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(2022·江苏省七校调测)
High-pitched (高音的) and yet distinct, the sound of a voice calling the name “Amy” is unmistakable. But this isn’t a human cry—it’s the voice of a killer whale called Wikie.
New research reveals that orcas (虎鲸) are able to imitate human speech, saying words such as “hello”，“one, two” and “bye bye”. The study also shows that the creatures are able to copy unfamiliar sounds produced by other orcas.
Writing in the journal Biological Sciences, researchers from institutions in Germany, U. K．， Spain and Chile, describe how they carried out the latest research with Wikie, a 14-year-old female orca living in an aquarium(水族馆) in France.
After first brushing up Wikie’s grasp of the“copy” command, she was trained to imitate three familiar orca sounds made by her 3-year-old Moana. Wikie was then additionally exposed to five orca sounds she had never heard before, including noises sounding like a creaking (嘎吱响) door. Finally, Wikie was exposed to a human making three of the orca sounds, as well as six human sounds，including “hello”，“Amy”，“ah ha”，“one, two”and“bye bye”．
The team found that Wikie was often quickly able to copy the sounds, whether from an orca or a human, with all of the novel noises copied within 17 trials. What’s more, two human sounds and all of the human-produced orca sounds were managed on the first attempt—although only one human sound “hello” was correctly produced more than 50% of the time on subsequent trials.
The creatures are already known for their ability to copy the movements of other orcas, with some reports suggesting they can also copy the sounds of bottlenose dolphins and sea lions after several trials.
Scientists say the discovery helps to cast light on how different groups of wild killer whales have ended up with distinct accents, adding weight to the idea that they are the result of imitation between orcas.
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。研究证明虎鲸能够很好地模仿同类、其他动物甚至人类的声音，这进一步证实不同种群的虎鲸之所以具有完全不同的口音，很可能是他们彼此模仿的结果。
1．What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text？__C__
A．To analyze orcas’ speech abilities.
B．To highlight the conservation of the orca.
C．To inform us of orcas’ ability to imitate sounds.
D．To convince us of the intelligence of the orca.
解析：推理判断题。通读全文，尤其是文章前两段及最后一段可知，本文主要说明了各项研究证明，虎鲸可以模仿同类甚至是人类的一些声音，故作者写本篇文章的目的是告诉我们虎鲸模仿声音的能力。故选C。
2．What’s the main idea of the fourth paragraph？__A__
A．The process of the research.
B．The outcome of the research.
C．The purpose of the research.
D．The significance of the research.
解析：主旨大意题。通读本段可知，研究小组先训练维基模仿由自己孩子发出的、熟悉的三个声音，然后让它模仿不熟悉的声音，最后给它听人类模仿虎鲸的声音以及其他一些人声音。由此可知，本段主要介绍了研究的过程。故选A。
3．Which of the following was the easiest for Wikie to copy？__C__
A．The six human sounds.
B．All the new orca sounds.
C．Human-produced orca sounds.
D．Dolphin and sea lion sounds.
解析：细节理解题。根据第五段中的“What’s more, two human sounds and all of the human-produced orca sounds were managed on the first attempt”可知，虎鲸在尝试模仿两种人类的声音和所有人类发出的虎鲸的声音时一遍就成功了，由此可知，四个选项中，C项“人类发出的虎鲸的声音。”对维基来说最容易模仿。故选C。
4．What may the discovery help explain？__B__
A．Why orcas imitate human speech.
B．Why orcas have different accents.
C．How orcas copy others’ movements.
D．How orcas communicate with others.
解析：细节理解题。根据最后一段可知，这项发现说明了不同种群的虎鲸之所以具有完全不同的口音，很可能是他们彼此模仿的结果，故这项发现帮助解释了为什么虎鲸有不同的口音。故选B。
