英语听力文摘 English Digest 164、鹦鹉说话证明它有思维吗？

　　Polly Talks, Therefore He Thinks?
Calling someone a “birdbrain” is not intended as a compliment. But some birds seem pretty smart. Parrots, for example, can mimic¹ human speech. But does a parrot’s ability to repeat human words and phrases mean that it can actually think and reason?
Scientists have debated this question for many years. Some believe that parrots can be trained to express abstract concepts. Others say that while their ability to mimic speech makes it seem as though parrots can really think, in the end they’re more like tape recorders, thoughtlessly repeating what they hear.
One firm believer in parrot thoughtfulness is Irene Pepperberg, a researcher associated with Harvard University. Her African Gray parrot, Alex, not only has a sizeable vocabulary but has demonstrated the ability, according to Pepperberg, to think abstractly.
In a typical experiment, Pepperberg will ask Alex to identify a particular object, say a blue square, from among a jumble² of toys on a tray. According to Pepperberg’s reports, which she has documented on video, Alex can use his understanding of the concepts “blue” and “square” to pick out the correct object, say how many there are, and even can report “none” if there aren’t any.
While some scientists are willing to concede that Alex’s abilities indicate primitive³ thought processes, they do not agree that Alex can reason in any complex sense. Instead, they claim that Alex has been trained to perform very sophisticated imitations.
So why should we care whether or not parrots can really think? We tend to see conscious, complex thought as separating humans from other animals. The existence of other thinking animals might urge us to reconsider our innate⁴ superiority. And that’s something worth thinking about.

1 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

2 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

3 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

4 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。