课时数智作业8.docxVIP

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课时数智作业(八)

必修第二册UNIT2WILDLIFEPROTECTION

Ⅰ．阅读理解(限时7分钟)

(2025·广东梅州模拟)

Inrecentdecades，experimentshavebeguntocatchupwithwhatpeoplewhoworkcloselywithanimalshavealwaysknown—thatanimalshaveaninnerlife，andconsciousnessisntuniquelyhuman．

Consciousnessisaconceptthatisextremelydifficulttodefine．Therehavebeenmanyattempts:isitawareness，orawarenessofthatawareness，orself-awarenessinstead?Butausefulworkingdefinitionmightbethatitisanykindofsubjectiveexperience，rangingfromhowweperceivetheexternalworldtoourinnerthoughtsandemotions．Becauseyoucanneverbeinsideanotherlivingbeingshead，questionsofconsciousnessarebothhardtoanswerandopentobias(偏见)．

FindingsofexperimentsinspiredagroupofscientistsinApriltowriteTheNewYorkDeclarationAnimalConsciousness，whichnowhasover300supporters．Itstatesthatthereis“strongscientificsupportforconsciousexperience”inmammalsandbirdsand“atleastarealisticpossibilityofconsciousexperience”infishandotherspecies．

Thatanimalshavesomeformofinnerlifemustsurelybeself-evidenttomanypeoplewholiveorworkwiththem，justasIwouldguessthatmostcarersofnewbornbabiesdontseetheseinfantsassenselessautomaticmachines．Theexperiencesofpeoplewiththoroughknowledgeofeitherhave，historically，beenviewedassubjectiveandbiased，asemotionalconnectiontendstoinfluencelogicalreasoning．Ourconsciousnessleadsustoover-empathisewithotherswecannottrulyknow，theargumentgoes．

But，asthebiologistMarcBekoffwrote，ifwehumanshavesomething，thenotheranimalsarelikelytohaveittoo．Ipersonallyfeelthatattemptstodivorceemotions，feelingsandexperiencesfromhowweseeanimalscanbeasunscientific．Fortoolong，weassumedthathumansareuniqueandanimalsdontfeelpainoremotionsthewaythatwedo，aconvenientbutcruelnullhypothesis(无效假设)，whenwecouldhavestarted