Before birth,babies can tell the difference between loud sounds and voices.They can even distinguish their mother’s voice from that of a female stranger.But when ites to embryonic learning(胎教),birds could rule the roost.As recently reported in The Auk:Ornithological Adrances,some mother birds may teach their young to sing even before they hatch(孵化)。New-born chicks can then imitate their mom’s call within a few days of enering the world.
This educational method was first observed in 2012 by Sonia Kieindorfer,a biologist at Flinders University in South Australia,and her collcagues.Femake Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and over again while hatching their errs,When the errs were hatched,the baby birds made the similar chirp to their mothers—asound that served as their regular “feed me!”call.
To find out if the special quality was more widespread in birds,the researchers sought the red-backed fairy wren,another species of Australian songbird.First they collected sound datd from 67 nests in four sites in Queenslang before and after hatching,Then they identified begging calls by analyzing the order and number of notes.Aputer analysis blindlypared calls produced by mothers and chicks,ranking them by similarity.
It turns out that baby red-backed fairy wrens also emerge chirping like their moms. And the more frequently mothers had called to their errs,the more similar were the babies’ begging calls. In addition,the team set up a separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mom’s voice were rewarded with the most food.
This observation hints that effective embryonic learning could signal neurological(神经系统的)strengths of children to parents.An evolutionary inference can then be drawn.”As a parent,do yoinvest in quality children,or do yoinvest in children that are in need?”Kleindorfer asks.”Our results suggest that they might be going for quality.”
58.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 means“ ”.
A.be the worst B.be the best
C.be the as bad D.be just as good
59.What are Kleindorfer’s findings based on?
A.Similarities between the calls moms and chicks.
B.The observation of fairy wrens across Australia.
C.The data collected from Queensland’s locals.
D.Controlled experiments on wrens and other birds.
60.Embryonic learning helps mother birds to identify the baby birds which .
A.can receive quality signals B.are in need of training
C.fit the environment better D.make the loudest call
C
A newmodity brings about a highly profitable,fast-growing industry,urging antitrust(反垄断)regulators to step in to check those who control its flow. A century ago ,the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns ares being raised by the giants(巨头)that deal in data, the oil of the digital age. The most valuable firms are Google,Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. All look unstoppable.
Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up. But size alone is not a crime,The giants' success has benefited consumers. Few want to live without search engines or a quick delivery, Far from charging consumers high prices, many of these services are free (users pay, in effect, by handing over yet more data). And the appearance of new-born giants suggests that neers can make waves, too.
But there is cause for concern. The inte has made data abundant, all-present and far more valuable, changing the nature of data andpetition. Google initially used the data collected from users to target advertising better. But recently it has discovered that data can be turned into new services: translation and visual recognition, to be sold to otherpanies. Intepanies’ control of data gives them enormous power. So they have a “God’s eye view” of activities in their own markets and beyond.
This nature of data makes the antitrust measures of the past less useful. Breaking up firms like Google into five small ones would not stop remaking themselves: in time, one of them would be great again. A rethink is required—and as a new approach starts to be apparent, two ideas stand out.
The first is that antitrust authorities need to move form the industrial age into the 21st century. When considering a merger(兼并),for example, they have traditionally used size to determine when to step in. They now need to take into account the extent of firms'data assets(资产) when assessing the impact of deals. The purchase price could also be a signal that an establishedpany is buying a new-borm threat. When this takes place, especially when a new-bornpany has no revenue to speak of, the regulators should raise red flags.
The second principle is to loosen the control that providers of on-line services have over data and give more to those who supply them.Companies could be forced to consumers what information they hold and how many money they make form it.Govemments could order the sharing of certain kinds of data, with users' consent.
Restarting antitrust for the information age will not be easy But if govemments don't wants a data oconomy by a few giants, they must act soon.
61.Why is there a call to break up giants?
A. They have controlled the data market
B. They collect enormous private data
C. They no longer provide free services
D. They dismissed some new-born giants
62.What does the technological innovation in Paragraph 3 indicate?
A. Data giants’ technology is very expensive
B. Google’s idea is popular among data firms
C. Data can strengthen giants’ controlling position
D. Data can be turned into new services or products
63.By paying attention to firms’ data assets, antitrust regulators could .
A. kill a new threat
B. avoid the size trap
C. favour bigger firms
D. charge higher prices
64.What is the purpose of loosening the giants’ control of data?