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Important note: this post was uptaded at 10:15 hours on the 26th of July. Now it contains the suggested answers I promised when I posted it. See below after the page-break.
The
science of ethology developed in the first half of the 20th century as
a combination of laboratory and field science, with a strong relation to
certain other disciplines such as neuro-anatomy, ecology, and evolution.
Ethologists are typically interested in a behavioural process rather than in a
particular animal group, and often study one type of behaviour (e.g.
aggression) in a number of unrelated animals.
The
desire to understand animals has made ethology a rapidly growing field. Since
the turn of the 21st century, many aspects of animal communication, animal
emotions, animal culture, learning, and even sexual conduct that experts long
thought they understood, have been re-examined, and new conclusions reached.
New fields have developed, such as neuroethology.
Understanding
ethology, or animal behaviourism, is very important in animal training.
Considering the natural behaviours of certain animals or specific breeds of
animals enables the trainer to select the breed best suited to perform the
required task. It also enables the trainer to encourage the re-performance of
certain naturally-occurring behaviours, and also the discontinuance of
undesirable behaviours.
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What
are the animals and the people doing?
Where
do you think these pictures were taken?
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Spiders
|
tigers
|
cats
|
elephants
|
mosquitoes
|
dogs
|
sheep
|
whales
|
horses
|
wolves
|
mice
|
rats
|
Do
you think we should train animals to entertain us, for example, in circuses? Why?
Why not?
DOLPHINS AND HUMANS
[adapted from New Success at First Certificate by Robert O'Neill, Michael Duckworth and Kathy Gude]
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The
astronomer was visiting an institute which was looking into the way dolphins
communicate with each other. He was standing at the edge of one of the tanks
where several of these highly intelligent, friendly creatures were kept. Elvar
had just swum up alongside him and had turned on his back. He wanted Sagan to
scratch his stomach again, as the astronomer had done twice before. But this
time Elvar was too deep in the water for Sagan to reach him. Elvar looked up at
Sagan, waiting. Then, after a minute or so, the dolphin leapt up through the
water into the air and made a sound just like the word 'More!'
The
astonished astronomer went to the director of the institute and told him about
the incident.
‘Oh,
yes. That's one of the words he knows’ the director said, showing no surprise
at all.
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A
language is not just a collection of sounds, or even words. A language has a
structure, or what we call a grammar. The grammar of a language helps to give
it meaning. For example, the two questions 'Who loves Mary?' and 'Who does Mary
love?' mean different things. If you stop to think about it, you will see that
this difference doesn't come from the words in the question but from the
difference in structure. That is why the question 'Can dolphins speak?' can't
be answered until we find out if dolphins not only make sounds but also arrange
them in ways which affect their meaning.
Choose
the best answer.
1.
The dolphin leapt into
the air because
A
Sagan had turned his back.
B
it was part of the game they were playing.
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D
Sagan wanted him to do this.
2.
When Sagan told the director
about what the dolphin had done, the director
A
didn't seem to think it was unusual.
B
thought Sagan was joking.
C
told Sagan about other words the dolphin knew.
D
asked him if he knew other words.
3.
Dolphins' brains are
particularly well developed to
A
help them to travel fast in water.
B
arrange sounds in different structures.
C
respond to different kinds of sound.
D
communicate with humans through sound.
4.
The sounds we call words
can be called a language only if
A
each sound has a different meaning.
B
each sound is different from the other.
C
there is a system of writing.
D
they have a structure or grammar.
VOCABULARY:
say, tell, talk or speak?
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How
many languages can you--?
What
is the first word most children learn to--?
Stop
it! Don't--nonsense!
Please--us
another joke.
When
do children usually learn to--?
Please--me
when to get off this bus.
Actions--louder
than words.
Sorry,
I wasn't listening. What did you--?
LANGUAGE STUDY
How structure changes meaning
A.
What is the difference in meaning in the following three pairs of sentences? What
is it that causes this change of meaning?
Sound travels through water very fast.
The sound travels through the water very fast.
Who loves Mary?
Who does Mary love?
Stop to think about it!
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Which
sentence could be rephrased as follows?
Stop
for a moment and think about it.
Don't
think about it.
Mary
loves someone. Who?
Someone
loves Mary. Who?
Can
you rephrase the other two sentences?
Two types of question with who
B.
Study each sentence carefully. Then answer the two questions about each
sentence.
Tom
loves Mary but Mary loves Dick.
a)
Who loves Mary? b) Who does Mary love?
Lee
Oswald killed Kennedy and Jack Ruby killed Oswald.
a)
Who killed Oswald? b) Who did Oswald kill?
C.
What questions would you ask in these situations?
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Someone
always leaves the door open. Ask who.
Cleopatra
loved someone. Ask who.
The
teacher works for someone. Find out who.
Only
a very few people like doing exercises like these. Find out who.
Suggested
answers:
PICTURE
DISCUSSION
In
the picture on the left – undoubtedly taken in a house – there’s a monkey
turning the pages of a book for the man sitting in the special wheelchair –
none other than the physicist Stephen Hawking.
The
picture on the right shows a man taking care of a monkey, while the monkey on the right is wielding a stick – on the
face of it, in retribution for not receiving attention on behalf of the man.
The
creatures in the table deserve some structural practice, e.g.,
“I
think spiders are useful to humans because they do not
harm us or our belongings and they kill flies”.
But
since almost everything may be treated from an opposite, or slanted, viewpoint,
you might as well say “I think spiders
are a nuisance to humans, and even
some species are dangerous because their bite can be deadly”.
You
could even initiate a dialogue with yourself, by saying, “Well, I don’t think
that’s the case,” and then give a different opinion.
Answers
to the multiple choice exercise:
1C
– 2A – 3C – 4D
VOCABULARY:
say, tell, talk or speak?
1SPEAK
– 2SAY – 3TALK – 4TELL – 5SPEAK/TALK – 6TELL – 7SPEAK – 8SAY
LANGUAGE
STUDY
How
structure changes meaning
(a)
sound in general – (b) definite article the
suggests a specific sound
(c)
we don’t know the subject (i.e., who feels love) but we know the object (i.e.,
who is loved) – (d) we know the subject (i.e., Mary) but we don’t know who is
the object (of her love)
(e)
the infinitive refers to what happened after
stop – (f) the gerund refers to what
happened before stop.
1(e)
– 2(f) – 3(d) – 4 (c)
(a)
Sound in general travels very fast
through water in general.
(b)
A particular kind of
sound (which has been mentioned) travels very fast through
a particular volume of water.
Two
types of question with who
B.:
1a, Tom – 1b, Dick – 2a, Jack Ruby – 2b, Kennedy
C.
1.
Who broke the window?
2.
Who always leaves the door open?
3.
Who(m) did Cleopatra love? Ã love is a transitive verb; it requires a direct object which is...direct –
no preposition in the deep structure.
4.
Who does the teacher work for? Ã you work for someone: who...for is the modern type of question
when you strand the preposition; for whom
the teacher works is possible, but it is not in use.
5.
Who likes doing exercises like these? [Mark my words: I do!]
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