第九篇： single-parent kids do best

single mums are better at raising饲养抚养 their kids than two parents - at least in the bird world. mother zebra finches斑胸草雀 have to work harder and raise fewer chicks小鸟 on their own, but they also produce more attractive有魅力的 sons who are more likely to get a mate.配偶

the finding shows that family conflict矛盾 is as important an evolutionary进化的 driving force驱动力 as ecological factors生态因素such as hunting and food supply. with two parents around, there's always a conflict of interests利益冲突 ,which can have a detrimental 不利的effect on the quality 质量of the offspring.子孙

in evolutionary terms从进化角度来讲,the best strategy 策略for any parent in the animal world is to find someone else to care for 照顾their offspring, 子孙so they can concentrate 集中on breeding 繁殖again. so it's normal for parents to try to pass the buck to 推卸责任each other. but ian hartley 阿兰哈特利from the university of lancaster 兰开斯特and his team wondered how families solve this conflict, and how the conflict itself affects the offspring.

to find out发现 ,they measured how much effort zebra finch 斑胸草雀parents put into把—放进 raising their babies. they compared比较 single females with pairs, by monitoring 监控the amount of food each parent collected, and removing or adding chicks so that each pair of birds was raising four chicks, and each single mum had two - supposedly 假定the same amount of work.

but single mums, they found, put in about 25 per cent more effort than females rearing 抚养with their mate. to avoid being exploited,剥削 mothers with a partner hold back 退缩from working too hard if the father is being lazy, and it's the chicks that pay the price. 付出代价"the offspring子孙 suffer遭受 some of the cost代价 of this conflict", says hartley.

the cost does not show in any obvious decrease减小 in size or weight, but in how attractive有吸引力的 they are to the opposite 对面的sex.性别 when the chicks were mature,成熟的 the researchers tested 检验the“fitness" 健康 of the male offspring by offering females their choice of partner. those males reared 抚养的by single mums were chosen more often than those from two-parent families.

sexual conflict 两性冲突has long been thought to affect影响 the quality 质量of care given to offspring, says zoologist动物学家 rebecca kilner 瑞贝卡卡尔纳at cambridge university,剑桥大学 who works on conflict of parents in birds.“but the experimental实验的 evidence 证据is not great. the breakthrough突破 here is showing it empirically.”经验主义地

more surprising, says kilner,卡尔纳 is hartley's 哈特利statement陈述 that conflict may be a strong influence影响 on the evolution进化 of behaviour,行为 clutch size窝卵数 and even appearance.外表 "people have not really made that link",联系 says hartley. a female's reproductive 再生的strategy策略 is usually thought to be affected by hunting and food supply. kilner卡尔纳 says conflict of parents should now be taken into account 考虑在内as well.同样地

1. with which of the following statements would the author probably agree?

a) single mums produce stronger sons.

b) single mums do not produce daughters.

c) two-parent families produce less attractive children.

d) two-parent families produce more beautiful offspring. 

解析：

1 single mums are better at raising饲养抚养 their kids than two parents - at least in the bird world. mother zebra finches斑胸草雀 have to work harder and raise fewer chicks小鸟 on their own, but they also produce more attractive有魅力的 sons who are more likely to get a mate.配偶

2. according to the passage, in what way does family conflict affect the quality of the offspring?

a) the young males get less care.

b) the young females will decrease in weight.

c) the offspring will become lazy fathers or mothers in the future.

d) the offspring will not get mature easily.

解析：2the finding shows that family conflict矛盾 is as important an evolutionary进化的 driving force驱动力 as ecological factors生态因素such as hunting and food supply. with two parents around, there's always a conflict of interests利益冲突 ,which can have a detrimental 不利的effect on the quality 质量of the offspring.子孙

3  in evolutionary terms从进化角度来讲,the best strategy 策略for any parent in the animal world is to find someone else to care for 照顾their offspring, 子孙so they can concentrate 集中on breeding 繁殖again. so it's normal for parents to try to pass the buck to 推卸责任each other. but ian hartley 阿兰哈特利from the university of lancaster 兰开斯特and his team wondered how families solve this conflict, and how the conflict itself affects the offspring.

3. what is the relationship between paragraph 4 and paragraph 5?

a) cause and effect.原因和影响

b) experiment and result.试验和结果

c) problem and solution.问题和解决

d) topic and comment.主题和评论

解析：4 to find out发现 ,they measured how much effort zebra finch 斑胸草雀parents put into把—放进 raising their babies. they compared比较 single females with pairs, by monitoring 监控the amount of food each parent collected, and removing or adding chicks so that each pair of birds was raising four chicks, and each single mum had two - supposedly 假定the same amount of work.

5 but single mums, they found, put in about 25 per cent more effort than females rearing 抚养with their mate. to avoid being exploited,剥削 mothers with a partner hold back 退缩from working too hard if the father is being lazy, and it's the chicks that pay the price. 付出代价"the offspring子孙 suffer遭受 some of the cost代价 of this conflict", says hartley.

4. according to hartley, which of the following is not influenced by sexual conflict?

a) the evolution of the offspring's behaviour.               b) the look of the offspring's faces.

c) the number of eggs produced by one offspring at a time.   d) the offspring's body size.

解析：3 in evolutionary terms从进化角度来讲,the best strategy 策略for any parent in the animal world is to find someone else to care for 照顾their offspring, 子孙so they can concentrate 集中on breeding 繁殖again. so it's normal for parents to try to pass the buck to 推卸责任each other. but ian hartley 阿兰哈特利from the university of lancaster 兰开斯特and his team wondered how families solve this conflict, and how the conflict itself affects the offspring.

7 sexual conflict 两性冲突has long been thought to affect影响 the quality 质量of care given to offspring, says zoologist动物学家 rebecca kilner 瑞贝卡卡尔纳at cambridge university,剑桥大学 who works on conflict of parents in birds.“but the experimental实验的 evidence 证据is not great. the breakthrough突破 here is showing it empirically.”经验注意地

8 more surprising, says kilner,卡尔纳 is hartley's 哈特利statement陈述 that conflict may be a strong influence影响 on the evolution进化 of behaviour,行为 clutch size窝卵数 and even appearance.外表 "people have not really made that link",联系 says hartley. a female's reproductive 再生的strategy策略 is usually thought to be affected by hunting and food supply. kilner卡尔纳 says conflict of parents should now be taken into account 考虑在内as well.同样地

5. according to the passage, people believe that a female's reproductive strategy is influenced by____.

a) an evolutionary driving force进化驱动力

b)a conflict of interests利益冲突

c) ecological factors 生态因素

d) the quality of the offspring后代的质量

解析：8 more surprising, says kilner,卡尔纳 is hartley's 哈特利statement陈述 that conflict may be a strong influence影响 on the evolution进化 of behaviour,行为 clutch size窝卵数 and even appearance.外表 "people have not really made that link",联系 says hartley. a female's reproductive 再生的strategy策略 is usually thought to be affected by hunting and food supply. kilner卡尔纳 says conflict of parents should now be taken into account 考虑在内as well.同样地