillas have the ability to learn a language and have complex emotions. Koko lives in the Santa Cruz mountains in North America, in a wooded spot overlooking a valley. 2 She has a barrel on which she likes to sit when "talking" to humans—gorillas feel more secure when they can look down on others—while her toys are spread everywhere. In addition she has an outside enclosure where she spends her days when it is not raining. It is her conversations with her teacher, Dr. Penny Patterson, that are inspiring. Patterson explains: "The reality of my discovery is that our abilities as humans, our skills, sensibilities and emotions are very similar to the great apes. 3 When she began teaching Koko sign language, placing the little fingers of the one-year-old gorilla into the correct positions for "drink", "eat", "more", and rewarding her with food, Dr. Patterson had no idea how quickly Koko would learn. "At first, it seemed Koko was using sign language as a tool to get something," says Patterson. "It became the kind of reward system that you could expect of a cat or a dog. But early in her training, she began to combine signs that made me think she was capable of more. " 4 For example, she didn’t know the word for "ring", so she combined the signs for "finger" and "bracelet" to express it. Dr. Patterson continues: "Koko loves babies and young people. And when she is asked what gorillas like best, she always says ’Gorilla love eat, good’. "One of Patterson’s favourite stories demonstrates Koko’s sense of humour. 5 From the age of three, Koko shared her accommodation with Michael who was intended as a mate. However, Michael died suddenly two years ago of a heart attack. "Koko went into a depression following Michael’s death," says Patterson. "She would sit for hours with her head hung low, looking upset." Dr. Patterson asked her if she was looking forward to moving to Hawaii, where Patterson is raising money to build a gorilla refuge. Koko signed "Yes", provided she could have curtains in her new home! A. When a visitor asked her to show him something scary, she held up a mirror to his face! B. Language studies had been made using chimpanzees before, but never with a gorilla. C. According to some scientists, genetically there is only a 2% difference between gorillas and humans: we share the same blood type, have the same number of hairs per square inch and also the same temperament. D. She has her own home, with curtains, and a nest of blankets, which is her bed, in one corner. E. What we have learnt is that gorillas are more complex than we ever imagined. F. Now Koko is so proficient in sign language that if she doesn’t know a word she invents one.
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Is There a Way to Keep Britain’s Economy Growing In today’s knowledge economy, nations survive on the things they do best. The Japanese design electronics while the Germans export engineering techniques. The French serve the best food and Americans make computers. Britain specializes in the gift of talking. The nation doesn’t manufacture much of anything. But it has lawyers, stylists and business consultants who earn their living from talk, talk and more talk. The World Foundation think tank says the UK’s four iconic (标志性的) jobs today are not scientists, engineers, teachers and nurses. Instead, they’re hairdressers, celebrities, management consultants and managers. But can all this talking keep the British economy going The British government thinks it can. Although the country’s trade deficit was more than ￡60 billion in 2006, UK’s largest in the postwar period, officials say the country has nothing to worry about. In fact, Britain does have a world-class pharmaceutical (制药的) industry, and it still makes a small sum from selling arms abroad. It also trades services— accountancy, insurance, banking and advertising. The government believes Britain is on the cutting edge of the knowledge economy. After all, the country of Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a literary tradition of which to be proud. Rock ’n’ roll is an English language medium, and there are billions to be made by their cutting-edge bands. In other words, the creative economy has plenty of strength to carry the British economy. However, creative industries account for only about 4 percent of UK’s exports of goods and services. The industries are finding it hard to make a profit, according to a report of the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts. The report shows only 38 percent of British companies were engaged in "innovation activities", 3 percentage points below the EU average and well below Germany (61 percent) and Sweden (47 percent). In fact, it might be better to call Britain a "servant" economy—there are at least 4 million people "in service". The majority of the population are employed by the rich to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Many graduates are even doing menial (体力劳动的) jobs for which they do not need a degree. Most employment growth has been, and will continue to be, at the low-skill end of the service sector—in shops, bars, hotels, domestic service and in nursing and care homes. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
Cities "Worse to Live in Than 20 Years Ago"One thousand people were surveyed about a range of issues which affect cities, and the remarkable findings show that life in today’s mega-cities is so stressful that at least two-thirds of those currently living in big cities would like to relocate to the countryside or a small town. The stress of the getting from A to B in big cities is at the top of the list of problems. For many people, the daily commute (通勤) to work is a source of frustration. 40% of the people in the survey have suffered from road rage while stuck in traffic on the way to work. The cost of public transport is also a serious problem. Many people think the price of underground and bus travel is too high and that they have to devote more than 10% of their salary to transport costs. The general cost of living in cities is another problem. The high property prices in most big cities put buying a property out of reach of most first-time buyers. Many young people are priced out of the housing market, and have to take in lodgers to make ends meet, or rent over-priced flats miles away from the city centre. In London, for instance, the price of buying even a one-bedroom flat is so prohibitive that many have given up even considering putting money aside for a deposit. Another issue facing people who live in cities is rising crime. Crime rates have rocketed in many big cities, and many say there are several dangerous no-go areas in their city. Fear of crime is on the increase— street crimes, such as mugging and assault, are now very common—and many are afraid of going out at night alone. Many were also concerned by the lack of green spaces and play facilities for children. Most major conurbations (有卫星城的大都市) surveyed have a far smaller number of parks and gardens than a generation ago. Planning permission seems to have been given for an ever-greater number of supermarkets, office developments and apartments on sites where there were previously green spaces. Many of the respondents in the survey said they felt stressed and suffocated (窒息) in the city, a problem which is compounded by pollution. And finally, the majority of people in the survey were fed up with the constant noise pollution—the roar of traffic, the sound of loud music blaring (发刺耳声) out of a neighbour’s window, and the constant sound of activity. It is not surprising, then, that the levels of stress-related illnesses among people who live in cities are higher than ever before. Big cities, once a mecca (朝拜的地方) for ambitious people seeking fame and fortune, are now less and less popular among people of all ages. Perhaps the 21 st century is set to be the century of the small town and the countryside. Noise pollution is seen as a big problem by most people in the survey.
Teaching Is "One of the Least Popular Jobs in the UK" 1 The UK government has just published a report on the future of secondary-school teaching (pupils aged 11-16), and the conclusion of the report is that many secondary schools now face great difficulties in finding people who want to be teachers. Since the 1980s, the number of graduates who say they would "seriously consider" teaching as a career has fallen sharply, from 64% in 1982 to just 17% today. The report suggests that urgent action needs to be taken in order to encourage more intelligent young graduates into teaching. 2 The main drawback of secondary teaching, according to the report, is the low salary. Earnings in teaching are much lower than in many other jobs, and this means that fewer and fewer young people decide to be teachers. Joanne Manners, 24, is a good example : "I graduated in maths last year, and I was thinking of doing a teacher-training course to become a maths teacher—but when I looked into the details, it became clear that teaching isn’t a very lucrative (赚钱的 ) job these days. I saw I could earn twice as much if I worked in marketing or advertising, and so I decided not to become a teacher. " 3 It’s not just about the money, however. The survey concluded that another reason why people don’ t want to be teachers is that some teenagers behave very badly in school. A lot of schools have problems with discipline, and it seems clear that children do not have the same respect for teachers as in the past. Here’s the view of Dave Hallam, an accountant from London: "I think parents are to blame. They should have stricter rules with their children at home and also teach their children to have more respect for teachers. " 4 "I love teaching: it’s my passion. I’ve been a secondary-school teacher of Spanish for ten years now, and although it’s a very demanding job, it’s very satisfying. When I see my students passing their Spanish exams, or singing along to Spanish pop songs, it makes me feel so proud," says Brian Jones, who works in a secondary school in London. So what does he think the government should do to encourage more people to become teachers "My view is that the government should reduce the burden of work on teachers. I find that I always have too much work to do. " 5 The report is clear that the problem of teacher shortage is a very serious one. It says that the government should raise teachers’ pay significantly, to catch up with workers in other professions. It also suggests that the government could launch a nationwide publicity campaign, with some advertisements on TV and in the newspapers, to show the positive sides of teaching to young people. Another solution could be to set a maximum number of hours per week that teachers can work, in order to reduce stress on teachers. "Hopefully," the report concludes, "these solutions can improve the poor image of secondary teaching, and increase the number of young people who want to become teachers in the future." More and more young people are held back from teaching ______.
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