《2026年江苏13大市中考名卷优选38套英语》

C
A new study suggests that roosters can
recognize themselves in a mirror(镜子).
Scientists use the "mark test" to test whether
an animal can recognize itself. A mark is put on an
animal, usually in a spot that can only be seen in a
mirror. Then the animal is allowed to look in a
mirror. If the animal seems to pay attention to the
mark, scientists believe the animal has recognized
itself.
The list of animals who can recognize
themselves in a mirror isn't long. The skill has
mainly been found in animals with large brains, like
dolphins, chimpanzees and elephants. Until
recently, only one kind of bird had passed the test.
Scientists at the University of Bonn in Germany
recently ran the mark test on roosters. They put a
pink triangle(三角形) on the chests of the roosters.
But when the roosters looked in a mirror, they
didn't seem to notice the mark.
The scientists then needed a different way to
test whether the roosters could recognize
themselves.
When there's danger—like a hawk(鹰) flying
above—roosters make loud calls to warn nearby
chickens. But roosters only make the cries if other
chickens can hear them. If they're alone, they
remain quiet so the hawk won't see them.
The scientists realized that they could use the
shadow(影子) of a hawk to test whether or not the
roosters thought they were alone—even when they
could see "another" chicken in a mirror.
First the scientists let the roosters spend time
getting used to being in a closed - in space and having
a mirror around. Then, they ran several tests by
making a hawk shadow appear above a rooster and
watching how it reacted. When there was no mirror,
the roosters reacted as usual. It called out when it
was near another rooster (Picture ), but
remained quiet when it was alone. But when a
rooster was in a space where it could see itself in the
mirror, it wasn't fooled into thinking there was
another rooster. It remained silent under the hawk
shadow. It did this even if there was a rooster
hidden behind the mirror.
The scientists say the results show that the
roosters knew they were seeing themselves in the
mirror, and not other roosters.
32. What is the purpose of the "mark test"?
A. To test a bird's ability to fly.
B. To measure an animal's brain size.
C. To see if an animal can recognize itself.
D. To compare different animals' intelligence.
33. What does the underlined word "them" refer to?
A. Hawks.
B. Roosters.
C. Chickens.
D. Scientists.
34. Which of the following pictures can be put into
?

35. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Roosters prefer to make no sounds when it
faces danger alone.
B. Roosters are not as smart as dolphins,
chimpanzees and elephants.
C. The mark test can exactly tell if an animal
can recognize itself in the mirror.
D. When seeing its image in the mirror, the
rooster thinks there's another rooster.

答案： 32.C 细节理解。根据第二段中“Scientists use the‘mark test’to test whether an animal can recognize itself.”可知，“标记测试”是用来测试动物是否能够识别自己在镜子中的影像的。 33.B 代词指代。根据第六段可知，公鸡只有在其他鸡能听到的情况下才会发出叫声，如果它们是独自一只，它们会保持安静，这样鹰就看不见它们了，故此处them指代“公鸡”。 34.B 推理判断。根据设空处前面的描述，此图应该表现的是当没有镜子时，公鸡会在猎鹰靠近另一只公鸡时发出警报声，B项符合。 35.A 推理判断。根据第六段中“If they’re alone，they remain quiet so the hawk won’t see them.”可知，公鸡在独自面对危险时会选择保持安静，以免被猎鹰发现。